How many times have the Dallas Cowboys had back-to-back losing seasons? Not many

The Dallas Cowboys completed their second losing season in a row with Sunday’s 34-17 defeat at the New York Giants to finish 7-9-1.

That’s a rare feat for America’s Team. Despite a lack of playoff success since the Cowboys claimed their last Super Bowl title in the 1995 season, they haven’t had two losing seasons in a row since three straight 5-11 campaigns in 2000-02.

The Cowboys’ runs of multiseason futility break down into three periods:

— The early 2000s under head coach Dave Campo after the “Triplets” Super Bowl era.

— The sad end of head coach Tom Landry’s legendary tenure, along with the start of Jimmy Johnson’s run in Dallas

— The first five years of the franchise in the early 1960s.

In all, the Cowboys have had back-to-back losing seasons 11 times, including five straight losing seasons twice.

Here are the details, with numbers from Pro Football Reference:

2024-25

After finishing 7-10 in the final year under head coach Mike McCarthy in 2024, the Cowboys went 7-9-1 this season.

2000-02 (two times with consecutive losing seasons)

Technically, the Cowboys also had a losing season in 1999 in the final campaign of head coach Chan Gailey, but that 8-9 mark came after an 8-8 regular season and loss in the wild-card playoffs. Only the regular season counts for this exercise.

Campo, a loyal assistant who came with Johnson to the Cowboys from Miami in 1989, got his first and only head coaching gig when he was promoted from defensive coordinator following Gailey’s firing.

The Cowboys went 5-11 in all three seasons under Campo, whose tenure was mostly defined by instability at quarterback. Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion Troy Aikman played 11 games in 2000 but retired at the end of the season.

Campo sent out four starting quarterbacks in 2001 — Quincy Carter (eight games), Ryan Leaf (three), Anthony Wright (three) and Clint Stoerner (two) — then essentially split the 2002 season between Chad Hutchinson (nine starts) and Carter (seven).

However, any sympathy Cowboys fans might have had for Campo’s situation went away when two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Parcells took over in 2003 and promptly led the Cowboys to a 10-6 record and a playoff trip with Carter starting all 16 games under center.

1986-1990 (four times)

Like a lot of pro sports careers, the end wasn’t pretty for Landry.

After a remarkable run of 20 straight winning seasons, Landry’s Cowboys slipped to 7-9 in 1986 and never recovered. They went 7-8 in the 1987 strike season then fell all the way to 3-13 in 1988.

New Cowboys owner Jerry Jones unceremoniously fired Landry when he took over after that season in a move that upset many longtime fans.

Those fans seemed vindicated when the brash Johnson came in and guided the Cowboys to their most losses ever in a 1-15 debut.

But Johnson didn’t stay down for long. The team improved to 7-9 in 1990, then 1991 began the last Cowboys golden age with six straight 10-win seasons, six straight playoff berths and three Super Bowl titles.

1960-64 (four times)

The Cowboys’ first seasons as a franchise were inauspicious.

Landry and Dallas debuted with an 0-11-1 season in 1960, still the only winless campaign in Cowboys history. The team stayed mired in mediocrity for the next four seasons, going 4-9-1, then 5-8-1, 4-10 and 5-8-1 again.

Finally, 1965 brought the Cowboys’ first non-losing season at 7-7.

In 1966, Landry began his run of 20 straight winning seasons, and the rest is history.