The Ravens did not exist during the last Cowboys NFC title game, have now made it to five themselves

The Ravens franchise is a physical testament to the Cowboys title game drought.

The Baltimore Ravens won the first game of Divisional Round Weekend on Saturday, you know, the round of games that the Dallas Cowboys will not be a part of.

Unfortunately the Cowboys are watching these games from somewhere other than the sidelines which remains an incredibly frustrating thing. This looked to be a year where Dallas could finally end their drought and get past the round in question but that they didn’t even get to it added to the levels of frustration.

The Ravens won their game and did so against another Texas team in the Houston Texans. With the win the Ravens earned the right to appear in a conference championship game for the fifth time in their short franchise history.

The Ravens, who did not exist when Dallas was last in a conference championship game, have now been to 5 conference championship games

Something notable about the next conference championship game for the Ravens is that it is the first one that they will ever play at home. That is pretty wild when you think about it, but it is true that all four of their previous appearances have come on the road.

At this point Dallas Cowboys fans would take appearances at home, on the road or on Mars given that it has been 28 years since they appeared in one period. The funny thing about that measurement of time though is that it is the exact same length of time that Baltimore has existed as a franchise.

The Ravens, formerly the Cleveland Browns, became the Ravens in 1996 which was the first year that The Drought™️ began for Dallas. In that time the Ravens have now reached this point on five separate occasions and prior to their next one have even won half of them on the way to Super Bowl titles following each one.

It is frustrating in and of itself that the Cowboys cannot even get to this point in an NFL postseason, but that the Ravens exist as this almost physical manifestation of their time spent away makes it feel even more large given all the success that Baltimore has had as a franchise.

Congratulations to the Ravens. Football is pain.