Sunday marks the first time ever that long-time NFC East rivals Dallas and New York will face off in a playoff game. That’s remarkable considering the Cowboys and Giants have been in the NFL together for 48 years, and no other franchise can match them for the number of years with postseason appearances.

Most Seasons Making Playoff Appearance, All-Time

Cowboys. . . . .29
Giants. . . . . . 29
Rams. . . . . . . 27
5 teams with. .24

Even without a head-to-head meeting between the Cowboys and Giants, Sunday’s game is loaded with historical and statistical angles, especially for the Cowboys.

Dallas has lost its last five playoff games, and it’s been 11 years since the franchise has posted a postseason win -- a 40-15 victory over Minnesota in the wild-card round in December 1996.

A sixth straight loss would be a nightmarish end to a 13-3 season, the first since 1992, when the 13-3 Cowboys won the first of three Super Bowls in four years. Fans of the 2007 Cowboys expect to win a playoff game or two.

A sixth straight loss would tie an all-time NFL mark for consecutive postseason defeats, shared by a number of teams. Two of those teams have active six-game skids -- the Kansas City Chiefs (1994-2007) and Detroit Lions (1992-2000) -- and the Cowboys would join them.

Yet, history may side with the Cowboys when they host the Giants as the NFC’s No. 1 seed. After the bye week as the conference’s top dog, the Cowboys look to make it 20 consecutive divisional playoff wins for the NFC’s top team. The last No. 1 seed to fall was the 1997 49ers, who were surprised by the Minnesota Vikings 20 years ago.

In the 32 seasons that the NFL has seeded its postseason teams, only four No. 1 seeds in the NFC have gone down to defeat in their first playoff game. Dallas has figured in three of those contests.

NFC #1 Seeds to Lose Divisional Playoff, 1975-2006

No. 1 Seed. . . . . Divisional Playoff Result
1975 Vikings. . . . . .Lost 17-14 to Cowboys
1979 Cowboys. . . . Lost 21-19 to Rams
1980 Falcons. . . . . Lost 30-27 to Cowboys
1987 49ers. . . . . . .Lost 36-24 to Vikings

The Cowboys lost as the NFC’s top team in 1979, when they dropped a nail-biter to the Los Angeles Rams -- one year after falling 35-31 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII.

Arguably this year’s Dallas squad is the best one in more than a decade. With a win on Sunday, the Cowboys would complete a three-game season sweep of a team for the first time in franchise history. The season sweep and the five-game losing streak will be on the line.

With Terrell Owens and Jessica Simpson ready to go, the Cowboys will be looking for their 33rd playoff win in team history. That’s a league record, too, and adding to that mark requires a typical Cowboys-Giants NFC East showdown.