FRISCO, Texas -- It happens every year with teams that make the Super Bowl, as if the winners in the AFC and NFC have dialed up some newfangled copyright to success.
You can imagine one of those late-night infomercial dudes screaming through the television, "Just copy what those teams did and you too will end up in a Super Bowl."
Except it's not that easy. This will be the eighth trip to the Super Bowl for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. They do seem to have the copyright to success, so why haven't teams just copied what the Patriots do?
The latest team to offer up the "copy this" formula is the Philadelphia Eagles.
At the start of the year, coach Doug Pederson was viewed by some to be over his head. Now he's a guru. A year ago, Howie Roseman was the general manager of a last-place team in the NFC East. Now he's got it all figured out.
Aside from the Patriots, the NFL is a year-to-year league. Only four teams that made the playoffs in 2016 made it in 2017: The Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons.
So just because Philadelphia will be in Super Bowl LII in two weeks doesn't mean the Eagles will be back in the playoffs next season, even if their roster looks formidable and Carson Wentz will return from a knee injury.
In order for the Dallas Cowboys to get to at least the NFC Championship Game next season, they don't need to copy the Eagles, but there are lessons they can learn.
Free-agent value
Executive vice president Stephen Jones is on record as saying he does not believe free agency is the best way to build a team, and he is correct. The Cowboys have almost turned a blind eye to it in recent years. The Eagles used it wisely in 2017, signing Alshon Jeffery, LeGarrette Blount, Chris Long and Torrey Smith.
Jeffery had the biggest deal, a one-year commitment for $14 million, but he was signed to a four-year extension during the season. Smith had a $15 million deal over three years, but only $500,000 was guaranteed. Long signed a five-year deal worth $12.75 million but was essentially a two-year, $4.5 million deal. Blount signed a one-year deal at $1.25 million.
This doesn't include the trades for cornerback Ronald Darby, defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan and running back Jay Ajayi.
The Cowboys' biggest free-agent deal was for a player the Eagles no longer wanted in cornerback Nolan Carroll at three years, $10 million. If not for injuries to rookie corners Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis, Carroll might not have made it out of training camp. Instead he made it until Oct. 11, when he was cut. Stephen Paea won the defensive tackle spot with a one-year deal worth a max of $2 million and didn't make it out of October before a chronic knee injury forced his retirement. Damontre Moore signed a two-year, $1.65 million deal and made it only to Oct. 24.
Byron Bell signed a one-year deal worth $1.25 million and spent most of the season as the backup swing tackle.
The Eagles did not swing for the fences in free agency but found pieces that helped Wentz excel. Long was a disrupter on the defensive line. Cornerback Patrick Robinson shored up the secondary. Oh, and quarterback Nick Foles was a free-agent pickup as well.
The Cowboys don't have to swing for the fences, but they can do more than just bargain shop.
Handling adversity
The Eagles lost Darren Sproles, a major part of their offense and their return man, to a knee injury in September. Starting left tackle Jason Peters, their Tyron Smith if you will, was gone in October. So was middle linebacker Jordan Hicks.
The crushing injury was to Wentz, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament against the Los Angeles Rams.
They still won. It wasn't always pretty, but it didn't matter. Pederson was able to adapt, and his team was able to overcome. The Eagles found answers not just in personnel but in scheme, helping new left tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai as well as Foles.
The Cowboys' season forever changed against the Falcons, when they were without Ezekiel Elliott (suspension) and Smith, who had a groin injury. Chaz Green was ineffective, and the coaches did not help the new left tackle even when it was obvious he could not block Adrian Clayborn. The Cowboys could not handle the loss of Sean Lee, who missed five games with a hamstring strain. They went 1-4 without their defensive leader.
The Eagles came up with answers for their adversity. The Cowboys did not have the answers and finished 9-7.
The Cowboys are the last team to beat the Eagles. It was an ugly, meaningless 6-0 victory at Lincoln Financial Field in which Philadelphia did not play a large core of its starters and regulars much or at all.
That doesn't mean the Cowboys are close to doing what the Eagles have done, but it doesn't mean they are far off either.