Dallas Cowboys defensive end Jay Ratliff stretches before taking in a morning NFL football practice, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010, in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys are scheduled to play the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of playoffs Saturday. (Tony Gutierrez, The Associated Press)

The Cowboys haven't won a playoff game in more than a decade.

The Bengals haven't won one in nearly two decades. That can change, they hope, in Saturday's wild-card round.

Both get familiar foes: Dallas takes on NFC East rival Philadelphia for the third time since early November and for the second straight week. Cincinnati also has a rematch from Week 17 against the Jets.

On Sunday, it's Baltimore at New England and, in another rematch, Green Bay at Arizona.

Unlike the Bengals, whose only appearance in the postseason since a 1990 playoff victory against Houston — the Oilers, that is — was in 2005, Dallas is somewhat of a regular in the Super Bowl parade. Since beating Minnesota and then losing to Carolina in the 1996 postseason, the Cowboys have reached the playoffs six times, including now, meaning they're on a five-game losing streak.

America's Team? America's flops in January.

"It's surreal to be sitting here having to even answer that question," owner Jerry Jones said. "I wouldn't have dreamed that in '96 we wouldn't have (won) a playoff, and I wouldn't have dreamed that we would have had the turnover in the coaches that we've had.

"I wouldn't have dreamed we would have had some of the challenges that, whether it was self-imposed or not through me, that we've had in our quarterbacking."

But imagine this: The Cowboys are among the hottest teams in the NFL heading into the playoffs. Dallas set a team record with 6,390 total yards, exceeding 6,000 in a season for the first time. The defense, which blanked the Eagles last weekend to win the division, allowed 33 points in the last four home games. The yield was 37 in the last four games overall.

Still, there is that 13-year run of disappointment, and the Eagles have won their first playoff game in seven consecutive postseason appearances. They've taken 10 playoff games since Dallas last won one.

And there's this: Since 1990, when the current playoff format was adopted, in nine first- round rematches following a final-game meeting, the loser of the regular-season game won the playoff matchup five times.

Plus, 19 times since the 1970 merger, a team has swept two games from an opponent and then they met in the playoffs. The sweeping team won 12 times. But the Cowboys were one of the losers, to the Giants in 2007.

"We've just got to put it together any way possible to go out there and win," Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson said. "They've got our number this year. They've beat us two times. I'm not going to put anything more into it. They're a good team, but they're a beatable team."

So are the Jets, who lost seven times this season. But they went 5-1 down the stretch, got help from the Colts and Bengals resting regulars, and sneaked in at 9-7. They're hotter than the Bengals, who finished 1-3 and struggled for much of the second half of the schedule.

The Patriots beat Baltimore 27-21 in October and won the AFC East at 10-6. The Ravens earned the other AFC wild card at 9-7.

New England will be without injured receiver Wes Welker, so look for the Ravens to double-team Randy Moss on every down.

NFC West champ Arizona looked pretty bad a week ago in losing at home 33-7 to Green Bay. Neither team had anything on the line, but the Packers used their starters far longer than the Cardinals did.

This time, all the key guys should go, although such stars as Packers cornerback Charles Woodson (shoulder), Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin (ankle) and Cards cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (toe, knee) could be hobbled.