I was in Dallas in the days leading up to the Cowboys’ season opener, at home against the Giants, and anticipation was bubbling in the 100-degree September heat.

The anticipation was not simply for a playoff berth. That felt automatic. No. The anticipation was for a first Super Bowl title since 1995, because it felt like all the pieces were in place.

The Cowboys were coming off a 10-6 season with a loss in the NFC divisional playoff round and they were poised to take the next steps in ’19.

They’d just signed star running back Ezekiel Elliott to a six-year, $90 million extension that week to end his preseason holdout, and quarterback Dak Prescott was going to be the next building-block star to be locked up to a long-term deal.

The Cowboys overwhelmed the Giants 35-17 in the season opener at AT&T Stadium. The following Sunday, they ripped the Redskins 31-21 and then they dispatched the Dolphins 31-6 to go 3-0.

Dallas scored 97 points in the first three games and that, combined with a defense that was one of the top groups in ’18, had the Cowboys looking right on schedule to march directly to Miami for Super Bowl LIV.

Now, fast forward to Sunday in Philadelphia, where the Cowboys lost to the Eagles 17-9 to tumble to 7-8 and lose control of their playoff destiny in the process.

The Cowboys are 4-8 since the 3-0 start and they’ve scored 30 or more point in only four of those 12 games, failing to score more that 10 points four times.

One of those four low-scoring outputs came Sunday in Philadelphia, where the Cowboys’ season appears to have died. In order to make the playoffs, they need to beat the Redskins on Sunday and have the Eagles lose to the Giants, whom Philly has beaten in 19 of the past 23 meetings.

Because of their public calamity (thank you Odell Beckham Jr., Freddie Kitchens and Co.), the Browns have been poster children as the most disappointing team in the NFL based on the talent they brought in during the offseason.

But by comparison and based on their roster loaded with proven talent, the Cowboys are, by far, the most disappointing team in the league.

And because of that, it’s difficult to imagine their head coach, Jason Garrett, still coaching in 2020. Garrett, who’s led the Cowboys to the playoffs three times in his nine full seasons entering this year, has proven himself to be one of those coaches who’s able to bring his team only so far, but not far enough.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is asked after every loss about Garrett’s future and he’s become rather adept at the Texas two-step.

After the loss to the Eagles, Jones, in an interview with USA Today, said this latest loss “leaves, from my perspective, a lot to consider here.’’

“This was a little bit of a surprise,’’ Jones told the paper. “I didn’t see the Chicago Bears game coming (a 31-24 loss in Week 14) and this one was a surprise. I thought we were prepared to play. I thought we could play better out here. I’m disappointed.”

Asked about his job status after the loss to the Eagles, Garrett said, “The biggest thing we have to do is try and process this game, learn from it, and move forward.”

Where “forward’’ is can be up for debate, but it certainly looks like the Cowboys, losers of four of their past five games, are about to miss the playoffs and Garrett is about to get fired.

If that becomes the case, it’s very possible three of the four NFC East teams will be seeing new head coaches, with the Redskins already having fired Jay Gruden and the Giants likely to fire Pat Shurmur.

All these months later after that opening week of promise in Dallas, it’s stunning they’ve gotten to this low point.

As if losing control of their playoff destiny wasn’t enough indignity on Sunday, the Cowboys’ chartered plane was delayed because of mechanical problems, forcing them to wait on team buses hours after the loss to the Eagles.

So, after the Dallas offense failed to take off across the season-damaging three-hour game, the team charter plane was unable to take off until sometime after 11 p.m.

Suddenly, all of that feel-good anticipation entering Week 1 felt like years ago, not mere months.