For the 18th consecutive season Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will be viewing the NFC Championship Game -- this time it's San Francisco versus Seattle -- on TV.

That's if he can stand to watch it. Jerry might prefer to put his head into a pillow and scream instead.

America's Team has been transformed into America's laughingstock with its 136-136 record since 1997.

Jerry can blame only himself since he's the owner/GM presiding over the longest streak in franchise history without an appearance in the NFC Championship Game.

Tom Landry's Cowboys played in each of the first four NFC Championship Games after the American Football League merged with the National Football League prior to the 1970 season.

Dez Bryant has lived up to his potential, but too many Cowboys draft picks have been busts. AP Photo/James D Smith

The Cowboys wound up playing in seven NFC Championship Games in the '70s, three in the '80s and four in the '90s, the last occurring after the 1995 regular season.

The Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions are the only other NFC teams with a longer absence from the NFC title game.

Just so you know, 12 teams have made at least two appearances in that span and six teams have been one game away from the Super Bowl three different times.

The Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers have made it four times and the Philadelphia Eagles have done it five times.

The sad part, if you're a Cowboys fan, is that there's zero tangible evidence that things are going to change anytime soon because the Cowboys have one of the most dysfunctional organizations in professional sports. Jones clearly thinks his way is the best way to run a franchise, although it's clearly been unsuccessful for nearly 20 years.

The Cowboys are about $31 million over the league's projected salary cap, which means contracts for older players such as Tony Romo and Jason Witten must be lengthened to reduce their cap figures or former stars synonymous with the franchise such as DeMarcus Ware and Miles Austin must take significant pay cuts or get released.

Success in the draft has been sporadic, with every successful high pick such as Dez Bryant and Tyron Smith negated by a Mike Jenkins, Felix Jones (neither of whom is with the team) or Morris Claiborne.

We're talking about an organization with just four playoff appearances and four 10-win seasons since 1997. The Cowboys have had six head coaches in that time span -- a figure exceeded only by K.C., Buffalo and Oakland -- an indication the GM still believes any one of 500 coaches can lead his team.

It's clear he has little respect for the position, even if he respects the man who holds it. That's why Jones demanded that Jason Garrett fire Rob Ryan after the 2012 season, replace Ryan with 73-year-old Monte Kiffin and turn the play calling over to Bill Callahan.

It didn't work. It never does for the Cowboys these days.