In a news conference following their loss to the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys’ head coach Wade Phillips opined, “After looking at the tape, I feel like the best team lost the game.”

I’m not sure what the point of that assertion was meant to be.

Was Phillips suggesting, We were the better team, but I didn’t prepare us well enough.

Maybe, The Giants’ victory will be forever tarnished because we didn’t win.

Or more likely, since Wade found himself on the losing end of the Music City Miracle, Don’t look at me, the football gods hate me.

I can understand the sour grapes and frustration from Wade Phillips. But this tendency of claiming that somehow the wrong team advanced in the playoffs is slowly and disturbingly permeating the NFC post-season landscape.

This week, Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Gazette asserted, “Misguided football purists claim the Giants were the better team and won because they were more physical and dominated the line of scrimmage. While the Giants controlled the clock and the stat sheet, the most talented team lost on Sunday at Lambeau Field… If the Packers were physically inferior, why didn’t it show on the scoreboard?”

Um… Mike? Did you look at the scoreboard at the end of the game? I think it read, Giants 23 Packers 20.

And remember the Giants won the game despite missing two fourth-quarter field goals.

Oh, and I might add that the Packers were playing at home and got the ball first in overtime.

Why is it that no one seems capable of accepting that the New York Giants went on the road and earned consecutive playoff victories over the NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the #1 seed Dallas Cowboys and #2 seed Green Bay Packers?

What will happen if those pesky Giants pull off the impossible and beat the unquestionably more talented New England Patriots, quite possibly best team of all-time?

I think it’s safe to assume that a columnist from Boston will pontificate that the better team lost.

Maybe they’ll have to put an asterisk on the Giants’ Lombardi Trophy.