IRVING, Tex. — The woes of the Dallas Cowboys in December are well chronicled.

The Cowboys have a 27-43 record in the climactic month of the season since 1997. They are 12-17 in December since Tony Romo took over as starting quarterback in 2006.

If you want to know why the Cowboys have just four playoff appearances and one playoff win since 1997, it’s because they always seem to play their worst when it matters most.

The Cowboys finished 8-8 in each of the last three seasons and missed the playoffs because they lost winner-take-all battles for the NFC East title and a playoff berth in the season finale.

The Cowboys are 2-12 in Week 17 games since 2000 with four straight losses in win-or-go-home games since 2008.

So, as the Cowboys (8-4) begin their final four games of the season, starting Thursday against the Chicago Bears (5-7), the question remains whether this year be different.

The Cowboys certainly didn’t engender confidence that they will change their trend of December failures with a 33-10 loss to the Eagles on Thanksgiving Day in what was supposed to be a battle for first place in the NFC East.

“I think we’re not the same team,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday on his Dallas radio show. “We have not prepared this team in the way that we have other seasons. This team is built for the challenge that we got on the road. It’s built mainly because we’re a physical running team.

“Now, there’s one of the points about (the loss to Philadelphia). We didn’t show to be that physical running team that we had been in earlier parts of the season. We’d like to think we are. We’re a team that can do that in Chicago. It’s a must if we’re going to have anything like the kind of weather we had up there last year.

“I don’t think it’s a reach to say that Tony is going to learn. Is that the right word in this stage of his career? I think it is. I think you get awareness from game to game and I think we can expect a better game out of Tony Romo.

“Defensively, I do believe that we can use Philadelphia as a teaching source for being able to stay in our lanes, basically do it with a lot of confidence, which breeds really aggressive play. I think we can do that.”

The Cowboys are one game behind the Eagles in the NFC East. They would lose out in a three-way tie for the two wild-card spots against the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions because of a poor conference record.

So if the Cowboys hope to make the playoffs, they will have to finally finish strong and then possibly hope for some help. But it all starts Thursday against the Bears.

“It’s a great opportunity,” receiver Dez Bryant said. “It’s a great opportunity to get to where we want to go. I think we all understand that. We’re just going to continue to keep working hard and try to get better and win out in December.

“But I can say the feeling is a lot different,” Bryant said. “This is the beginning for us. The beginning of December for us. So we’ll see. We’re excited about the work that we’ve put in, and we can only go from there.”

Tight end Jason Witten said talk of the Cowboys’ December failures will keep coming up until they find a way to change it by closing out strong.

“When you finish the years the way we have, it causes you to reflect,” Witten said. “If you go back at different points in those games in December, we didn’t execute very well. There is no secret to that. Other teams did, and they played well and made those plays, and we didn’t. Until you change it (the December woes) are going to continue to happen. That’s why I think we’re all anxious to change the outcome of it.

“We are a poised team,” Witten said. “I think we’ve learned from those experiences. This is a tough stretch for everybody. The teams that play well this time of year are the teams that usually make the playoffs. Our team is focused on that, and we are in a good position being 8-4, but we’ve got to learn from this and move forward. I know we have the right type of guys to do that.”