"Hard to believe that was Cowboys tight end Jason Witten's first trip to the end zone since the second game of the season when he caught a first-quarter touchdown pass Sunday against the Eagles.

It's even harder to believe Saturday's rematch will be just the fourth playoff game of Witten's career. Despite making his sixth Pro Bowl this season, Witten has never experienced a playoff win.

"Obviously, it's been frustrating over the years not to have success," Witten said.

"It bothers you and you take pride in that. More than anything, it allows you to appreciate the opportunity you have now and really take advantage of it. You know that it doesn't happen every year."

Witten turned in another superb regular season for the Cowboys. He led the team with 94 receptions and reached 1,000 yards for the second time in his career.

He became just the third tight end in NFL history, after Tony Gonzalez and Todd Christensen, to have multiple 90-catch, 1,000-yard seasons.

Yet the lack of playoff success continues to gnaw at Witten.

"I never would have thought that, with the tradition that's been here," Witten said. "Not only that, with the commitment that Jerry and the Jones family gives you. I just never thought that I would be in this situation."

Witten has a chance to rectify things against a team he's had some success against. Witten had six catches for 76 yards in Sunday's regular season finale against the Eagles, giving him a combined 13 catches for 119 yards in the two meetings.

That he finally got a touchdown against the Eagles, his first since Sept. 20 against the Giants, could signal Witten is ready to make a big impact in the playoffs.

"It had been a long time," Witten said. "It was a great year, but you never experience not having touchdowns like that. As long as we're winning. But it did feel good to get in there."

Witten said he's not sure why it was so long between touchdowns, but it's symptomatic of the Cowboys' scoring struggles. The Cowboys rank second in the league in total offense but just 14th in scoring.

"We just haven't been as successful as we needed to be," Witten said. "At the same time, we use a lot of other guys. We've been faking the play action on them and having a lot of success with Roy [Williams] and Miles [Austin]."

Austin's emergence at wide receiver has been a boon to Witten, who now has more freedom to run underneath routes."