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The Dallas Cowboys are the NFL’s monument to being all talk and no substance. Not only are the Cowboys the arguably most popular team in professional football, they carry themselves like it.
And what does “America’s Team” have to show for this all-important popularity?
A grand total of 232 victories since winning Super Bowl 30. Sorry, do you think 232 wins in roughly 27 seasons since 1996 is impressive? That’s an average of about 8.6 wins a year. You cannot be more middling than the Cowboys since the Troy Aikman era.
Lest I forget, Dallas has five total playoff wins in that same time frame, advancing precisely zero times to the NFC title game. Think about it. A young 27-year-old millennial has morphed into a full-fledged adult since the last time the Cowboys were an actual consistent power.
Call it a hunch, but I’m pretty sure this same young person has accomplished more than the Cowboys in recent years, too.
So when the Cowboys get set to visit the heavily-favored San Francisco 49ers on Sunday — a classic January rival, with these two facing each other eight times in the postseason — the pressure is, unequivocally, almost all on Big D. With almost nothing to hang their hat on since the mid-90s — no Jerry Jones, your gigantic stadium with a Jumbotron the size of a movie theater screen doesn’t count for anything if your team can’t win — this weekend’s divisional round in clash in San Francisco is the most critical moment for the Cowboys in the last 20-plus years.
(Tugs collar out of anxiousness) No pressure, fellas.
The faces have changed, but the people orchestrating Dallas’s perennial choke jobs, especially in January, are still doing their embarrassing jobs here with aplomb. It’s like it’s ingrained in you the moment you don that blue star on your helmet. The main figureheads, in particular, could really use a feather in their cap, er, facemask by finally notching an NFC title game berth.
There’s Jones, a billionaire mogul who bought the Cowboys in the 1980s, watched the great Jimmy Johnson build a team worthy of a dynasty, then never quite recaptured that initial magic. In response to his team’s shortcomings, Jones only grew even more meddlesome as an owner over the years, likely instigating more failure for the NFL’s squad on an undeserved pedestal. (And he’s still going!)
There’s Mike McCarthy. As a man who already has a championship ring, McCarthy doesn’t have to have too many qualms about never winning the Big One. No, no, this head coach’s curse is even worse to stomach. You almost feel bad for McCarthy (keyword: almost). Since Aaron Rodgers carried him and the rest of the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl 45 win in 2010, McCarthy has developed quite a reputation. He’s the coach who will self-combust without hesitation when asked to fulfill his responsibilities in a tense, tight playoff game. It’s who McCarthy is, and he can’t help himself.
Heck, we even saw a McCarthy meltdown last year in a playoff loss … to the 49ers!
Last but certainly not least, Dak Prescott enters the fold.
Has the veteran been one of the more productive and noteworthy quarterbacks in football since entering the NFL in 2016? No question about it. Has he, rather inexplicably of late, recently earned the questions of “Bad Dak” and “Good Dak” — as in, you never know what you’re going to get from his right arm? No question about it. A masterful performance to get the Cowboys here aside; those concerns about Prescott turning into a turnover pumpkin when his team needs him most remain.
Almost no one in their right mind will pick the Cowboys on Sunday. My pals Christian D’Andrea and Charles Curtis have already staked a claim on yet another 49ers’ appearance in the NFC title game. But asking whether the Cowboys should win while beating Brock “Mr. Irrelavnt” Purdy is different than considering whether the primary target is on their back.
I can’t remember the last time a heavily-favored squad like San Francisco had almost no pressure to actually win a huge playoff game. Are you kidding? Kyle Shanahan and his boys — especially that dominant defense — have nothing to lose Sunday because they’ll probably be back here next year … and they know it!
Meanwhile, the Cowboys have reached a climactic point in their much-maligned recent franchise history … and they absolutely know it! Gee, I wonder why almost everyone thinks the 49ers will win. That’s a tough one. Come back to me later.
Dallas is capable of beating these 49ers and then playing for the NFC. The question is: Can this arrogant organization, led by three flawed men, finally back up all of its talk with a marquee January victory?
It can. It definitely can. But, with the onus and tremendous pressure on the Cowboys to finally break a long-standing organizational curse: I certainly wouldn’t hold my breath.
Quick hits: NFL picks! … NHL All-Star rosters! … and more.
— Our picks against the spread for this weekend’s playoff action, and some straight-up picks.
— The NHL All-Star Game rosters are complete, and there were some serious snubs.
— What the heck is going on with Breanna Stewart’s emoji-filled tweets? We attempt to decipher them.
