The Dallas Cowboys have never stopped being a good team, although it’s been almost 30 years since they reached the NFC Championship.
Curiously, the last time the franchise secured a spot in the Super Bowl was after beating the Green Bay Packers 38-27 in the 1995 season.
Since then, the team has appeared in the post-season several times, but without advancing from the Divisional Round.
Dallas is coming off a disappointing 2023, despite having played a regular season with the best version (MVP candidate) of Dak Prescott.
2024 will be an all-or-nothing year.
Dallas teams in general are following a different path than the Cowboys
In the NHL, the Dallas Stars faced the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Final.
MLB’s Texas Rangers returned to the World Series in 2023 and won their first-ever championship.
The Dallas Mavericks, meanwhile, are in the current Western Conference Finals in the NBA and could secure a spot in the finals later this month.
Who’s left? The Cowboys, who haven’t brought joy to their fans in almost three decades.
Speaking to the media after last Wednesday’s OTAs, Dak Prescott said that seeing all the Texas teams achieve great things makes the 2024 season more important.
And above all, being the “ugly duckling” of the state’s teams puts extra pressure on them to win.
The quarterback talked about the fact that the Mavericks and Stars are both in the conference finals: “It’s not jealousy, but it fires you up. I want it for them. Go win it. Rangers did it. Other two go do it. Put more fucking pressure on us.”
“Any competitor should, in my position as leader of the team, understand what winning means here. Not getting it done and then watching your brothers across the city go and make these things happen. I want it for them. I want it because it only raises the stakes and makes it tougher on me.”
Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons are still waiting for bigger contracts.