The Dallas Cowboys are hitting their 31st season without a Super Bowl win, and get this, they haven’t even sniffed a conference title game in all that time. It’s the longest drought without a conference championship appearance in the NFC, and frankly, it’s mind-boggling.
The Numbers Just Don’t Add Up for Troy Aikman
Even Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, the MVP of Super Bowl XXVII, can’t wrap his head around it. He was on the “Dallas Dialogue with Dale” podcast recently, and he just called the whole thing “hard to fathom.” Seriously, who can blame him? We see teams go from worst to first all the time, making deep playoff runs, even Super Bowls. Yet, for the Cowboys, the “flagship franchise,” that just hasn’t happened in three decades.
What’s wild is that they’ve had plenty of regular season success over the past 30 years, but that never seems to translate when it matters most. Aikman doesn’t know exactly why they keep falling short in the postseason, but he’s crystal clear on one thing: “The Cowboys fans, they deserve better.” You gotta feel for those loyal fans, right?
When It All Went Sideways, And Who’s Still Running The Show
So, when did this all go wrong? Aikman and many others point to one specific moment: the mutual parting of ways between head coach Jimmy Johnson and owner Jerry Jones right after Dallas won its second of back-to-back championships. Jones even told reporters that “500 coaches could win Super Bowls with this team.” Oof. The Cowboys did snag a third Super Bowl in four years in 1995, the season after Johnson left, but apparently, the “cracks in Dallas’ championship armor” were already showing. They weren’t as good in ’95 as they were in ’94, and ’94 wasn’t as strong as Johnson’s final season in ’93.
Many folks pin a lot of this ongoing drought on Jones, not just as owner, but also because he’s still serving as the team’s president and general manager. He gets credit for the good stuff, sure, but his multi-hat wearing role is a “considerable factor” in the postseason struggles too.
As the Cowboys gear up for another regular season, fans are holding their breath. Will this be the year they break the 30-year curse and finally make a conference championship game? After hearing Aikman’s blunt take, you just gotta wonder if anything will really change until the power structure does.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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