2 huge intangibles the Cowboys must address in 2023

We’ve gone through 11 different areas that need attention if the Cowboys want to make it back to the Super Bowl. From the Front Office in the first post (also see posts #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10) to the 11th, Special Teams.

We’ve noted the needs and made suggestions on how to fill them. Some the Cowboys Front Office have already done. Others they’ve handled differently with a few to be determined.

But there remains two areas of concern. These are the intangibles, things that aren’t fixed simply by changing the coaching staff of the roster. We’ll look at both of them now.

MENTAL TOUGHNESS

I look at the Dallas Cowboys of the 21st Century and this one gif image keeps coming to mind:

This applies to the entire organization, front the front office to coaching staff and on down to then players. Over 20 years of soft litter the first two-plus decades.

Whenever the defense needed to get off the field, whenever the game was on the line, the Cowboys were too soft. When a clutch catch needed to be made, a first down gained, or the clock run out, the Cowboys were too soft.

The coaches needed to harden these teams. They didn’t. The front office needed to add steel to the organization. The added aluminum instead.

This is how you go 27 seasons in a row without making it back to the NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl. During that time the team has won just five playoff games, all in the Wild Card round.

They’ve lost in the Wild Card round five times. They’ve lost all seven games they’ve played in the Divisional round since winning Super Bowl XXX. That’s 5-12 in the playoffs since 1996.

Soft.

Fair or not, the expectation for the Cowboys is much higher. An expectation set by Tom Landry and Tex Schramm between 1960 and 1989 and continued by Jimmy Johnson through the team’s last Super Bowl win.

We’ll repeat, Barry Switzer was the head coach for that final championship, but that was Jimmy’s team. Johnson never led an unprepared football team onto the field.

During the first 37 years of the franchise’s existence the Cowboys played in eight Super Bowls and won five of them. They went 9-7 in the NFC Conference Championship games, 15-6 in the Divisional rounds and 3-1 in Wild Card games.

That’s 32-17 overall and includes missing the playoffs between 1960-1965. That’s not soft at all.

So, how do we harden the Cowboys? It starts where this entire series of posts began. In the Front Office at The Star.

THE COWBOYS’ WAY

In a recent interview, Jerry Jones stated that the Cowboys were going to keep approaching the off season as they always have. At least since he assumed full control over player personnel. Namely, try to retain their own free agents and not pursue any big names in the market.

He also knocked the moves the Rams and Eagles recently made to reach the Super Bowl. We might point out that the Rams won the Super Bowl and the Eagles came pretty close themselves this year.

We also look at the big swing the 49ers made. They added Christian McCaffery after a dismal start. They rode him to the NFC Championship game after beating the Cowboys again in the Divisional round.

The 49ers came within a heathy quarterback of making the Super Bowl themselves. But they wouldn’t have gotten that close without taking a big swing.

All three teams did so by making big moves to improve their roster. The Chiefs won their second Super Bowl in four years despite trading away one of their biggest offensive weapons. The Buccaneers signed Tom Brady and won a Super Bowl in 2021.

Dallas needs to stop mocking and start copying. Cut ties with players if it means being able to make room for players that can get you to the big game.

Sep 25, 2017; Glendale, AZ, USA; Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones (right) reacts alongside his father, owner Jerry Jones prior to the game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Cowboys’ Way has led to nearly three decades of mediocrity. The Jones family may be happy with never getting past the Divisional round, when they actually make the playoffs, but the fan base isn’t.

Can anyone outside The Star say they wouldn’t take a Super Bowl win this year if it meant having to rebuild for a couple of years afterward? I’d take an 8-9 or even a 7-10 season for two years if it followed a Super Bowl win. Even at least a Super Bowl appearance would be worth that.

The biggest intangible going into 2023 and beyond?

Getting the Front Office to change its mindset. The Cowboys’ Way of the last 27 years just isn’t cutting it.