Leonardo Mena
Newspaper La Jornada
Friday, January 13, 2023, p. a10
The title drought haunts the Dallas Cowboys. Since that memorable offense with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin in 1996, the Cowboys haven’t picked up a Vince Lombardi. Which means more pressure on star quarterback Dak Prescott when all eyes turn to him next Monday in the wild-card round. The rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, commanded by a Tom Brady who in his 20-year career has added 35 victories in the final phases, in addition to not knowing defeat against the Lone Star.
With a record of seven wins and no losses, Brady will be the first big test to stop at Raymond James Stadium; the second, the alarming numbers produced by the Dallas team visiting playoffs.
However, the spearhead for the Cowboys will be to fully find a Prescott who can sometimes be bright or dark in the same game. Ranked on the list of the 10 highest paid players in the NFL, Dak will have to make up for the 33 million dollars he receives annually, and the best way to reward his fans is with accurate passes, which he stopped doing in the regular season. Along with Houston quarterback Davis Mills, the Dakota finished the season with a season-high 15 interceptions.
At this point, Troy Aikman, in his first seven seasons – the same ones that Prescott is currently counting – already had an 11-1 record in playoffs and three Super Bowl rings. Instead, Prescott has a 1-3 record. The lack of results in definitive instances have earned him questions about whether he is the passer the Cowboys need to achieve the sixth star. Therefore, the urgency of the # 4 number to revalue his name with a victory, as well as to give a little satisfaction to a hobby that accumulates a tower of disappointments.
When it comes to postseason success away from home, Dallas’ stats aren’t encouraging; their last three victories came in 1980, 1991 and 1992. This year, four of their five losses have come on the road. The only setback at AT&T Stadium was precisely against their next opponent, a Buccaneers who finished with the worst record (8-9) among the 14 ticketed franchises.
As if that were not enough, Dallas, since 1997, is 3-10 in the 10 times it has reached the postseason. Their only three victories came in the wild card round: Águilas in 2009, Leones in 2014 and Halcones Marinos in 2018. Packers and Vikings are their main executioners, both with a couple of wins. The Cowboys’ accompanying shortage is the second longest among teams currently ranked at playoffs with at least one ring in his palmares. The longest is that of San Francisco, days away from turning 28 years old. However, the 49ers (13-4) are living an unbeatable present.
With a streak of 10 consecutive victories, those from the bay receive the Seahawks, when they open the wild card round this Saturday. That same day, the amazing Jacksonville Jaguars will fight for their ticket with the Chargers.
