The 2023 “Show Me” Cowboys

Let’s be honest with ourselves. No matter how good you believe the Cowboys roster and coaching staff is in 2023, the Cowboys are going to have to prove it to win over both fans and critics. The Cowboys have failed so often, and for so long, that no one – not even die hard Cowboys fans – is going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The Cowboys could run off 17 straight wins in the 2023 regular season, and EVERYONE, including every Cowboys fan, would still wonder if they can succeed in the playoffs. The Cowboys have EARNED that doubt as an organization. That is the burden of years of failure – even if this particular roster doesn’t deserve the blame for past failures.

The Pittsburgh Steelers won their very first Championship in the 1974 season, after 40 years of being losers. They only made the playoffs once in 39 years, prior to the 1972 season. The Rooney family were perennial losers for decades, tracing back 4 decades, in the NFL in 1933, and another 12 years in the IFL dating back to 1921. No one believed the Rooneys could win a championship in the early 1970’s – until they proved it in the 1974 Super Bowl.

The Cowboys have 3 decades of futility. Just like the Steelers of the early ‘70’s, no one is going to truly believe in the Cowboys until they prove they can win. Complaining about pundits who don’t buy into the Cowboys is a waste of emotion. They’ve earned the doubt.

Here is to hoping that 2023 is finally the year the Cowboys prove they can win.