Evidence of why a team’s mental toughness matters

A team’s mental toughness- their ability to overcome adversity and win anyway is one of THE most underrated indicators of a championship team.

So far, we’ve only played about 40% of the season. So none of us yet know who the teams are that have the mental toughness needed to win in the playoffs.

Here are some recent examples of what I mean:

• In 2021, last years champs the rams were 7-4 after 11 games and lost 3 games in row in late October to early Nov. They did not look like champs then. Then they got tough between the ears.
• Last year’s AFC Champs the bengals were 7-6 on Dec 12. No one…I mean no one could have sanely predicted they were going to win the AFC and head to a SB.
• In 2020, eventual SB champ Tampa was 7-5 before it went on a run to win it all. Brady looked old and the offense was up and down. Nine weeks later they were champs. They were mentally tough.
• In 2019, the chiefs were 6-4 on Nov. 10 and not playing well. Then they got hot and went on a tear. Andy Reid later said it was their mental toughness that made the difference.
• Even many of the Cowboys SB teams had overcome lots of adversity. Our first SB winner from 1971 was 4-3 after 7 games. The ‘93 SB winning team was 0-2 to start the season and no SB winner had ever started 0-2 and gone on to win a SB. Mental toughness!

I could go on and on…None of us know what lies ahead. Who will get hot and will make a conference championship? We don’t know yet.

Those teams that advance in the playoffs may not always be the most talented. But those teams winning multiple playoff games are always mentally tough. If the Cowboys are ever going to go on a deep run in the playoffs, mental toughness may be what pushes them to get there.