America loves winners, underdogs and the Dallas Cowboys.
Or maybe it’s more “loves to hate” when it comes to the Cowboys, who haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1995, but certainly won’t claim to be a plucky overachiever, either.
As the New England Patriots come off a 20-year dynasty and the Kansas City Chiefs try to build one, the Cowboys’ place as “America’s Team” seems as secure as ever despite just four playoff wins over the last 26 seasons and the third-longest active drought since their last NFC Championship Game appearance.
The nickname “America’s Team” can be traced to the 1978 Cowboys’ season highlight film, when NFL Films editor Bob Ryan coined the phrase for the opening narration: “They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars. They are the Dallas Cowboys, ‘America’s Team.’”
In regard to frequency of airtime, nothing has changed.
The NFL accounted for 82 of the 100 most-watched television programs in 2022 based on the Nielsen ratings data, according to Sportico. The Cowboys appeared in a league-high 11 of the top 50 broadcasts, including the top two spots (No. 5 and No. 6 overall) not occupied by deep-round playoff games.
As the 2023 season hits its stride, the hype train is rolling along this week — “Is this finally the Cowboys’ year?” is a segment on seemingly every sports talk program — and frustrated New Yorkers and New Jerseyans know where to point the finger.
Dallas opened the season by routing both the Giants (40-0) — for their 12th win in the last 13 rivalry meetings — and Jets (30-10) in national-television windows, which makes for easy wisecracks that the best team “in New York” is not the Giants or the Jets … or even the Bills … but rather “how ‘bout them Cowboys?”
“Winning matters in terms of a quick fix for short-term popularity,” said Michael Lewis, faculty director of the Emory University Marketing Analytics Center who studies the intersection of sports analytics and sports marketing. “But brand equity — to be a brand like Coca-Cola — that is a long-term proposition. What’s crazy about sports versus everything … is building that brand equity is amazingly difficult. One championship doesn’t do it.”
How about six in the past 22 years like the Patriots?
Lewis built a model of market outcomes based on two decades worth of data on revenues, attendance and social-media metrics, with controls for factors ranging from income levels in the home market to win-loss record. The result is his annual “Fan Equity Rankings,” in which the Cowboys fell from No. 1 in 2020-21 to No. 3 — behind the Patriots and Packers — in each of the past two years.
Is their mythical title of “America’s Team” up for grabs?
“No,” Lewis said, “but the Packers have an almost similar history. Are the Patriots at that level where it lasts forever? I don’t know.
“The key to long-term iconic fandom is that you win a bunch of Super Bowls every generation. It’s probably Dallas versus Green Bay, but Dallas wins because its market is far larger, and then you add in things like cheerleaders and additional media hype.”
Need more proof that the Cowboys haven’t been dethroned?
The Cowboys led the NFL in home paid attendance (779,247) and combined home/road paid attendance (1.32 million) in 2022.
The Cowboys were the most-Google-searched NFL team nationally and in seven different states from 2017-2022, according to USA Today.
Since the start of the 2021 season, the Cowboys have been bet on more times than all teams but the Super Bowl-contending Chiefs and Bills, according to BetMGM.
Three of the top nine NFL players responsible for the most officially licensed product sold are Cowboys — linebacker Micah Parsons (No. 4), quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 7) and receiver CeeDee Lamb (No. 9), according to the NFL Players Association.
“I’m just a fan now,” Roger Staubach, quarterback of the original “America’s Team” Cowboys, told Post Sports+. “Because they haven’t won the Super Bowl or something, Dak gets [criticism], but he is definitely a really good player and team leader. Dallas is a great city, and I want the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl every year.”
The Cowboys are the most prized franchise in all of sports — worth $9 billion, or almost $2 billion more than the Yankees, according to Forbes. The value has increased by 5,900 percent since owner Jerry Jones purchased the team in 1989 and by 80 percent over the past five years, and the team’s revenue of $1.14 billion is almost twice that of the runner-up Patriots.
“When maybe the most-powerful owner in the league is your owner and constantly keeping the Cowboys at the forefront, you see it with how many times they are on the key television games,” said Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University. “Part of that is winning [tradition] … but it became this bigger entity than just how they are doing in any particular season.”
A 2022 joint survey of 3,201 United States residents conducted by the Siena College Research Institute and the Jandoli School showed the Cowboys are both the most-liked (nine percent; the next-closest is five percent) and the most-disliked team (13 percent; the next-closest, again, is five) in the NFL without any demographic exception for level of fandom (non-fan, casual or involved), gender, ethnicity, age, education or income.
Only geography made a difference in popularity, but the Cowboys still managed to be both the most-liked and the most-disliked team in the south region. The Cowboys’ “relatively modest” leads in the survey have a margin of error of 1.8 percent, according to Chimbel.
“What it shows is that the Dallas Cowboys have done a really good job of branding themselves,” said Chimbel, a Dallas-area native whose family held Cowboys season tickets from 1989-2003. “Whether it’s the star on the helmet, the uniforms, the history or two of the most-well-known stadiums, there’s that whole ‘Everything is bigger in Texas’ kind of thing. Like a lot of things in our society, people have very strong feelings in all directions on the Cowboys.”
The future for the Cowboys as “America’s Team” also could be tied into the expected continued rise of the Latino population throughout the country.
Jones once declared the Cowboys are “Mexico’s Team, too,” and Alejandro Morales Troncoso, an author and historian of American football in Mexico, confirmed the outspoken owner’s belief when he told USA Today in 2016 that “the Cowboys have a lot of people’s hearts in Mexico.” Sure enough, Chimbel’s research showed the Cowboys are the most popular team among Latinos surveyed.
One societal change in fandom is that video-game-playing and social-media-attuned youth are bonding with individual stars through movement in free agency and trades more so than to teams, Chimbel noticed. Could that lessen the Cowboys’ popularity?
Well, the Cowboys, which began NFL play in 1960, have 32 inductees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — a number in the same ballpark as other franchises that have existed much longer. So, it seems — at least for as long as the Jones family is running the show — the Cowboys always will be in the business of collecting superstars.
“They have the most fans because in the 1970s they branded themselves as the glitzy All-American team taking on the blue-collar Pittsburgh Steelers,” Lewis said. “Sports fans stick around for 50, 60, 70, 80 years and pass it down to kids.”
“It really is self-reinforcing: The Cowboys are making news and suddenly they are on Monday nights over and over. It’s ratings gold — and it means more when your team beats one of those [most-disliked] teams.”
Giants and Jets fans can only imagine that feeling for now.
An 0-2 team has made the playoffs in seven of the past 10 seasons. In fact, eight of the 14 playoff teams last season started either 1-1 or 0-2.
So, an 0-2 start is not the same season-long death sentence it used to be — certainly not in Year 3 of the expanded 17-game schedule.
But 0-3 might as well be. Consider that just one of the 99 teams since 2002 that started 0-3 have made the playoffs (2018 Texans), per ESPN.
Given that history, which teams are in most trouble this weekend? Here’s our panic meter from Level 1 (minimal concern) to Level 10 (start looking at mock drafts).
Level 4
Patriots (at Jets): The Patriots are 0-2 for the first time since 2001 — before Tom Brady’s first career start. But they have won 14 straight games against the Jets and get the gift of facing Zach Wilson — who has a 50.6 quarterback rating in four matchups with Bill Belichick’s defense — instead of the injured Aaron Rodgers.
Level 7
Bengals (vs. Rams): Concern wouldn’t be quite as high if quarterback Joe Burrow (calf) were healthy. But his status for Monday’s Super Bowl LVI rematch is uncertain. Even if he plays, he hasn’t looked like himself in the first two games. The Bengals overcame an 0-2 start to win the AFC North last season, but history only repeats if Burrow gets it together.
Level 8
Broncos (at Dolphins): An 0-2 start at home is a special kind of concerning. Especially with three of the next four games on the road. You have to wonder whether head coach Sean Payton and sack-prone quarterback Russell Wilson (eight so far) are going to mesh or cannibalize each other. The Dolphins could turn this game into a shootout.
Panthers (at Seahawks): The NFC South has three 2-0 teams, and the Panthers are losing ground quickly. Who saw that coming? (Liars!) Rookie quarterback Bryce Young is averaging a paltry 4.2 yards per pass attempt and nursing an ankle injury, and the Panthers are tied with the Raiders and Bengals for fewest points scored (27).
Texans (at Jaguars): Expectations were high (probably unrealistically so, considering the Texans have 10 wins in the past three years combined) to begin the DeMeco Ryans Era. Losing to the Ravens was one thing. Getting beat up by the Colts was another. The offensive line is a mess, and the Jaguars are the AFC South’s best team.
Level 9
Chargers (at Vikings) and Vikings (vs. Chargers): It’s essentially an elimination game between two playoff teams from last season. The Vikings are 0-2 in one-score games after posting an historic 11-0 record in such contests last regular season, which has prompted chatter that quarterback Kirk Cousins could be traded in his contract walk year. If the Chargers lose, head coach Brandon Staley might not be in charge of an underachieving roster much longer.
Level 10
Cardinals (vs. Cowboys): The transitive scoring property rarely holds up but … the Cardinals blew a 21-point third-quarter lead in a loss to the Giants, who previously lost by 40 at home to the Cowboys. Blowout alert!
Level 11
Bears (at Chiefs): You thought there were only 10 levels? Well, the Bears are imploding. Darkhorse preseason MVP candidate Justin Fields is blaming “coaching” — and then trying to walk his statement back — for his “robotic” play that looks worthy of a benching. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned Wednesday after he reportedly was absent from the team for three days. The Bears denied a report that the FBI raided their facility in conjunction with Williams’ departure. And here come the defending Super Bowl champions and a reminder that the Bears passed on Patrick Mahomes to draft Mitch Trubisky in 2017.
No. 6 Ohio State at No. 9 Notre Dame, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC
With apologies to “Coach Prime,” his son and Heisman Trophy candidate Shedeur Sanders, and the rest of upstart No. 19 Colorado as it faces its biggest test to date against No. 10 Oregon, we’ll catch the Buffaloes later in the season when two-way receiver/cornerback threat Travis Hunter is back from a reported lacerated liver.
The opportunity to see two top-15-caliber draft picks — Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt and Ohio State defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau — going head-to-head in the trenches is too rare to pass up. If Ohio State shuffles its defensive line to create matchups, well, defensive end Jack Sawyer is a top-50 prospect worth evaluating against Alt, too.
The 6-foot-8, 322-pound Alt is a mix of strength and athleticism, and scouts love his ability to bend at that size. Tuimoloau is a power rusher who is learning to be a technician with his hands.
Oh, and this game also features Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — potentially the highest-rated non-quarterback in 2024.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni’s post-Week 1 comment that he will “definitely re-evaluate” the way he handles preseason playing time could have a ripple effect across the NFL next summer.
Most coaches won’t allow their minds to break from the present to think 11 months in advance. But Sirianni said “he would have played starters one or two drives in the preseason” instead of zero if he had a mulligan.
And that’s with his team scoring 59 points during a 2-0 start.
As one NFL source said, “The Eagles do things by what the analytics say is the best way,” and other organizations look to copy them in all facets, from scouting to salary-cap manipulation.
The source continued, “If you look at a lot of the winning programs over the years, they play their starters. [The Rams’] Sean McVay (who generally has not played his starters in exhibition games) is sort of an outlier.”
It’s still difficult to imagine head coaches putting their quarterbacks at risk in the preseason, but one area to watch for is more offensive lines playing together to gel in the preseason.
The state of offensive line play through two weeks has been underwhelming. Ten teams (led by the Bears at 13.2 percent and the Giants at 13 percent) are allowing sacks on more than 10 percent of dropbacks after just three teams over the past three seasons combined reached that level of dysfunction.
“Offensive linemen need to play together before Week 1,” the source said.
Here are some team-specific numbers, from Pro Football Focus, that speak to the sluggish line play:
• The Steelers and Texans averaged -1.1 and zero yards before contact on runs, respectively, in Week 2.
• The Rams allowed 26 pressures against the 49ers in Week 2.
• None of the Jaguars’ offensive linemen earned a run-blocking grade over 60 in Week 1.
• The Bengals allowed knockdowns on 25 percent of their dropbacks in Week 1.