Cowboys’ Motivational Ploy Shows How Much Franchise Has Struggled in Playoffs

Dallas has not won a road playoff game since 1993. To illustrate that, Mike McCarthy busted out baby photos of the only 10 players who were alive at the time.

The Cowboys enter Wild Card weekend trying to break a crucial drought, as the team hasn’t won a road playoff game since January 17, 1993. In that game, Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith and Michael Irvin beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.

Instead of shying away from that fact, Mike McCarthy is trying to use it as motivation. The Cowboys head coach requested baby pictures from every player on the team who was alive for that game, as only 10 players were born before the game took place.

The oldest players on the team includes three of the five starting offensive lineman, newly signed wide receiver T.Y. Hilton and all three primary special teamers.

This past week, Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy showed his team the baby pictures of the only 10 players on its roster who were alive the last time Dallas won a road playoff game, Jan. 17 1993. Here are the those 10 players: pic.twitter.com/seEGl2b6Xp

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 14, 2023

Since 1993, Dallas is 0-8 in road playoff games. Additionally, the Cowboys are 8-12 since that game in the playoffs overall, but just 4-12 in the postseason since their last Super Bowl title in 1996.

The Cowboys enter Monday night’s game vs. Tampa Bay as the favorite, which puts even more pressure on them to finally pull off a road victory in January. A win would take a lot of pressure off the organization moving forward.