Troy Aikman on Dak Prescott's Cowboys, 'Lingering Doubt' and Bucs Preview

The Dallas Cowboys' first playoff game of the 2023 season will be narrated by Troy Aikman, The three-time champion is wary about their chances.

Following a Week 18 no-show in Washington, the Dallas Cowboys could perhaps use all the help they can as they set off for Monday's NFC Wild Card playoff finale in Tampa Bay (7:15 p.m. CT, ESPN/ABC). 

It's too bad that Troy Aikman can only provide narration. 

The three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback will be on the call alongside Joe Buck, the pair having called countless big Cowboys games through their shared experiences at both the Worldwide Leader and Fox Sports. Aikman can't help but feel a little wary about his former team's chances after its listless 26-6 defeat at the hands of the doomed Washington Commanders in the final week of regular season play.

"It’s not that you can’t still go out and play great. But I think there’s a little bit of lingering doubt when you have a game like that against an opponent like they had it against," Aikman said this week. "I would be a little bit concerned, especially considering the amount of pressure that I think it is on this team to go win a playoff game.''

The pressure on Aikman's latest successors is at an all-time high: Dallas' late struggles have been mostly attributed, perhaps unfairly, to quarterback Dak Prescott, who has lost 12 turnovers over the last seven games, including 11 interceptions. Aikman hinted that it'll be vital for Prescott to get off to a fast start on Monday, especially to break one of the more dubious streaks in Dallas history: the team has not won a road playoff game since a 322-yard masterpiece from Aikman himself in the 1992-93 NFC title contest in San Francisco en route to MVP honors in Super Bowl XXVII. 

"I see a quarterback that was not playing with a great deal of confidence and I think that would be a bit of a concern going into this game," Aikman said in a rather damning observation. "Can he get that back? I think the key to it will be how does he start the game. Can (coordinator) Kellen Moore can he get him some easy completions on the road in a pretty electric environment to get him comfortable?''

Dallas (12-5) is coming off another successful regular season, having clinched consecutive playoff berths since 2006-07. Many feel it's well-equipped to dispatch a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that's on the bracket solely through divisional caveats but the Cowboys' last regular-season showings left much to be desired: December featured a narrow win over the lowly Houston Texans and Dallas was also a victim of the Jacksonville Jaguars' late playoff push.

Aikman "supposes" that the idea of flipping a switch come playoff time is a dangerous concept but he believes he has found a surefire way to get past a Tampa group that's only two years removed from a Super Bowl.

"If it’s a close game in the fourth, that doesn’t bode well for Dallas," Aikman said. "I think Dallas has the firepower. The last thing Tampa can afford [is] to get into a shootout and I think Dallas has the ability, if they play like they’re capable of playing, they have the ability to kind of really put pressure on Tampa early in the game. 

"But the longer the game goes and it’s close and it’s in the fourth quarter, I think that begins to favor Tampa Bay even more.”

Tampa Bay (8-9) is, of course, headlined by the services of aging legend Tom Brady. The Buccaneers kept their championship dreams alive by rising to the occasion in close games, posting a 6-4 record in games decided by one possession. Those wins often featured Brady comebacks though no heroics were necessary when the teams met in a nationally televised Week 1 contest: Tampa torched Dallas for 152 rushing yards in a 19-3 victory.

These Cowboys are dismissing previous failures as if they are ancient history. ... and Cowboys Nation hopes they can also dismiss "lingering doubt'' with a Monday win.

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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