Over the past 10 seasons or so, the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys have had a difficult time with postseason success. The 2012 NFL season was the last time the Ravens made it to the Super Bowl. They won the big game that year with quarterback Joe Flacco under center. Since then, this team has had Super Bowl aspirations, but seemingly can’t get over the hump.
Last season, the Ravens had the best record in the NFL and made it to the AFC Championship game. They played the Kansas City Chiefs and lost to quarterback Patrick Mahomes and company 17-10. It was a gut-wrenching loss.
While the loss definitely stung, it also propelled the narrative the Ravens fall apart in big moments – Lamar Jackson isn’t good enough to win when the lights are brightest. Another loss to the Chiefs Thursday, opening night didn’t do the Ravens any favors in changing the narrative, even though it was a close finish. The Ravens are always close but struggle to finish.
As former Major League Baseball player Frank Robinson once said, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Speaking of often being close, but not living up to the moment, the Dallas Cowboys just inked one of their star players to an uber-lucrative contract extension.
Dak Prescott contract extension puts Ravens and Cowboys in similar boat
Earlier this afternoon, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott put pen to paper and signed a contract that will pay him $60 million per season. Prescott is one of the most under-appreciated stars in sports.
He’s coming off a second-place finish in MVP voting last season, ranks second all-time among Cowboys quarterbacks in touchdown passes (202), and is third all-time in Cowboys passing yards with 29,459. He’s a very good QB.
However, if $240 million feels like a lot of money to shovel out for a quarterback who’s never made it to an NFC Championship game, you wouldn’t be alone. The knock on the Dallas Cowboys over the years has been the team cannot win in big moments. Sound familiar?
The Ravens recently extended their own franchise quarterback who has struggled in the playoffs for tons of bills last offseason. Jackson put his John Hancock on a five-year contract extension worth $260 million.
A quarterback who gets a lot of flack for not leading his team to the Super Bowl signs a massive contract that spurs backlash over their said lack of playoff success. The Ravens and Cowboys are the Spiderman meme, one successful regular-season team that fails in the playoffs pointing at the other.
There’s clearly a narrative here the Ravens are becoming the Cowboys of the AFC. It’s a comparison that Ravens fans would like to deviate from faster than Lamar Jackson evades defenders on the open field. Unfortunately, since 2013 (the Ravens’ last Super Bowl win and appearance) the narrative surrounding the Ravens echoes that of the Cowboys.
The lack of discipline and composure during the game’s biggest moments are eerily similar. Pressure will mount for Prescott to win the Super Bowl with the Cowboys much like the pressure is mounting on Jackson to do the same for the Ravens.