All or nothing. Nothing else matters. Super Bowl or bust. Bold statements like these are as expected from pro athletes as they are cliché. It’s a mindset NFL fans demand to hear from their favorite players and it’s a mindset that some fans even take on themselves. Some fans might say it out loud so many times they actually believe it.
When Dak Prescott recently said the Dallas Cowboys had Super Bowl expectations, no one batted an eye. Throughout his career, Prescott has led some of the best offenses in the NFL. 2026 is shaping up to be more of the same with Prescott operating at the top of his game and his arsenal of weapons having never looked better.
Yet the Cowboys defense provides some unavoidable cause for concern. They are coming off a season
where they were at or near the bottom of the NFL in almost all major categories and they enter 2026 with more than a few major questions left to answer. But coming off a 7-9-1 campaign and having missed the postseason for two consecutive years, how realistic are Super Bowl expectations in 2026?
“It’s always been my mindset,” Prescott said of his Super Bowl expectations. “It’s the one thing I truly love about the Cowboys organization and the fanbase. It’s all or nothing.”
It’s possible Prescott actually believes this but it’s far more likely he’s saying what he feels he’s supposed to say. It’s hard to believe anyone outside of maybe the Los Angeles Rams or Seattle Seahawks actually believes this “all or nothing” mantra this season. The investments those two teams made are significant, and based on recent play, the extreme expectations for them are realistic. The Cowboys have neither of those factors working in their favor.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with players believing they have a chance. Roughly 25 teams should be of that mindset entering training camp this year. But to consider anything less than first place a failure is ignoring all the context and nuance of sport. It’s that context and nuance that pays ridiculously good players ridiculously large sums of money despite having no championships to speak of. The destination is the goal, but the journey is what defines the experience.
By "all or nothing" standards, the Cowboys have been abject failures for 30 years. They haven’t just been one of the worst teams in the NFL, but in all of professional sports. It’s an angle many critics love to latch onto when criticizing the Cowboys because it paints the franchise as complete and total failures. But in reality, Dallas has had some pretty solid stretches of football over the years.
Ignoring the details misses the fact the Cowboys are a top-10, winningest team over the last 20 seasons. They posted double-digit wins in eight of those seasons, including six seasons where they logged 12 or more wins. They went to the postseason in every one of those eight campaigns and by most accounts enjoyed realistic “contender” status throughout most of those two decades.
In those seasons, and even some others, fans and players were filled with excitement and hope along the way. There were many successes and achievements along the way that shaped feelings, forged friendships and financed payrolls; none of which qualifies as “nothing.”
Hearing a franchise player say the upcoming season carried all or nothing expectations is nice to hear since a Super Bowl is the ultimate goal, but personally holding those same expectations as fans is ignoring reality and a great blueprint for misery.
Dak Prescott on the Cowboys’ Super Bowl or bust mentality and why it’s more realistic this season pic.twitter.com/7W9ViBnJ76
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 17, 2026
What fans want, and players too if they’re being honest, is to be contenders. They want a shot at the postseason. They want a shot at advancing in the postseason. They want a shot at winning the Super Bowl. And ultimately, they want to carry hope throughout the journey because hopelessness is the only true failure.
It’s ok for players to say, “it’s all of nothing” because that’s what a lot of fans want to hear, but for Cowboys fans to think that way themselves is obtuse at best, and frankly, setting themselves up for nothing but misery.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: ‘Super Bowl or bust’ mindset good for Cowboys players, not for fans
