Crashing the big party

Crashing the big party

Super Bowl XLV is a dream matchup for Steelers and Packers fans. For Jerry Jones and his Cowboys, it's become a nightmare

Jeff Kowalski got a taste of what Super Bowl week will be like when he went shopping in the north Dallas suburb of McKinney.

"There was a guy in there wearing a Cheesehead and a Packers jersey," Kowalski said. "I was like, 'Are you kidding me? It's already started.' This matchup is killing me."

For Kowalski and other Dallas Cowboys fans, Super Bowl XLV is a tough sell. Not only does it feature teams that have dealt the Cowboys plenty of misery, but it can be argued the presence of the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers on the NFL's biggest stage, with $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium as the backdrop, casts Jerry Jones and his franchise in a bad light.

"It's a matchup that certainly illustrates what the Cowboys aren't doing well lately," said John Eisenberg, a former Dallas sportswriter and the author of the book Cotton Bowl Days: Growing up with Dallas and the Cowboys in the 1960s.

Winners of three Super Bowls in a four-year span in the 1990s, the Cowboys lag far behind the Steelers and Packers when it comes to consistent, winning football.

Painful reminder

Dallas has won just two playoff games in the past 15 seasons, an embarrassment for a proud franchise that owns five Super Bowl titles. When the Packers and Steelers square off Feb. 6 in Arlington, the teams will have combined for six Super Bowl appearances in the past 15 seasons.

"I can't speak for the Packers, but the Steelers' attitude is that they are going to try to be successful every season instead of going through the kind of down cycle that the (San Francisco) 49ers and the Cowboys have gone through," said Rob Ruck, who teaches sports history at the University of Pittsburgh.

Jones said all the right things last week when asked about the matchup. Still, it's hard to believe he'll be comfortable with all those Cheeseheads and Terrible Towels surrounding him.

"I'm real excited," Jones told reporters at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. "We had dreamed of maybe being the first team to ever play in our own Super Bowl. We sure stunk that up. So now we're going to try to put on the best Super Bowl."

Dallas, which finished 6-10 this season after a 1-7 start, lost two Super Bowls to Pittsburgh in the 1970s. Green Bay's wins over the Cowboys in the 1960s prevented them from playing in Super Bowls I and II.

Unlike the Cowboys under Jones, the Steelers possess an undeniable identity. Year after year, it's their goal to employ a bruising running game and punishing defense.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, undergo a transformation with every coaching change, and there have been plenty under Jones.

All sizzle, no steak

"The biggest question is: Who are the Dallas Cowboys? What are you and who are you, and what and who are you trying to be?" NFL Network analyst Joe Theismann said. "Those questions haven't necessarily been answered, although I think it will change with Jason Garrett as their coach."

Eisenberg believes the Cowboys have an identity, albeit one that has nothing to do with winning.

"They are really good at the glitz, the sell," Eisenberg said. "Jones is great at putting on a show. Win, lose or draw, it's a show."

Cliff Harris, the hard-hitting safety who earned six trips to the Pro Bowl during a career with Dallas that spanned the 1970s, also suggested the Cowboys have more glamour than grit.

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