Since Mike McCarthy became the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, he’s consistently preached the same word repeatedly—toughness. The word can seem redundant in a sport that demands players to be physically superior to their opponent across from them to win every game.
NFL teams are, by nature, tough. However, it’s more noticeable when a team lacks toughness, and it gets put into question. The 2021 Cowboys hosted a Wild Card game against the San Francisco 49ers and lacked the mental and physical toughness to beat a team that was supposed to be inferior to them.