Parsons hoping to end Cowboys' Super Bowl drought: 'This gotta be the year'

The Dallas Cowboys haven't won the Super Bowl in more than two decades, but All-Pro defender Micah Parsons is optimistic the team will end its championship drought this season.

"You just feel it in the room," Parsons told Jon Machota of The Athletic. "Everybody is like, 'This gotta be the year.' Each year I've been here, we've gone a little bit further. Now, I'm hoping we ain't gotta make no small jump to the NFC (title game) and then go home. I'm hoping we go all the way."

The Cowboys, who drafted Parsons 12th overall in 2021, have posted a 12-5 record in each of the last two seasons. Dallas reached the divisional round last season but fell to the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys haven't made the big game since winning Super Bowl XXX in January 1996.

Parsons believes Dallas' defense is ready to help the team lift the Lombardi Trophy again. The Cowboys acquired former All-Pro corner Stephon Gilmore this offseason and drafted first-round defensive lineman Mazi Smith, adding them to a defensive unit that also brings back all of its key players after ranking fifth in points allowed in 2022.

"We all know how each other plays. We know how to communicate with each other," Parsons said. "Just like anything in a relationship, whether you're starting from ground zero, you got to learn how to build the base of how each other works. That history is going to be great. And I think that was the difference with that Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl-winning team in 2000). They all came back and were like, 'If (the opponent) can't score, they can't win.' I'm hoping that we have one of those special teams this year."

Parsons has put on a show since entering the NFL, winning Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021 and finishing second for Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. The 24-year-old has racked up 26.5 sacks in 33 career regular-season games.