Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman had high hopes for his old team this season, so much so his weekend is free.

With his ESPN duties finished for the season ahead of conference championship weekend, Aikman had planned for Dallas to be playing this Sunday in Santa Clara.

"I’m free this weekend," Aikman admitted at the Dallas Sports Commission banquet Tuesday night.

"I really anticipated that Dallas would be playing in the championship game. Figured it would be in San Francisco. So I was planning on going to the game, Didn’t book a vacation after my season and so I really liked this team all year long."

Instead, Dallas was bounced out of the playoffs in the Wild Card round, in a 48-32 home loss to the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers. Aikman admitted he felt the Packers' offense could trouble the Cowboys, but not to a point where they'd leave Arlington with a win.

"I thought Green Bay could give them some problems... but I thought that the Cowboys would separate themselves there in the second half and it didn't happen."

Dallas has not made an NFC title game since Aikman was under center during the 1995 season, where "America's Team" went on to win its fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Under head coach Mike McCarthy, who will be back for the 2024 season, Big D has had three straight 12-win regular seasons but hasn't advanced pas the Divisional Round.

"It's the same old story and I don’t mean that as a criticism,” Aikman added. “It’s just when I’m asked about the Cowboys as to why they have struggled, they’ve put together some really great regular seasons and they just have not for whatever reasons [played] their best football when the games matters most.

"That’s what you have to do. That’s the key to winning in the postseason and then getting into the Super Bowl. What the answer to that is, I’m not sure.”