DALLAS -- Troy Aikman paused for a few seconds when asked whether he could envision the Cowboys in a Super Bowl soon.

“It’s a hard one,” Aikman said, “because I think they are so close but so far away.”

The reason Aikman believes it’s possible is because he considers the Cowboys one of the NFL’s most talented teams. That’s an opinion he’s heard from a lot of “football people” around the league as well.

The reason for Aikman’s pessimism is pretty obvious. The Cowboys have won one playoff game in the last 14 seasons and are coming off a 6-10 season. That picture isn’t any sunnier than the Dallas sky the last couple of days.

“Relatively speaking, they haven’t really done much,” Aikman said. “I don’t think it’s right to say they’re knocking on the door when they’re not proven. I think they’ve got to develop some consistency before we continue to talk about them as Super Bowl contenders.”

Aikman is confident that Tony Romo is a good enough quarterback to win a championship. He finds it interesting that Romo’s success in regular seasons is often dismissed because he hasn’t won many playoff games.

As Aikman put it, the current Cowboys are held to a standard that’s higher than what they’ve earned. The clock is ticking for the Cowboys to retain their spot among the NFL’s top franchises.

“I would say that it’s probably time for Dallas,” Aikman said. “It’s time to be considered amongst the elite, and to do that, you have to bring home another Lombardi Trophy.”