I don't think anyone has said that.
In my opinion, high-end cards should be for pushing 1440p, 4K and 120Hz screens. You shouldn't need a high-end card for 1080p. But these days both sides expect you to run multiple cards if you want to be "high end". A single 290/980 isn't even the pinnacle it was in years gone by. Add the cost of all that up; it's mind-boggling how much some people have spent.
Now, sadly, the fact is that none of the mid-range cards will do 1080p at 60FPS in every game. You need to step up to a 970 or 290 just for consistently playable frame rates at 1080p in some games.
And the 960 will not be improving that situation. It will still be under-powered even for 1080p, just as the 280 is (I have a 280X @ 1080p, it struggles with things like Metro).