Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott silencing critics, writing his own story as MVP favorite
How hot is Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott?
First, he stole a game from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith by leading the Cowboys to 14 points in fourth quarter of Thursday’s 41-35 comeback victory at AT&T Stadium.
And then Prescott co-opted Smith’s classic redemption quote of a year ago and improved it with a spicy mic drop on his critics.
It was Smith, who had gone seven years since last being a starter with New York Jets before becoming Seattle’s starter in 2022, who said “they wrote me off; I ain’t wrote back, though.”
Prescott rewrote the quote after passing for 299 yards and three touchdowns against the Seahawks to continue the hottest streak of his career and becoming a front runner for the NFL’s MVP and continuing to silence his detractors.
“No one’s opinion defines me and that is the great part about life,” Prescott said. That’s the great opportunity that we have, that people can say whatever they want.
“I have the pen; I have the paper; and I am the one writing.”
The redemption story that Prescott is writing comes one year after he led the league in interceptions and had many pundits abd fans not only calling for his job, but questioning his future as the Cowboys/ starting quarterback.
Eleven games into 2023 Prescott has owner Jerry Jones calling him the Pied Piper as the best leader in team history, four-time NFL MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers becoming a huge fan of his play, coach Mike McCarthy calling him a championship quarterback and edge rusher Micah Parsons predicting he is going to lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl.
Prescott, who was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month, completed 68.9 percent of his passes for 1,597 yards with 16 touchdowns and one interception in five games in November.
It’s part of a tear he’s been on the past seven games when he has led the Cowboys to six wins. During that span, Prescott has a passer rating of 121.5 with 2,173 yards passing, 21 touchdowns and two interceptions.
He leads the NFL with 26 touchdown passes on the season. He is second in passer rating and second in completion percentage and he is the highest graded quarterback in the league, per Pro Football Focus.
And now Prescott has the second-best odds to win league MVP.
Before the Seattle game, Prescott was listed at +700 to win NFL MVP at Caesars Sportsbook.
Prescott is now +400 to win MVP, trailing just Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles (+210).
“Dak’s playing great ball, McCarthy said. “It’s fun when, you know, when you’re in this rhythm, he has such great command. And it’s, you know, it’s just the connection with his teammates, you know, on the field, on the line of scrimmage. We’re getting in and out of things seamlessly. We’re playing with a really good pace. And that’s how we want to play, we want to attack and you can only do it with the with the championship caliber quarterback and Dak is that guy.”
McCarthy is not alone in that assertion.
And the critics are not the only getting choice words from Prescott and his hot play.
After finally putting the Cowboys in the lead at 38-35 with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson and two-point conversion to Brandin Cooks with 4:37 left in the game, Prescott came to the sideline and challenged Parsons and the Cowboys defense to make the lead hold up.
He said “turn me the [expletive] up,” according to Parsons.
And right on cue, the Cowboys defense, which had been getting torched for most of the game by Smith and his receivers, came up with two fourth down stops in the final four minutes. The final one was a forced incomplete pass by on-rushing Parsons.
“I’m like, ‘Damn, that [expletive] made me blush a little bit’,” Parsons said. “That’s my quarterback right there.’ That’s always exciting, that energy he brings, that fire. He’s at a different pace. This is the type of quarterback that’s going to win us the Super Bowl.”
It was Jones, who is likely ready to back up a Brinks trunk to Prescott’s house with a record-setting contract extension who also gave his quarterback the ultimate praise in the redemption story that his writing.
Jones said the Parsons’ interaction is an example of why Prescott has surpassed Hall of Famers Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin as the best leader in franchise history.
“We have never had a better leader,” Jones said. “Prescott is the best Pied Piper for everybody. I’m not just talking about the team. I’m talking about the coaches. He is the Pied Piper of the team.”
Jones pointed to Prescott’s play, work ethic as well as what he’s gone through, not just in the NFL with his critics but growing up in a trailer park in small town Louisiana that has shaped him as the right man for the Cowboys and a leading MVP candidate.
“He’s the leader at the right spot. He’s got extraordinary skills. And more important even than all of that is how hard that he works at what he does,” Jones said. “He works harder than anybody we’ve ever known. But the most important thing about all of this is Dak Prescott has had his proverbial butt kicked most of his life and he understands what playing down is because he’s had a lot of down in his life.
When you want to really look at the number one thing in my mind that makes somebody successful, is that they’ve learned how to be down, get their licks, and then turn around and overcome them. That’s what got at quarterback.”
