Could Dak Prescott Lead ‘America’s Team’ Back to Super Bowl Gold?
December 7, 2016
The National Football League is struggling: controversy and boredom, among other factors, have resulted in the lowest viewership numbers in years. As a result, the league has been desperately looking for a spark, hoping that some of the teams that made the NFL a weekend tradition could hopefully put on a captivating show to make football great again.
As week 14 of the 2016 season commences, it is safe to say the Dallas Cowboys, the franchise once deemed “America’s Team”, have answered that call, though not at all in the way fans expected — the loss of a starting quarterback and the birth of a new star has caused a stir of excitement in the once faltering league.
After finally returning to Dallas football practices last week following a severe back injury, Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo was in for a rude awakening when he learned his backup, Dak Prescott, would continue to play quarterback in his place.
Romo suffered a serious fracture in his lower back during an August 25th preseason game against the Seahawks, an injury that fans (at the time) marked as an early end to the struggling Cowboys. In a desperate effort to compete while Romo was out, Dallas management reluctantly placed rookie Dak Prescott into the starting QB position.
14 weeks into the NFC season, coaches are now refusing to take Prescott out.
With 19 touchdowns, 2,974 cumulative carrying yards, and only two interceptions the entire season, Dak Prescott has exceeded expectations from coaches and fans. His passion, alongside notable teammates such as famed Ezekiel Elliott and Dez Bryant, helped create one of the best offenses in the league.
Indeed, Dallas is the top ranked team in the NFC East, and after their triumph over the Minnesota Vikings last Thursday night, the Cowboys keep their winning streak, and have managed to go nearly undefeated, losing only one game thus far in the official season.
For Tony Romo, these are bittersweet victories. As long as the Cowboys continue to perform under Dak Prescott’s leadership, Romo will continue his solemn stance on the sidelines. During a press conference, Romo stated that “Dak Prescott, and what he’s done, he’s earned the right to be our quarterback… as hard as that is for me to say, he’s earned that right. He’s guided our team to an 8-1 record [as of week 9], and that’s hard to do.”
But leading an already incredible offense to an exceptional record is different than taking home a Super Bowl win. Going to the Super Bowl would likely mean facing potentially mightier foes, such as the New England Patriots, a team that beat Dallas 30-6 during their previous match up; other teams also have the potential of wiping out Dallas as well.
But as some fans point out and Dak Prescott proves, stranger things have happened this season. Who’s to say a Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl win couldn’t be America’s next big upset?
Yet, the question remains: Can Dak Prescott, a rookie quarterback, carry the franchise once dubbed ‘America’s Team’ back to Super Bowl stardom? The Cowboys are now in a better position to climb that mountain than they have been for years. A stellar offense, a competitive defense, a standout ranking, seemingly unstoppable momentum, and now a surprisingly valuable quarterback could create the perfect combination.
Simply put, the Cowboys have a very strong chance of going to the Super Bowl this year if Dak Prescott can continue to live up to his newfound reputation and the newfound faith in the Cowboys.
Even if Tony Romo has to continue to wear a coach’s headset.
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Are you a Cowboys fan? Or a non-believer in Dak Prescott? What is your Super Bowl 2017 prediction? Let us know in the comment section.
Creative Commons photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/29774768085/
Harlan Thomajan • Dec 8, 2016 at 1:45 pm
As a Patriots fan, I don’t see the Cowboys winning Super Bowl LI. Sure they have the best record in the NFl, but it’s the lack of experience that makes me think they won’t win. Prescott and Elliot are rookies with only 12 games under their belt right now. The defense on the Cowboys is only mediocre at best. The defense is constantly effected with suspensions. The offensive line is making them win right now period. They do have the best offensive line in the NFL, but that can only do so much. Once there in the playoffs, there will be so much pressure on Prescott. The difference in what makes a player good from great, is they can execute under pressure. That is asking a lot from theses two rookies. They are special I’ll give you that, but they don’t have experience. Take the Seahawks for example, sure they struggle sometimes but they have a talented team with players who have experience. The Giants are always a surprise, they know how to win even if their the underdog. That’s coming from a Pats fan. I think the Giants will eliminate them in the playoffs and they are familiar to taking down a powerhouse.
The bottom line is, many teams can do good in the regular season and not finish the job in the post season. A lack of experience will do that to you.
Devin Bright • Dec 7, 2016 at 8:05 pm
Coming from a Rams fan, it is safe to say that the cowboys will win a game or two in the playoffs, do I think they will make the super bowl? No. The competition in the NFC will eventually catch up to Prescott and Co. because the playoffs are a completely different environment than the regular season. The Seahawks are starting to get hot again, along with the Lions, and the surprising Buccaneers. Also, a team that can shut down the Cowboys run game will have a very high chance at beating them because they rely on the run heavily to get dak to throw the ball, if you look at the numbers Dak has a pretty average qb rating when zeke does not have a decent run on the down before, it’s only when zeke has a decent run on the down before that he throws the ball exceptionally well, so if you shut down the run game then Dak will be forced to throw the ball more and he will eventually start to make mistakes especially in a playoff environment.
Will Park • Dec 7, 2016 at 7:02 pm
No. They will not win the super bowl this year. If you look at he beginning of the season, they had a winning formula down. The offense with its dominate running attack was eating away the time of possession from the other team and leeching the clock down. Their defense, which has lost key pieces like Randy Gregory and Rolando McClain to suspensions and let go of Greg Hardy, as controversial as he was, in the off season, their best past rusher. They don’t have a very good pass rusher and their not very talented corners are overachieving. Now this was fine in the first half of the season because they were having the balk so much, their defense was fresh enough to hold their own against opposing offenses. However, the last few weeks, ear time of possession is slipping as they let Dak pass it more. This causes their talent devoid defense to have o play more, and while it may work against lesser opponents, it will not work in the playoffs. Three of their last four games have been decided by less than a TD with the other one being because he team did not play to its strengths and panicked. They may drop a game this week against a giants team comininto its own. Even with Jason Pierre Paul out, they still have a run stuffing DT in Snacks Harrison and a lock down corner in Janoris Jenkins, along with an upper tier pass rusher in Olivier Vernon. Even if they survive this week, their weaknesses will be exposed which could lead to coaches taking advantage of those in the playoffs. A rookie slip up could cost them the season in the playoffs as well, as they could face dominate defenses like Seattle, or Minnesota, who came close to beating them earlier, or even Arizona if they somehow squeeze into the playoffs. If they make it to the Super Bowl, they then may face a dominate AFC west defense like KC or Denver. So no, I do not expect them to win the big game this year.
Will Park • Dec 11, 2016 at 8:35 pm
I called it. I so called it. They dropped a game to the giants.
Andrew Shireman • Dec 7, 2016 at 5:22 pm
As a packers fan, it is hard to admit that any other team is better, but the pack is third in the nfc west so it is time to face the facts. The dallas cowboys are the nfc favorite. There is, of course, contention with other powerhouses. The seahawks are on a powerful streak and are looking as scary as 2014, the falcons with 2nd in passing yards matt ryan and first in recieving yards julio jones, but ezekial elliot leading the league in rushing yards as a rookie, with numerous touchdowns (both rushing and recieving), and dak prescott easily top 10 in the mvp race, it is a scary duo. Also, they have dez bryant as a deep ball threat with sean lee, barry church, and orlando scandrick causing turnovers on the defense. The cowboys are super bowl bound, and will go on to win the super bowl due to the loss of rob gronkowski for the season by the pats, and the raiders just don’t have the power to hold on against the cowboys either. Go ‘boys.
Jared Fontenette • Dec 7, 2016 at 4:59 pm
As a massive Cowboys fan I may be slightly biased but objectively speaking I think it is safe to say the Cowboys will win every game for the next 400 years.