DALLAS — Is Dak Prescott up for this task? The 99-plus passer ratings say, “Well, yeah, mostly.’’ The money in his contract shouts, ”Most definitely.” And the problems with the surgically repaired leg that were an issue at this time a year ago appear to be a thing of the past.
Still, this is a mighty tall task the Cowboys (and the NFL’s schedule-maker) have placed on his shoulders.
Dallas opens the 2022 season with two home games — both nice and somewhat unusual — but the opponents played in the last two Super Bowls. And that’s the good news/bad news part of this challenge. The last time the Cowboys began a season in such fashion (not both home games) was 1993 when they lost to Washington and Buffalo while Emmitt Smith sat in Florida and waited for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to pay him. The rest of that story, naturally, is that the Cowboys cruised to another Lombardi Trophy, winning back-to-back Super Bowls for the only time in franchise history.
Prescott’s team, despite a 12-5 record and an NFC East title a year ago, is not that team. And Dak has been short-changed not only with the receiving weapons now at his disposal but with the linemen in position to protect him.
Much has been made about the new receivers in town. Curiosity abounds as to which ones will step up and be featured. But the reality is that wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, tight end Dalton Schultz and running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard will get the bulk of Prescott’s attention — Pollard is even expected to play more slot receiver this season, echoing a role he performed at Memphis — and that should be fine. If rookie Jalen Tolbert isn’t ready to fill Michael Gallup’s role in September, that’s OK. Gallup himself will be showing up soon enough.
The problem with the offensive line is entirely different. Guard Zack Martin and tackle Terence Steele are the only ones ready to earn high grades and we may be overstating things with Steele. No one is coming to the rescue unless you’re talking about Tyron Smith with maybe five or six games left in the season.
In the meantime, Dak gets to tee it up against six Super Bowl quarterbacks this season. The ones who have earned their own rings start with Tom Brady, who might be trying to stick around for a thumb ring. He already has seven for his fingers. The Rams’ Matthew Stafford and Packers’ Aaron Rodgers bring more Dallas Super Bowl connections — Stafford is from here and Rodgers beat the Steelers here — to the 2022 Lombardi Trophy parade.
In Week 2, the Cowboys face the Cincinnati Bengals, who could not quite close the deal against Stafford’s Rams despite leading in the fourth quarter. Still, Joe Burrow in his second season won as many playoff games as Dallas has managed this century (three).
In addition to Stafford and Rodgers, let’s not forget that the Cowboys will face quarterbacks with Super Bowl experience when they play Detroit and Indianapolis. Jared Goff steered the Rams there after the 2018 season, and Matt Ryan has mostly forgettable Super Bowl memories with Atlanta (28-3, anyone?) from the 2016 season.
Then there is the always puzzling matter of trying to quantify Carson Wentz. No one thinks of him in Super Bowl terms these days. But as long as we are talking about achievements, Wentz guided the Eagles to an 11-2 record before being injured in Los Angeles and ending his season. Philadelphia used the home-field advantage he had built to hold off Atlanta, beat up on Minnesota and finally win a Super Bowl over the Patriots with Nick Foles.
I know. Five years later it still doesn’t make any sense.
Regardless, Wentz never fully deserved the praise we gave him and doesn’t completely deserve the disrespect he brings to his third team, the Washington Commanders. Either way, the Cowboys see him twice this season and, when it comes to quarterback battles, he’s almost the least of Prescott’s worries.
This is Year Seven for the once magical Cowboys draft of 2016. While linebacker Jaylon Smith seems like he is long gone and Elliott is trying to hold off reports of his imminent demise, Prescott should be well into the prime of his career. When you look at the Super Bowl resumes of his opponents, Brady and Burrow reached Super Bowls in their second NFL seasons and Goff arrived in his third. Even Rodgers, who sat for three seasons watching Brett Favre, won the Super Bowl here in his sixth NFL season (third as starter).
Prescott is leaning more toward the Matts on this list, if Stafford doesn’t mind that abbreviation. Ryan was in Year Nine in Atlanta when it all came together, and Stafford toiled 12 years in Detroit before winning the Super Bowl in his first season as a Ram.
The point is that Prescott has time, but we also know these virtual windows open and close for teams rather quickly. You have every conceivable type of quarterback success story lined up to play opposite Dak this year. Is the Cowboys’ $40 Million Man poised and equipped to join them? And if not now, when?
