Bill coming due for Dak
Can $40 million man deliver with NFC East title on the line?
A month ago the 6-2 Dallas Cowboys and 2-6 Washington Football Team were not mentioned in the same sentence unless it was a simple discussion of membership in the NFC East. As of Sunday at noon Dallas time, they are … in a fight for the division?
Suddenly they are not quite so different, these 8-4 Cowboys and 6-6 Teamers. With two head-to-head battles in 15 days, Washington can take over the division lead. That's more of a mathematical thing than a reality, it seems, but Dallas has to at least recognize Washington already has done two things the Cowboys couldn't in 2021.
Beat Tampa Bay and beat Las Vegas.
When you try to assess the reality of the situation — the Cowboys getting healthier with the addition of defensive end Randy Gregory, Washington losing athletic tight end Logan Thomas to injury and pass rusher Montez Sweat to COVID-19 — matters seem to be pointing in Dallas' direction.
And nothing points more strongly in the Cowboys' favor than the matchup at quarterback.
I mean, we still believe that, right?
Dak Prescott is the $40
Million Man and Taylor Heinicke is the former St. Louis Battlehawk. That doesn't look to be much of a duel on paper, although Washington's younger journeyman — Heinicke has been in four NFL camps — has thrown seven touchdowns and just two interceptions in the four-game winning streak and is more likely to make a play with his legs than Prescott these days.
Still, Dak is Dak. Trips to ugly, muddy Fedex Field do not faze him. He has faced Washington eight times and
directed Dallas to a 7-1 record with 13 touchdown passes and one interception. While he lost to Alex Smith, he has beaten the likes of Kirk Cousins, Colt Mccoy and Case Keenum (Dak missed the Dwayne Haskins Era) and seems perfectly capable of doing what’s needed to secure the victory against Team Heinicke on Sunday.
Why so many doubts about Dak? Why does every misfire (and there aren’t that many when you’re fourth in the league in completion percentage) lead to an open forum on where Dak is headed and whether he can lead this team to the Super Bowl?
I think that’s simply the price one pays for outsmarting the Cowboys at the negotiating table and landing yourself a contract comparable mostly
to Super Bowl winners. Those dollars come with their own price tag. You need to supply the stats and wins to go with them.
Along with that, there’s not much question that Dak was off his game in windy Kansas City and even made some curious throws in the climatecontrolled Superdome last week that kept the outmanned Saints involved longer than Dallas liked.
Regardless, he’s seventh in the league in passer rating, and the Cowboys still rank No. 1 in total offense, even while floundering in the run game and suffering without Amari Cooper for two weeks in the passing game. Along those lines — and this won’t sit well with the Dak doubters — the Cowboys quarterback is only marginally, and perhaps temporarily, removed from the league MVP discussion.
When you look at the
short list ahead of Prescott in passer rating, Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson play for losing teams. They’re out. After a hot start, the Rams’ Matthew Stafford fared badly in all of LA’S losses. Unless the Rams win at Arizona on Monday and steal the West back from the Cardinals, he’s out. The same is probably true for Kyler Murray, who has been exceptional but missed three games with injury. The Cardinals went 2-1 without him.
For all practical purposes, it’s the old guys — Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers — fighting it out for the award. That’s today. There’s almost a third of the season to be played.
If the Cowboys beat up on division foes for the next three weeks to get to 11-4 and re-establish their place in the chase for the top seed in the NFC — and the presumption is that
the passing attack would have to be a big reason for that success — are you telling me Dak wouldn’t return to the MVP discussion as the Cowboys prepare for their big Jan. 2 date with the Cardinals?
The point is that just as much as Washington has given itself a chance in recent weeks and can go about its business and win the East without help from others, everything is still on the table for Dak and the Cowboys despite their 1-3 November that raised all of those doubts.
If the Cowboys’ stumbles were the result of injuries, illness and inadequate preparation against Denver, that will make itself evident as the Cowboys shred their way through inferior NFC East opponents the rest of December.
Then Dak can address that for which he’s now paid to do. And that’s win big games in January.