Cowboys’ Prescott seeks his 1st playoff win vs Wilson, Seahawks
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Russell Wilson won a wild-card game with Seattle as a rookie, a Super Bowl in his second season and another NFC championship the third time around.
The best Dak Prescott can hope for with the Dallas Cowboys is to join Wilson on that list of title winners in his third year, a quest that will start with the first playoff meeting of quarterbacks with quite a bit in common.
Both were mid-round draft picks who became instant NFL success stories. The difference is that Prescott lost his first playoff game after guiding the Cowboys to the top seed in the NFC two years ago, then had to wait two years for his second chance. It comes in a home wild-card game Saturday night.
"When you say success of a quarterback or a quarterback's success depending on what they do in the playoffs, I think that's where the checks are written and they make their money," Prescott said. "Our job is to win no matter what happens, no matter how you played individually. At the end of the day, it's to get the job done."
When Wilson finally missed the playoffs in his sixth season last year, the Seahawks were eliminated on the final weekend — after they bounced Prescott and the Cowboys from contention with a road win in Week 16.
Seattle was 0-2 this year when the season turned on a 24-13 win over the visiting Cowboys (10-6), with the Seahawks following a familiar formula from their Super Bowl days: an efficient Wilson, strong running game and playmaking defense.
The Seahawks (10-6) kept it up despite overhauling the roster, mostly
notably dismantling key pieces of the "Legion of Boom" defense. An important exception has been linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was just selected an All-Pro for the fourth time in five seasons.
"The great thing about this team is the fact that everybody was telling us we couldn't," Wilson said.
In his first three years, Wilson won more games than any other NFL quarterback with 36. Prescott just finished tied for fifth on that list with 32. Two quarterbacks have an NFL-leading 24 games with at least a 100 passer rating in their first three seasons: Wilson and Prescott.
Now it's time for their third — and most meaningful — meeting, with Prescott looking to beat Wilson for the first time.