This is getting very concerning now. With Dak Prescott still throwing dreadful interceptions week after week and costing his team against the Jaguars, Cowboys fans should be getting worried about him in the playoffs.
I was hesitant to write this article prior to yesterday’s game as I thought this was just a bad blimp in Prescott’s form. Just like how Josh Allen and the Bills offense suffered through the turnover bug around Thanksgiving and overcame it to go atop the AFC, I thought Prescott and the Cowboys offense would do the same.
Up until yesterday, both teams suffered little damage from their turnover bugs on their record, which was a big reason why I (along with many others) was unconcerned with the turnovers. I mean, Allen and Prescott are two of the best QBs in the league and have the capability of overcoming such a dreadful footballing virus, right? Well, clearly not as now Dak’s poor decisions have cost the Cowboys a vital win.
There’s no way in hell this Cowboys team should have lost that game in the fashion they did against the Jacksonville Jaguars, despite the fact that the Jags are roaring through an impressive winning streak. To lose 17-16 or something similar to that isn’t great, but it is understandable as it would be presumed that the Cowboys defense played well, and the offense struggled to get out of the gate.
Yes, it’s not ideal, but it is fixable as the Cowboys offense has the potential to take their game up a few notches. But that’s not what happened yesterday.
The Cowboys defense was picked apart by Trevor Lawarence (27/42, 318 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT), Travis Ettiene Jr. (19 CAR, 103 yards), and Zay Jones (6 REC, 109 yards, 3 TDs), while Dak Prescott did everything possible to ensure Dallas would lose that game.
The Cowboys were up 21-7 at halftime and were cruising through the game with Ezekiel Elliott (16 CAR, 58 yards, 1 TD), CeeDee Lamb (7 REC, 126 yards), Tony Pollard (19 CAR, 75 yards), and even Dak (23/30, 256 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) finding their strides and dicing through the Jags defense.
The game should have been wrapped up and sealed with a bow as an early Christmas present to all Cowboys fans right then and there…but then Dak started throwing picks.
First, he threw a dreadful ball right into Rayshawn Jenkins gut inside his own 10-yard line, which lead to Lawarence and the Jags scoring an easy TD to get the game to 27-24 in favor of the Cowboys. And, with his confidence clearly shot, the Jags actually managed to take the lead at 31-27 and force Prescott to have to drive the ball 80+ yards to retake the lead back at 34-31.
Now, I don’t want to turn this into a play-by-play of the game, so I’ll skip to the overtime Pick-6.
Again, when Prescott faced pressure from the Jags frontline, he threw an ill-advised pass to a falling down Noah Brown (6 REC, 49 yards, 2 TDs), who then had the ball bounce off his hands and wind up in Rayshawn Jenkin’s gut (once again). And it was a cakewalk to the endzone for the safety with his defensive lineman knocking Prescott out of the way to give the Jags the 40-34 win.
Alright, I don’t want to blame that second INT too much on Dak as Noah Brown has to make that catch, but this slide in form and confidence from the Cowboys QB is extremely worrying. Not only are the playoffs three weeks away, but the Cowboys can’t afford to lose games like this as they are huge momentum killers.
Going into the playoffs with a losing streak or the turnover bug is literally the worst possible thing a team can have happen to them. And that’s exactly what is happening to the Cowboys and Prescott as the QB is strangely panicking under pressure, which was something he very rarely used to do.
I still have faith that Prescott can overcome this lull in confidence and decision making, but he better do it soon or else Jerry Jones’ dreams of winning one last Super Bowl will be dashed once again.
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