{"id":681779,"date":"2026-01-16T13:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/681779\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T13:00:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T13:00:20","slug":"despite-surrounding-criticism-no-team-has-faith-in-its-qb-like-cowboys-with-dak-prescott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/681779\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite surrounding criticism, no team has faith in its QB like Cowboys with Dak Prescott"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dak Prescott enters the offseason coming off one of the best seasons of his 10-year career<\/a>. He\u2019s healthy, something he couldn\u2019t say after the 2024 season because of hamstring surgery. <\/p>\n

And not only will Prescott get ready to rebound from a 7-9-1 campaign, but he will also move forward in life, as he plans to get married in Italy this summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

None of this prevents the Cowboys quarterback from receiving criticism.<\/p>\n

It was pointed out on social media last week that C.J. Stroud, the Houston Texans\u2019 quarterback, now has more playoff wins than Prescott (3-2). Never mind that Stroud earned his third win against the Steelers<\/a> in an AFC wild card game during which he fumbled five times and threw an interception. <\/p>\n

Cowboys<\/p>\n

Be the smartest Cowboys fan. Get the latest news.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Prescott has to deal with the criticism whether he\u2019s playing in the postseason or not. He seems at peace with it because he can\u2019t change what people say. He doesn\u2019t like it, but he is determined to change the fortunes of a franchise that\u2019s reached 30 years without a Super Bowl title<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take accountability, don\u2019t get me wrong, in so many ways,\u201d Prescott said after the Cowboys\u2019 final regular-season game<\/a>. \u201cThe leader I am, I\u2019m frustrated, always trying to figure out what could I have done better, whether it was conversations here, talking to this guy there, whatever it may be. I still put some of it on myself. Unfortunately, we just didn\u2019t get it done. Yeah, I\u2019m tired of it, sick of it. It won\u2019t change the way I approach this offseason, the way I lead, me just giving this game everything I\u2019ve got to try to change it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big numbers not enough<\/p>\n

A quick recap of the season: Prescott went into the final game of 2025 leading the league in passing yards. No Cowboys quarterback has ever finished a season leading the league in passing yards. The 2025 season concluded with Prescott finishing third with 4,552 yards. <\/p>\n

He led the NFL with 404 completions. He was fourth with 30 touchdown passes. He threw a career-high 600 passes. It was the fourth time he threw for 30 or more touchdowns and for more than 4,000 yards.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) celebrates with tight end Jake Ferguson (87) after they connected on a touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Landover, Md.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The Cowboys\u2019 offense was seventh in points per game, second in total yards and fourth in yards per play. Prescott had two 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t enough. <\/p>\n

You can look toward an inept defense that saw coordinator Matt Eberflus get fired<\/a> at season\u2019s end as a reason for the subpar record. The Cowboys are focusing now on finding Eberflus\u2019 replacement and making sure one of Prescott\u2019s key weapons, wide receiver George Pickens, returns. <\/p>\n

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones speaks with regret that Tony Romo, his quarterback for 10-plus seasons, didn\u2019t win a Super Bowl. In fact, Romo didn\u2019t push the Cowboys to a conference championship game.<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 QB1 is now Prescott, and you begin to hear the owner talk about wasted years. You begin to hear about how much Prescott means to the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI point to Dak and I think we saw what we can have,\u201d Jones said when the season was over. \u201cI think I saw Dak at the best I\u2019ve ever seen him this year. That\u2019s saying a lot because he\u2019s played some great football around here. But first of all, we had him all year, so I\u2019ve seen it. I know I\u2019ve been criticized that we wasted having him all year well, one of the reasons in my mind we had him all year I liked the way [coach] Brian [Schottenheimer] put a plan in for our offense that was a combination of success and a good offense and along with things that took him out of harm\u2019s way in some cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prescott career snapshotSeasonStartsQB recordTeam recordYardsTDsINTsQB Rating20161613-313-33,667234104.92017169-79-7*3,324221386.620181610-610-63,88522896.92019168-88-8*4,902301199.7202052-36-10*1,8569499.620211611-512-54,4493710104.22022128-412-52,860231591.120231712-512-54,516369105.9202483-57-10*1,978118862025177-9-17-9-1*4,552301099.5<\/p>\n

*Missed playoffs<\/p>\n

Faith in their quarterback<\/p>\n

Prescott\u2019s health has been a story every other year. He went the first four seasons without missing a game, but he fractured an ankle in 2020. In 2022, there was a thumb injury. In 2024, a hamstring injury. <\/p>\n

Prescott has pushed back that he\u2019s injury-prone. <\/p>\n

And now going into 2026, he has no health issues to worry about<\/a>. The only concern is getting the Cowboys back to the postseason. For the second time in his career, the Cowboys have missed the postseason in consecutive years. <\/p>\n

He wants that to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, just a 7-9-1 record. It sucks, but it\u2019s the reality,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of good in the season. But it\u2019s not the destination, not the end goal, not where we wanted to be. But thankful for the experience. Thankful for the men in the locker room who gave their all. Coaches each and every week.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not alone. <\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer celebrates with quarterback Dak Prescott (4) after a 24-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFL football game at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Arlington.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, I\u2019m talking to the fan,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI have lived a life of having people say, \u2018Jerry, I want more.\u2019 I expect that. Jerry wants more. If you\u2019re talking in third person, but I know we want more. I want more and my point to you is I think whether you or others would disagree, our best way to get more, our best way to get more is to do what we\u2019re going to be doing over the next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

That starts with finding a new defensive coordinator<\/a> and overhauling a defense that finished 30th in 2025. Re-signing Pickens, running back Javonte Williams<\/a> and edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney<\/a> would also help. Getting impactful players with their two first-round draft picks<\/a> can only add to it.<\/p>\n

Will it be enough to help the Cowboys?<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be blunt, there\u2019s going to be conversations,\u201d Prescott said. \u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019re going to reach out. There\u2019s going to be other topics where I go to them first, right? There will be a lot of communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cowboys are not the only franchise with issues. Nine NFL teams went into the offseason seeking new head coaches. Some, like the Cowboys and their NFC East rival Washington Commanders, sought new defensive coordinators. <\/p>\n

If any NFL team has faith in its quarterback, it\u2019s the Cowboys with Prescott.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s tough for me but one thing that gives me peace, I see the work that actually gets put in,\u201d guard Tyler Smith said. \u201cI know Dak. I know [Cooper] Beebe. I know [Tyler] Booker. I know [Tyler] Guyton. It\u2019s never a question in my mind the dedication of what guys are putting into this and sometimes you don\u2019t get what you want out. But how are you going to respond to that? How you going to respond to hitting that brick wall because not everybody wins a championship in their first year, not everybody wins a championship in their first five years. But when it happens, it happens and it\u2019s only going to happen if you continue to be consistent with your body of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twitter\/X: @calvinwatkins<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Dallas Cowboys 2026 NFL draft checklist: Full list of picks, early mocks and more<\/a><\/p>\n

The Cowboys will have two first-round selections for the first time since 2008 in April\u2019s NFL draft.<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/a>Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes: \u2018I want to be ready for Week 1\u2019 after ACL surgery<\/a><\/p>\n

The former Texas Tech quarterback had surgery in mid-December to\u00a0repair two torn ligaments\u00a0in his left knee.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/a>Former Cowboys WR Michael Irvin to debut new Netflix podcast \u2018The White House\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hall of Famer receiver will tackle current sports news, game analysis, and commentary over two episodes a week.<\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dak Prescott enters the offseason coming off one of the best seasons of his 10-year career. He\u2019s healthy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[2886,230,1370,229,257,2461,7,2883,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-681779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-brian-schottenheimer","9":"tag-cowboys","10":"tag-dak-prescott","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-cowboys","13":"tag-dallascowboys","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-jerry-jones","16":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115904909898152047","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}