Dak Prescott had a very forgettable night on Sunday as the Cowboys were given a beating for the ages at home by their rival, the Green Bay Packers.
Prescott’s stats for the game look fantastic, and the final score, 48-32, doesn’t look like a proper blowout. But this is one of those instances where numbers will definitely lie to you. The Packers led 48-16 with just under six minutes remaining, and 210 of Prescott’s 403 yards came when the Packers defense was playing loose with the game already in the bag.
The stunning loss left many speculating over the future of head coach Mike McCarthy as well as the status of Prescott himself. After the game, when reporters asked the Cowboys signal-caller about his head coach’s future, Prescott not only defended his coach but also said he should be under scrutiny as well.
“I sucked tonight. That was it,” Prescott said. “We got it going a little bit late, but none of that mattered at that point. Fought. That’s all I really know how to do. But it’s about winning, and it’s about winning in the playoffs and getting to the last game and winning that as well. Yeah, tough.”
Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts as he’s sacked by Keisean Nixon #25 of the Green Bay Packers during an NFL wild-card playoff football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium on January 14, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Prescott continued, “He’s been amazing,” Prescott said of McCarthy. “I don’t know [McCarthy’s future] can be [in doubt], but I understand the business. In that case, it should be about me as well, honestly. That guy, I’ve had the season I’ve had because of him. This team has had the success they’ve had because of him. I understand it’s about winning the Super Bowl, and that’s the standard of the league and damn sure should be the standard of this place. I get it, but add me to the list in that case.”
Prescott is on the “list” whether he requests to be there or not.
The former 4th-rounder who battled his way into the starting job while then-starter Tony Romo was injured has a $59.455 million cap hit next year. It’s a monster number that will not only be hard to sell to fans after yet another massive playoff loss but also a price tag that might concern any head coaching prospects that Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones may want to bring in.
Team owner Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys talked with the media during a press conference at the Ford Center at The Star on January 08, 2020, in Frisco, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
As for Jones’ thoughts on Prescott’s future with the Cowboys? It doesn’t exactly sound promising.
“I really haven’t thought about this at all. So, I won’t comment on it since I haven’t thought about it,” Jones said. “My complete thought for the last several weeks have totally been around anticipating and planning on advancing from this game to another game here at the stadium since we found out we were going to have this home field. So I’m going to back to the complete bottom of my thought process to think about anything other than next week’s game here.”