On October 8, while playing the San Francisco 49ers away from home, Dak Prescott was unable to perform well at all.
In a career spanning 116 regular season and postseason games, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback was sacked three times, had a 51.6 rating (the sixth-worst of his career), and threw three interceptions, which tied for the worst in the league.
Prescott told reporters following the 42-10 loss that “this may be the most humbling game I’ve ever been a part of.” The Cowboys, who are always the talk of the town and the NFL, lost 3-2 and had many people wondering what went wrong.
That loss appears to be an exception rather than the start of a worrying pattern. The Cowboys have won seven of the last eight games, including the previous five, since that time. Prescott has also recovered and given excellent performances. In fact, he’s been so good that he’s emerged as a strong contender for Most Valuable Player.
As per RotoWire’s compilation of odds from DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM, Prescott is the clear favorite for MVP. In those three sportsbooks, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is not far behind. Prescott and Purdy are co-favorites at +150 odds on PointsBet, which means a $100 wager would return $150.
The Cowboys have only had one MVP winner—running back Emmitt Smith in 1993—despite having won five Super Bowls, which ties them for third most in NFL history, and thirty-two Pro Football Hall of Famers, which ties them for second most.
Roger Staubach, who came in second in 1971, is the highest-finishing quarterback in Cowboys history when it comes to MVP voting. Staubach finished fifth in 1979 and fourth in 1978 as well. Since then, the only Dallas quarterbacks to receive MVP votes are Danny White (fifth in 1982), Troy Aikman (fifth in 1993), Tony Romo (fourth in 2014), and Prescott (sixth in 2016).
The Cowboys selected Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, and he received his lone MVP vote during his rookie campaign. Prescott was named the starting quarterback that year after Romo suffered a back injury in the preseason.
Prescott led the Cowboys to an 8-1 record while Romo recovered, forcing Romo to acknowledge that Prescott has “earned the right to be our quarterback.” He has earned that right, as difficult as it is for me to say. In the season finale, Romo participated in just one game and completed three of four passes before retiring.
Since then, Prescott has solidified his position as the starting quarterback, amassing impressive stats but also drawing criticism—particularly in light of the Cowboys’ postseason shortcomings.
Only two of Prescott’s six playoff victories have come during his career, and the Cowboys have never gone past the divisional round. Dallas has not hosted an NFC championship game since the Cowboys’ last Super Bowl victory in January 1996, so the team’s difficulties are not new.
Nevertheless, Prescott is the most well-known athlete in sports, so he has occasionally been the target of much ridicule for Dallas’s postseason failures.
On January 16, Prescott led the Cowboys to a 31-14 wild card victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by completing 25 of 33 passes for 305 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. However, in a 19-12 season-ending loss at San Francisco six days later, he only completed 23 of 37 attempts for 206 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
After the game, Prescott told reporters, “It’s unacceptable for us to put up the points that we did. I am the first to do it. I have to get well.” There’s no way to put it mildly.
With the exception of the October loss against the 49ers, Prescott’s play this season has been on par with his career since joining the league. He’s completed 69.3% of his passes for 3,505 yards (fourth in the NFL) and 28 touchdowns (first), ranking him fourth overall. His quarterback rating (74.6) and passer rating (107.5) are both second only to Purdy’s.
If the season ended today, the 49ers and Cowboys, who both have 10-3 records, would be seeded first and second in the NFC playoffs. There are still four games left for each of them, but it appears that Prescott and Purdy are in a two-way race for MVP. Before the playoffs start, the MVP is voted on.
Being the first quarterback in Cowboys history to win MVP would be a significant achievement for Prescott. Still, if Prescott can guide the team to a deep postseason run, Dallas fans will be even more thrilled.