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On Sunday, we saw another sizzling passing display from the Dallas Cowboys, bouncing back from a heartbreaking defeat the week before at Philadelphia.
No matter what former players like LeSean McCoy and critics are saying about Dak Prescott, it’s becoming abundantly clear in recent weeks that he’s been something special this year.
That Sunday outing in San Francisco appears to be the rear-view mirror for him right now.
Outside of that game over a month ago, the only thing close to a glaring mistake that Prescott made was in the loss to Philadelphia when he stepped out of bounds on a two-point conversion.
That play came back to bite the Cowboys on their final drive when they were in field goal range, trailing by five instead of three.
Put Dak on the ballot
Nobody had Prescott anywhere near the top of the MVP list at the beginning of the season.
Heading into their home contest with the Giants this past weekend, he still wasn’t in the top 10 for MVP candidates on virtually all betting sites.
Predictably, as in many sports, recency bias and team accomplishments seem to trump individual ones despite the fact that the MVP award goes to one person.
Lamar Jackson seems to be the odds-on favourite at this stage, but Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes are in the running, as are Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow.
In his last four games, Dak has been spectacular, tossing a dozen touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Those are just a couple of his impressive stats, though, in recent outings.
The Giants are indeed a disaster on defense, while the Chargers’ and Rams’ secondaries are weak in pass coverage, but you can only play the cards you’re dealt.
The other side of that argument is the Chargers and Rams have some outstanding receivers and quarterbacks capable of putting up some big numbers, which means Prescott goes into those games knowing he has to play lights-out.
That’s not how those two games panned out, but that had to have been the thought going into each of those contests.
Fuel to his fire
Whether it’s all the hate that critics have given him, or the likes of Emmitt Smith saying he wouldn’t extend his contract or the motivation of playing for an extension, Prescott has elevated his game in 2023.
Prescott has turned the ball over fewer times than Hurts, Mahomes and Tua, with Dak only tossing six thus far, one fewer than Jackson.
Mahomes and Hurts may have an edge on Dak in playoff performances, but the MVP trophy is a regular-season award.
Regarding completion percentage, Prescott is up to 70.7% after Sunday, slightly above Jackson, with only the Bills Josh Allen having a higher mark (71.3%) among the top 20 NFL QBs in passing this season.
Jackson may deserve to win the trophy for now, but Prescott deserves a seat at the MVP candidates table.