Dak Prescott’s been good, however the Cowboys want nice to win the Tremendous Bowl they so desperately covet

Dak Prescott is an effective quarterback. So was Tony Romo earlier than him.

The Dallas Cowboys want a terrific one, although. You can attain, not to mention win, a Tremendous Bowl with a Joe Flacco or perhaps a Nick Foles. It’s an entire lot simpler to take action with a Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes or Peyton Manning.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones doesn’t draw back from a singular aim – profitable all of it. He isn’t right here for fruitless journeys to the divisional spherical, despite the fact that that’s all Dallas has managed the final 27 years. Sunday’s bitter 19-12 defeat to San Francisco was the most recent.

“We’re sick,” Jones mentioned after. “We’re sick.”

So what’s the treatment?

Prescott isn’t the one motive Dallas lost on Sunday. Teaching, mismanagement, accidents and the play of the Niners protection, in fact, all had a hand in it.

But Prescott is the quarterback and the good ones discover methods to make up for deficiencies elsewhere to ship victories. They actually do not set the crew again.

As a substitute, Dak threw two picks on Sunday, which was hardly a shock since his 15 within the common season led the league, regardless of taking part in simply 12 video games. He accomplished simply 23 of his 37 passes for less than 207 yards. He had a landing, but in addition a sack. He missed open receivers, misinterpret open routes and by no means elevated his sport when it mattered. He doesn’t run like he used to, both by design or as a consequence of previous accidents or each.

Dak had two probabilities to tie the sport late within the fourth quarter solely to go three-and-out after which oversee a drive that appeared as organized as a Jackson Pollock portray. It’s the second consecutive 12 months the Cowboys season ended in comedic fashion.

Once more, not all his fault, however that’s when the good ones simply go win the sport. In final 12 months’s playoffs, Mahomes led Kansas Metropolis to a game-tying discipline aim in 13 seconds flat.

Dallas is fortunate to snap the ball that shortly.

“Guys performed their asses off, protection gave us a possibility to win this sport, performed exhausting towards a extremely, actually good offense,” Prescott mentioned. “For us to place up the factors we did, that’s unacceptable. And that begins with me. I’ve bought to be higher.”

That is the undeniably nice a part of Dak Prescott. He’s a frontrunner, a standup famous person. He shoulders the blame even when play-calling and vast receiver effort (let alongside expertise) may very well be used as scapegoats.

He’s all the things you need in a Dallas Cowboys quarterback. Effectively, besides the “nice” half. He’s now 2-4 in playoff video games. The identical report as Romo.

Dallas is married to him for now. Prescott nonetheless has two years left on a contract that averages $40 million. And whereas Jones famous that turnovers have been the distinction towards the 49ers, he’s nonetheless an proprietor/basic supervisor who has lengthy proven he’ll run this crew together with his coronary heart.

And he nonetheless loves Dak Prescott.

“I wish to be proper again right here [next year] with the identical hand, the identical alternative, with Dak because the quarterback, and go get it,” Jones mentioned. “… if we’ve bought him at quarterback, I’ll take my probabilities.”

Prescott is likely one of the Cowboys’ finest tales. A fourth-round pick of Mississippi State, he seized the job from Romo, himself an unlikely star out of Japanese Illinois. Dak was offensive rookie of the 12 months in 2016 and a Professional Bowler that 12 months and 2018. He was an immediately likable determine.

He’s put collectively some spectacular seasons, together with avoiding interceptions – simply 4 as a rookie. But he’s been erratic at occasions and the turnovers have develop into an enormous downside.

He’ll flip 30 this offseason, and with age and a damaged leg that reduce his 2020 season brief, he isn’t the bulldozing runner he as soon as was. His first three years within the league, he ran for six touchdowns a season. He’s had simply two, complete, because the harm.

What you anticipate from a quarterback in the midst of what must be the prime of his profession – not younger, however not but previous – is a greater appreciation on tips on how to play the place and tips on how to keep away from the errors to win video games, if not make the performs that get it carried out.

That, greater than something, is what Prescott is lacking. A 3.8 interception share, or a 23-15 TD to INT ratio, isn’t going to chop it. Not this 12 months. Not any 12 months.

The Dallas protection was adequate to nonetheless be taking part in. It didn’t want so much. As a substitute it was San Francisco that rode that method with rookie Brock Purdy to the NFC championship sport in Philadelphia on Sunday.

Prescott might solely vow to do higher sooner or later. And Dallas might solely hope it’s true, or else the divisional spherical is perhaps the ceiling for this membership.

The Cowboys have their franchise quarterback, however they’ve been ready for him to indicate that he’s nice, not simply good.

And thus far, he’s solely been so good.