Nobody is playing better football right now than Dak Prescott, and Colin Cowherd, the host of The Herd on Fox Sports, made an interesting point on Wednesday afternoon.
He said the Cowboys are primed for a deep playoff run and that Dallas reminds him of two teams that made the Super Bowl with MVP quarterbacks.
The 2015 Carolina Panthers with Cam Newton and the 2016 Atlanta Falcons with Matt Ryan.
Everything is lining up for Prescott to win the MVP, with the injuries to other star quarterbacks and Patrick Mahomes having his worst season in years.
Let’s not kid ourselves; the numbers don’t lie; nobody has played better football over the last seven games than Prescott.
Similarities With The Panthers & Falcons
Cowherd said the 2015 Panthers team reminded him of the Cowboys because of the style of play.
Like the Cowboys, the Panthers were great playing with a lead that year. They both also beat up on the teams they should more than others have.
The Panthers had six double-digit wins in 2015; the Cowboys currently have eight.
As for the 2016 Falcons, Dan Quinn was the head coach running the defense and, as we all know, is the current defensive coordinator for the Cowboys.
A star receiver leads both. CeeDee Lamb for the Cowboys and Julio Jones was for Atlanta that season.
Cowherd’s best point about this comparison is how similar Prescott’s 2023 season is to Ryan’s MVP season in 2016.
Prescott and Ryan had a heavy turnover season the year before their breakout season.
Ryan threw 16 interceptions the year before he won the MVP, and as we know, Prescott had his worst turnover season last year when he threw 15.
Prescott in 12 games in 2022: 261 of 394, 2,860 yards, 23 touchdowns, 15 interceptions.
Prescott in 12 games in 2023: 288 of 411, 3,234, 26 touchdowns, 6 interceptions.
The Panthers and the Falcons lost the Super Bowl, but the point remains. Prescott is playing at an MVP level, and this Cowboys team has a real chance of doing something in January.
Prescott is a very good quarterback that is having a great year.
We have a long way to go, but Prescott can make a statement over these next four games, starting with the Eagles tomorrow.
Even if Dallas wins three of the following four against Philly, Buffalo, Miami, and the Lions, I firmly believe Prescott will win the MVP.
That is the problem, though; as much as I would love to see him win the award, I don’t care about a regular-season award; I want to see this team at least make a conference championship.
This is the first year Prescott could do it himself if needed. I do believe that.
Cowherd has been hesitant to elevate the Cowboys from a “good” team, yet he has them in his current Super Bowl bubble, and if they can take care of business Sunday, they are going to start to make a lot of people believe that this team is different.
I am starting to think they are different, we haven’t seen a team do what they are doing since maybe the 2014 team.