Even with his career best regular season, Prescott is feeling the heat from the fans for the poor playoffs record.
The Dallas Cowboys great and one of the NFL’s legends, Troy Aikman recently expressed his take on Dak Prescott situation. When the world is cursing Prescott, Aikman has stood by his side. The legendary QB who won the last Super Bowl trophy for the Cowboys, believed that Prescott still has in himself and can still turn the table for the Cowboys with Peyton Manning analogy.
Aikman opened himself up regarding Dallas getting the No. 1 business city for Sports tag. He had to speak about the loss that his former team suffered in the playoffs against the Green Bay Packers. In response to that, the veteran expressed his faith in Prescott.
In an interaction with the Athletic’s John Machota, the former QB said,
I still believe in Dak–Until you do it, there’s always those criticisms. And I know Peyton Manning went through that his first three years, he didn’t win a playoff game, and then you look back on it now and you can’t imagine that anybody questioned whether or not he could win a playoff game.
The comparison between Prescott and Manning seems to be an unnecessary one. Manning indeed took some time to establish his greatness, however, Prescott failed in the most crucial times in his career. His choking has caused a lot of problems for his team. In the wildcard game this year, he was subjected to two interceptions, of which one resulted in a pick-six.
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Though Prescott does not want to be an all-time great, he must need to do the basics as a QB. His contemporary quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts have produced a lot of clutch moments for their teams. While Prescott has failed to ensure that.
More pressure is building on Prescott
After the loss against the Packers, there’s no doubt that ample pressure is building on Dak Prescott’s head. He received a lot of criticism from the fans and even from the relatives of his teammates. From Micah Parson’s brother to CeeDee Lamb’s mother, everyone seems to be wanting Prescott out of Dallas.
Dak Prescott (via Imago)
Aikman, in his interview, also acknowledged that Prescott is going through a lot. The veteran QB argued,
The pressure gets higher as they go into this offseason and next season. Everyone talks about that proverbial window and how long it’s going to stay open, it’s hard in this league to keep it open. We just assume that because these key guys will be back that they’ll continue to play at a high level, win 12 games, and put themselves at that position. It doesn’t always work out that way.
Despite several criticisms from outside, Prescott has always had one thing in his favor. The constant support from his teammates. Parsons single-handedly fought the analyst who criticized him. It will be a newly added problem to Prescott’s list if his teammates go against him.
The Cowboys are in the offseason now. Prescott will now focus on the next. He will be preparing himself. After multiple media scrutiny, veteran owner Jerry Jones decided to retain Mike McCarthy. In the next season, the McCarthy-Prescott duo seems to be in charge again.
