After a remarkable, inconceivable, statement-made run, America’s Team is now undeniably favored to reach the Super Bowl, only two wins away from a trip to Houston for a night at a championship game that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been a part of several times when he had triplets running wild at Jerry’s World playground. In a new era, he has given life to more triplets, watching them grow up to be Cowboys in a town where fans worship football, enamored with a storied franchise that has had its fair share of triumph and some of the most enjoyable title victories that fans will forever remember.
He couldn’t have reached the divisional game without one of his triplets Dak Prescott as his quarterback. He couldn’t have gone this deep into the season without an explosive running game from rookie star Ezekiel Elliott, another triplet of his having way too much fun playing a kid’s game. The father of these Cowboys lavishes his children and pampers them by giving them the big bucks. Mr. Jones wants to finally win a Super Bowl and bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Dallas.
All season, every critic, every detractor doubted these Cowboys and said they had no chance of reaching the Super Bowl with a rookie quarterback. Prescott has reinvented the Cowboys. He’s been nothing short of stupefying in leading Dallas to a 13-3 record when no one expected Dallas to essentially contend for a playoff berth with a young quarterback who has shown staying power. He’s now a resident of a colossal palace in Arlington, Texas, at Jerry’s house, becoming a household name in a community that had been longing for a franchise quarterback. So now, there’s no question Prescott is here to stay.
An unflappable, polished Prescott hosts a red-hot Aaron Rodgers in the latest installment of Packers-Cowboys on Sunday afternoon for what has the makings of an NFC playoff classic. It’s certainly possible that Prescott, who can handle any kind of pressure, delivers a game for the history books. If he could guide the Cowboys to a Super Bowl in his first season — if he notches a few more victories with zero playoff experience, which would be pretty impressive, and provide the offensive firepower as arguably the best rookie signal-caller, he’d emerge as the only first-year QB to start and win a title. When he was named a starter and stepped in the huddle, Dak looked poised and ready for the challenge that came with moving into his new role as a starting quarterback. He commanded the respect of his teammates, formed relationships, assimilated himself both inside the locker room and on the turf rather quickly and took control of the most prominent sports franchise.
Finally, with no looking back, an egomaniacal Jones trusts someone else other than an injury-riddled Tony Romo, who is healthy and available to play. At last, Jones is turning to a young gun who takes care of the ball and hardly makes mistakes, realizing that he has a far brighter future than an overpaid Romo. Unfazed by a game of this magnitude, Dak is on the cusp of doing something this January that hasn’t yet been accomplished in NFL history. If only he could maintain the kind of consistency entering these playoffs that highlighted an extraordinary season in just one year, with a chance to blossom into a premier quarterback with a franchise that has groomed a slew of legends and bask in the glory of triumphant victories.
Expect Prescott to be at his best in these playoffs, assuming he summons every ounce of confidence and determination as he rides a playoff journey that could be historic. It’s hard, while a vast majority of fans are cynical and skeptical, to forecast what would and could happen in the postseason, but as electric and supreme as these Cowboys have been all season — especially if Dak is efficient in his playoff debut — their phenom could finish his stellar season in the NFL taking snaps in the most significant game on Feb. 5 in Houston. Not once, in 50 years, has a rookie quarterback mastered such an achievement.
What’s more the Cowboys, owned by an ego-driven man whose team couldn’t avoid status as football’s laughingstock, are in good position to return to prominence with a rookie quarterback finding completions, scrambling and running, making plays, extending plays and playing smart. Anyone who thinks he’s not worthy of being named in the same breath with New England’s Tom Brady and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan is inaccurate and wrong. In fairness, we can compare Prescott to two of the league’s best quarterbacks, when he finished the 2016-’17 campaign with the third best passer rating in the league, behind only Brady and Ryan.
He is playing close to perfection as anyone can play. He was brilliant — almost perfect — especially when the stakes were high, and quickly gained national regards on every major sports network. We were amazed by him showing flashes of maturity and veteran-like savvy to change the vibe in a locker room, where chemistry took shape and players learned to naturally gel.
It makes life much easier that he plays behind the best offensive line in the league, with the presence of star running back Zeke and electric receiver Dez Bryant. With a dynamic runner and a loaded receiver corp, more than enough weapons to cause an apocalypse around the league, he is capable of delivering jaw-dropping performances because of his dedication, good footwork and amazing arm that leave us stunned in silence.
From this point on, Prescott is Jones’ guy, moving into a brighter and more promising future. It has been yet an unbelievable ride for the Cowboys, who’ve turned over the franchise to the dangerous triplets — Dak, Zeke and Dez. This weekend, for a team that’s chasing history and looking to be holding up a trophy in a few weeks, Prescott can’t wait to play the biggest game of his career, expected to bring his energy and stick to his game plan. He’s not feeling any pressure, yet he’s starting in a meaningful game, one that could catapult the Cowboys to superstardom, jump starting a new era for a franchise that finally doesn’t seemed dogged by the quarterback position.
This isn’t only America’s Team. This is Dak’s Team.
