Dak Prescott blamed for Cowboys loss, but there’s a lot to do

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Dak Prescott will never lead a team to a Super Bowl, but the truth is he shouldn’t have to.

Many less accomplished quarterbacks have won the Lombardi Trophy simply by being proficient on the right team at the right time, and it’s not like their varying degrees of stability have helped the Dallas Cowboys this season.

Be honest: Even after Prescott’s undeniable stench in Sunday’s loss to San Francisco, would you rather have had Nick Foles under center? How about Joe Flacco, or Brad Johnson, or Trent Dilfer?

Put one of those Super Bowl winners in their absolute bonuses in place of Prescott, and the Cowboys might not even make it out of the first round. If as a group they share one attribute that Prescott lacks, it’s not his ability. Over the course of his career, he has a higher quarterback rating (97.8) than any of them.

It’s not necessarily a clutch issue either. His rating in six playoff games (92.3) is higher than that of Flacco, Johnson, Dilfer or two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning in their playoff careers.

But if you think those guys had something that Prescott doesn’t, you’re right. They were all lucky to land with a franchise where they surrounded themselves with excellence.

So while the easiest way to look at the Cowboys’ latest meltdown is to say that Prescott just wasn’t good enough, his folly to think he’s the biggest problem in an organization whose streak of series chess now spans more than a quarter of a century.

Instead, Prescott is just the highest-ranking member of the team likely to be held accountable for his failures.

We know the general manager, the architect of an astonishing 27 consecutive roster designs that failed the conference championship game, isn’t going to lose his job. After all, if Jerry Jones hasn’t fired himself yet, he never will.

Coach Mike McCarthy shouldn’t face any consequences either. Say what you will about Jones, but he’s loyal to those who are loyal to him.

That leaves Prescott as the guy who will spend the next eight months enduring the harshest criticism and toughest questions, because pinpointing exactly what he did wrong is easier than spending more time stalking. dwell on the inertia of the Cowboys’ front office.

Prescott was no good against the 49ers. His two interceptions were mystifying. He missed at least a few big play chances, including one that could have gone to TY Hilton for a touchdown. And he was topped by the rookie who was selected with the final pick in the NFL Draft last spring.

After seven seasons, it’s safe to say that Prescott will never become Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes. He’s not the kind of guy who makes you a title contender just by showing up to training camp. He needs a lot of help, like almost every quarterback in the league.

Yes, the Cowboys would have loved to see him handle Sunday’s big moment better. But they also could have helped by getting him a second and/or third big play target to go with CeeDee Lamb. And they could have made things a little less stressful by choosing not to complicate even the simplest parts of the game.

It was wonderful, for example, to watch Dallas kicker Brett Maher bounce back from missing five more playoff points to score two second-half field goals against San Francisco. But it could also be argued that Jones and McCarthy’s decision to stick with him cost the Cowboys four big points. He missed a point after try in the second quarter, which in part could have led Dallas to avoid a field goal attempt on a drive that ended in an interception.

Would these four points have made a difference in the result? Maybe not. But has it reduced the teams’ margin of error? Almost certainly. And given the unpredictability of yips, it’s hard to imagine many teams taking the risk of entering a playoff game with a struggling kicker like Maher was.

No, Maher didn’t cost his team the game or the season. The fact is that a man rarely does. So while Prescott understandably faces a slew of general questions this offseason, it might help to be specific.

Can he win a Super Bowl?

Given the right circumstances, of course he is.

Can he win a Super Bowl with the Cowboys?

These circumstances seem less likely each year.

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Twitter: @mikefinger

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