Storyline: QB is like no other position on a football team. Little things do make a different. In Dallas, Dak Prescott is doing “the little things “and a heckuva lot more.
The Dallas Cowboys just keep on winning. Analysts and fans are offering all variety of reasons why, so let me add my thoughts to the mix.
Courtesy: Wall Street Journal
Is this team so much better because of QB Dak Prescott?
I say yes.
I refer to a moment from last Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. The moment was small, perhaps minuscule to most, but it resonated as a signature moment about the man.
Prescott took a drink from a small paper Gatorade cup, as all players do whilst on the bench and then, once finished, casually tossed it over his head in the direction of the trash can. He missed, stood up, and then picked up the cup up and put it into the trash.
However minute this event may have been, it exemplies why Prescott has the entire Dallas franchise singing his tune.
Winning doesn’t hurt either, by the way. An winning has been a constant for the now 10-1 Cowboys, after a 31-26 win against hated Washington on Thanksgiving Day.
The “cup incident” revealed Dak’s mindset compared to other top QBs. Can you imagine Aaron Rodgers doing it? Wouldn’t Cam Newton pout? Reality is that ex-teammates have called out both players for sulking on the sidelines.
Prescott is different. His behaviour is reminiscent of what Tom Brady does in New England. Brady pumps up his lineman. Talks to his receivers. He cares about the team, probably more than he cares about his stats.
Tony Romo is now a benchsitter in Dallas (photo, UPI.com)
All of this is new in Dallas. The team hasn’t played on all cylinders like this for a very long time, even during Tony Romo’s MVP-worthy 12-4 season of 2014. I’m not suggesting that the two teams are the same: Dak’s 2016 team is more talented. But I am suggesting that the way Dak carries himself has rubbed off on the team. He puts Dallas in a better position to win than Romo ever could.
Nobody could have expected this from a kid that scouts labelled “hot-headed” after a DUI weeks before the Combine. Nobody in their wildest imagination could ever have thought that, eleven games in, the Cowboys would be Super Bowl contenders.
The way Prescott handles himself has changed the culture of the Cowboys. Even Dez Bryant is slowly growing out of his aloof attitude. Dak doesn’t allow it in the huddle. Dez is now channeling his negative, selfish attitude into dominating opposing DBs, just as a player of his calibre should be doing.
Even if Romo had been doing as well as Dak, if not better offensively had he been healthy, I doubt that Romo would be getting the team to play as well as it’s playing now.
Why do I say that? At QB, personality and mindset have a great impact on the entire team. When a QB leads, a football team can do great things–just as we’re seeing happen right now in Dallas.
