Failure of Dak Prescott
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Is the Dallas Cowboys NFL season over yet?
Dusseldorf The Dallas Cowboys from the NFL have already suffered a major setback at the start of the season: quarterback Dak Prescott is missing for several weeks after an injury. The absence of the playmaker could already bury all hopes of a successful season.
At first, Dak Prescott didn’t give much away. The Dallas Cowboys quarterback continued playing Sunday night (local time) after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Shaquil Barrett caught Prescott’s hand hard while trying to block a pass. The 29-year-old injured the thumb of his throwing hand, which was not inconsiderable. Prescott made three plays and threw three passes before going to the touchline to have the injury checked. He did not return to the game, which was already in the final quarter and with the Cowboys trailing by 3:19.
Shortly after the game, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced the news: Prescott needed surgery and would be out for a few weeks. How many is not clear. From six to eight weeks wenten many out, Jones even spoke of only four. The fact that this is possible after an operation on the thumb of the throwing hand does not necessarily seem realistic.
Dallas, of course, has a keen interest in seeing Prescott back on the field as soon as possible. Cooper Rush, Prescott’s agent, may have won the only NFL game he started, but he’s only a substitute for good reason. “We have great confidence in Coop,” said running back Ezekiel Elliot immediately on Sunday evening. “He came in last year and we didn’t miss much.”
It’s not uncommon for backup quarterbacks to have a good game. Even if they don’t have the intrinsic skills to be a regular quarterback in the NFL. The opponents sometimes just don’t know them that well and can therefore be caught on the wrong foot. But can Rush be convincing enough over several weeks to keep the Cowboys in the playoff race? Difficult to say, but the game plan doesn’t make it easy for him: In the next five weeks, the two Super Bowl participants Cincinnati Bengals and LThe Os Angeles Rams, plus three divisional duels against the still elusive New York Giants and Washington Commanders (both of whom won their first game) and the powerful Philadelphia Eagles. It cannot be ruled out that Dallas will already be five or even six defeats by the time Prescott returns – and then the play-offs will be very tight. Realistically, that was it.
The Cowboys, even with Prescott, were a shaky contender for a spot in the top seven teams in their Conference NFC qualifying for the playoffs. The team gave up one of their best wide receivers in Amari Cooper and otherwise have injury problems at the position. In addition, there is the offensive line, the showpiece for yearses teams, in upheaval and here too there is bad luck with injuries. Even with Prescott, the team would have expected somewhere around nine, maybe ten wins. Now it could be less, which will definitely not be enough for the play-offs.
And so the team of head coach Mike McCarthy is again threatened with a wasted season, which the proud supporters of the cowboys will not like. McCarthy, who has been for many yearsi the Green Bay Packers was very successful and won a Super Bowl, started 2020 in Dallas to finally win the title again there. Prescott was injured early in his freshman year and missed the rest of the season. Now he’s unlucky again, even if the quarterback won’t be missing for quite as long this time. In the worst case, it could even cost McCarthy his job; After an actually strong 2021 season, the Cowboys surprisingly failed in round one of the play-offs.
This does not correspond to the self-image of an organization that wants to win the title every year. The Cowboys can already call five Super Bowls their own, but the last one was a long time ago – in 1995. Since then, the Cowboys have only won four playoff games, the last one in 2018. They never got past the second round. It was different until 1995, the title that season was the third in four years.
Since then, Jerry Jones has been working feverishly to bring the Cowboys back to their former glory, but without success. This year, too, it doesn’t look like Dallas will make a step forward, even if things are far from badis. The defense didn’t look bad at all against the very good offense of the Buccaneers around Tom Brady, and in Micah Parsons they also have a young player who aspires to be the best player in the NFL and has outstanding skills.
But even the best defense does not win the title alone in the modern NFL, as the recent past has shown. The Super Bowl winners had in allhe usually has a lot of firepower on offense. That was questionable with Prescott, especially without. Maybe it’s an overreaction after the first game day, but it already looks like the Cowboys won’t play a role in the title race in 2022 either.
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