How well is Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott playing? How about prime Brees and Manning?
Dak Prescott believes he is playing the best football of his career in leading the Dallas Cowboys to a 2-1 start heading into Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.
And when you consider yards, decision-making and accuracy, it’s hard to argue.
Prescott has completed 86 of 111 passes for 868 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions.
He leads the NFL in completion percentage (77.5), is tied for fifth in completions (86) and eighth in passer rating (110.1).
Prescott’s early numbers are not just good for this year. They stand tall against the test of time.
Only Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady in his prime in 2007 with the New England Patriots and retired New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in 2018 passed for more than 800 yards while completing more than 77% of their attempts in the first three games of a season.
And Panthers coach Matt Rhule invoked another legend, 2021 Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, when he talked about preparing for the Cowboys and Prescott.
“When you talk about (the Cowboys’ offense), I think you have to start with Dak Prescott,” Rhule said. “I watched him last year. He’s superb. He calls the game at the line of scrimmage. He’s getting the ball out of his hand. He’s the second-fastest guy in the NFL right now from snap to throw, which is emblematic of a quarterback who knows exactly where the ball is going to go vs. the defense, who is on the same page with his receivers, who is getting in the right plays vs. the right coverages, who is making sure that he’s protected.
“It’s like watching Peyton Manning, it’s like watching Drew Brees call the game at the line of scrimmage. I think what Dak’s doing right now is incredibly impressive.”
Prescott couldn’t help but blush when asked about Rhule’s comments. He grew up in Haughton, Louisiana, idolizing Brees and Manning, who is from New Orleans.
“Yeah, I mean that’s a helluva compliment,” Prescott said. “ ... Yeah, two guys I look up to and that when I’m creating all these words, these signals, I think about the way that they think about the game at the line of scrimmage. They were playing the game before the snap that allowed them to be ahead of the defense post snap. So, it’s a helluva compliment but I just have to continue to get better, though.”
Prescott is the one that’s in full control now.
Brees set the NFL record for completion percentage in a season of 74.4 in 2018.
At his current rate, Prescott is on pace to shatter that mark this season.
Time will tell.
But after completing 72.4% of his passes and passing for 403 yards in a season-opening loss to the Buccaneers, Prescott has been at his efficient excellence in completing 83.0% of his passes back-to-back wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles.
Receiver Amari Cooper said that Prescott is not only playing his best football since he joined the team in 2018 but he is also getting the ball out much faster.
“I wouldn’t say he is more confident because he has always been a confident player. But I do think he has a better understanding of what we are trying to do as an offense,” Cooper said. “He knows his reads pre-snap and he is able to adapt faster to a post-snap situation. He is getting us in and out extremely fast. The fastest I have been around.”
Prescott credited his command of the offense and quick release to hard work, experience and chemistry with receivers.
Prescott is recording an average time to throw of 2.48 seconds on his pass attempts, per Pro Football Focus, which is the fifth-fastest in the league and the fastest of his career.
“I think that the best part of experience is that, yeah, you see things faster, you recognize them faster and you trust it,” he said. “You’re not second guessing yourself and I think that’s just a result of great preparation and just experience.
“That’s the work that we’ve put in over a couple of years with these guys. Not only that, just watching, knowing what the defense is going to give me, the preparation and film study of knowing and staying ahead of those guys from what I see pre-snap to post-snap and trusting throughout the week in the preparation and what we’ve seen at practice and letting it go.”
He is letting it go and the Cowboys offense is thriving, ranking sixth in the NFL with an average of 30 points per game.
Cooper said Prescott is the reason the Cowboys are playing so well as a team. He gives them confidence they can beat anybody.
“The quarterback controls a lot on the football team,” Cooper said. “The way he plays can decide a lot. It gives me confidence for sure.”
