How Dak Prescott’s success against blitzes could determine outcome vs. Minnesota
Entering Sunday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, the Dallas Cowboys will face a subpar team that they should — key word, there — handle in a prime-time setting. However, don’t think the Vikings are just a pushover without a strong aspect to their team.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is in his third season with the Vikings, and historically he has been one of the more blitz-happy play-callers in the entire NFL. This season, that’s no different.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Vikings have sent a blitz — five or more pass rushers — at a league-high rate of 49.2 percent of opposing dropbacks. Their 40-percent pressure rate is second in the NFL behind only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (40.2 percent).
“He’s a play-caller that likes to win the game from the plays that he’s dialing up,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said Thursday. “The way that he’s attacking the offenses and the looks he’s presenting, giving us curveballs and making it tough on us, we just got to communicate. Why I relish this challenge is, it’s as much of a game as anything. That’s a challenge to me mentally and what I’m seeing on film and being able to decipher that and get us into the right protections, into the right looks and plays versus all the different looks.”
After a game in Detroit against the Lions that saw Prescott pressured 19 times and sacked five times, this could pose a significant challenge for the Dallas offense — especially if starting left tackle Tyler Guyton misses a third consecutive game with a high ankle sprain. He has not yet practiced through two sessions this week.
But for the Cowboys, there’s experience between Prescott’s ears in the 10 years he’s been in the league that could serve as a counter for the Vikings’ blitz-happy approach.
“Elite level,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said about Prescott’s level of play against the blitz. “I don’t think he was ever bad at it, but I do think he’s more confident in it now. I think that comes from time. We try to keep the solutions pretty simple. I’m not a guy that thinks you got to have eight different ways to block up Cover Zero, or eight different ways to handle double-edge blitzes and things like that.”
“I think you got to have a handful of things that you trust and you believe in. I think he owns those, and I think it’s been evident watching him perform versus some of the tough looks that we get. He has the answer whether it’s through hot [routes], or throwing blitz-side adjusts or getting certain checks for certain coverages. We’ll certainly be tested this week with Coach Flores and his defense.”
This season when facing a blitz, Prescott has thrown for 1,018 yards (second-most in NFL) while completing such passes at the second-highest rate in the league (60.8 percent). He’s also thrown for nine touchdowns and two interceptions.
Prescott can’t point back to one specific moment he remembers when pressure became easier for him to handle in the NFL. But through his experience in the league, he understands the game at a level where most of the things that do get thrown at him, he’s already seen — even if there are still mistakes along the way.
“Just over time, certain blitzes, certain looks you see better than others,” Prescott said. “I would say at this point, I’ve just seen more of them. It’s hard to surprise me in that sense, but you’ve still got to be on your p’s and q’s. I just got hit two weeks against one, Kansas City, and threw an interception. I’m far from [having] all of this dialed down. I would just keep studying and be ready for Brian Flores.”
As a receiver, knowing a blitz-heavy defense is on the other side, the ball coming out of the quarterback’s hands fast is an expectation.
“Be ready to make some people miss,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “For us in this room, we don’t have no problem doing that. When they do blitz, we’ve just got have an answer for it and be on our keys. When they don’t, whatever they drop to, be able to find zones, get open and make it clear for Dak. I feel like for us, it’s just being where we’re supposed to be, when we’re supposed to be there, and taking as many hits off Dak as we can.”
Prescott went in-depth on Thursday about how the film aspect of preparing for blitzes is one of the biggest keys in finding success when it’s thrown at him.
“I think it slows down actually just through your prep throughout the week,” he said. “It’s about the film study, anticipating those looks, more importantly just to make sure we can get them blocked up. We definitely invite it, but we got to protect it first.”
The Cowboys know the road laid out in front of them. It will take four wins in four games to even have a shot at sneaking into the postseason. But, it’s one game at a time. And next up is handling the challenge in front of them in the form of the Brian Flores defense.
Prescott and the offense know that there will be pressure sent their way. How Prescott can find success against it — or not — could determine if Dallas still has a fighter’s chance at the postseason when the clock hits triple zeroes.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 7:06 PM.
