Dallas Cowboys: Why Dak Prescott is key to 2017

Dak Prescott was a surprise for the Dallas Cowboys last season, but in 2017 he holds the keys to everything America’s Team wants to accomplish.

To be clear from the very top, the honeymoon for Dak Prescott as the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys is over. It matters not what this young phenom did in 2016 and prior. The stakes are about as high as they can get for this franchise and the clock has begun.

Some suggest that Prescott will suffer a sophomore slump. While all indicators, especially regarding Prescott’s supporting cast, suggest otherwise, anything is possible in the NFL.

Perhaps the main reason that Prescott will have the crosshairs placed squarely on that No.4 on his jersey is because of the guy wearing No.21 whose right behind him.

I’ve heard it suggested in the mainstream sports media that the rest of the NFL now has a year of film with which to go on when it comes to stopping the Cowboys potent offense.

Yawn.

Was that film any less beneficial after Prescott’s first eight regular season games? Or what about his first twelve games?

For Prescott, the problem isn’t exactly the fact that 31 opposing defensive coordinators might find something this year that they didn’t last year. On the contrary, Prescott’s challenge is much more simple – and it could catapult the Cowboys to the same double-digit victory performance that Dallas enjoyed last season.

Running back Ezekiel Elliott was the engine that made the Cowboys offense so nasty last season. Given that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, expect the NFL to literally sell its soul in order to shut down Elliott, the reigning league rushing champ, once the regular season begins.