Can Dak Prescott be the long term solution for the Dallas Cowboys?

After six games of the 2018 season, Dallas Cowboys fans are not sure what will become of this team. But Dak Prescott has given them more reasons to be critical than supportive of his play.

In six games this season, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has surpassed 200 yards passing twice. But did you know that he had a similar string of games in 2016? And Prescott had an eight-game stretch in the 2017 season with only two games above 200 yards passing.

How quickly we forget. We, the fans, anointed Prescott halfway through his rookie season. We demanded that he stay the Cowboys starting quarterback even when former quarterback Tony Romo’s back had healed from his preseason injury.

By all accounts, Prescott had a great training camp this year. The first team offense scored two touchdowns and one field goal in their four preseason drives against the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals.

The narrative on Prescott and the Cowboys offense has been that they need to get out in front of the chains and get into manageable third-down situations. This season did not start this way. Two penalties on offensive tackle Tyron Smith derailed the first two drives of the regular season and it seems like the offense has played catch up ever since.

Have your expectations for Prescott fallen through the floor now? Can the Cowboys be successful with him as their quarterback? So far, the 2018 season has been more than frustrating and just when you think you know that America’s Team are a bunch of bums on offense, they embarrass the number one ranked Jacksonville Jaguars defense.

Maybe last week’s win over the Jaguars will set the Cowboys offense up for more success. Or maybe, this will be another example of one step forward followed by one step backward. Regardless, it is too soon to throw away Prescott even after his third year in the league.

Anyone remember who the Cowboys played in Week 2 in the 2012 season? If you were like me, you expected Big D to get their second win of the season that week as their opponent was starting a rookie quarterback. However, it did not go to plan as the Seattle Seahawks defeated The ‘Boys behind 151 passing yards by Russell Wilson.

Wilson provides the reason the Cowboys still need to be patient with their quarterback. After two seasons, Prescott had thrown for 526 more yards, completed 110 more passes, and had a completion percentage 1.6 percent higher than Wilson.

While it’s true that the Seahawks won the Super Bowl in Wilson’s third season, it’s also true that the former Wisconsin Badgers play did not take a big leap that year. In fact, his completion percentage regressed each year from 64.12 percent his rookie year to 63.15 percent his second season to 63.05 percent during his third campaign. His touchdown passes were also the lowest of his career that year.

After winning the Super Bowl, the Seahawks rewarded their former third-round pick with a four-year $87.6 million contract extension. His play then took a big leap forward when he led his team back to the Super Bowl only to lose on a coach’s decision to pass the ball from the one-yard line.

The Cowboys could make a similar decision to extend Prescott after his third season. Based on their career statistics through six games of their third season, Wilson and Prescott have had statistically similar starts to their career.

It’s way too soon to even think the Dallas Cowboys could win the Super Bowl this year but it is interesting to know that the Seattle Seahawks were 3-3 after six games in their championship season. Yet another statistically similar fact joining Dak Prescott and Russell Wilson’s first 38 games.