Revisiting the Dak Prescott vs. Carson Wentz argument

The Dallas Cowboys head to Lincoln Financial Field Sunday desperate for a division-sealing win. Dak Prescott or Carson Wentz, who would you rather have?

For the Dallas Cowboys, Christmas 2019 will come just a few days early. While most will have to wait until next Wednesday to see what Santa Clause left them under their tree and while most NFL players will have to wait to January before they see their first taste of playoff football action, the Cowboys will have what can be viewed as their first official playoff game on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

A de facto playoff matchup, this game stands to go a long way in determining who will be the NFC East’s representative in the NFC Playoff scenario. If the Cowboys win on Sunday, they simply win the division by way of the head to head record tiebreaker but if the Eagles win, they could win the division with a Week 17 victory over the New York Giants. Plainly and simply, the Dallas Cowboys need to win this game on Sunday if they hope to play in the playoffs.

Now that we have briefly covered the team scenarios and vantages, there does lie another underlying question about this game, and it surrounds the two starting signal-callers. Drafted four rounds apart in the 2016 draft and especially with them both being the faces of rival NFC East Division franchises at one point, Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz shall forever be joined at the hip. That brings us to the question, which quarterback is the best right now or which would you rather have going into Sunday?

While Wentz was the more highly touted and has been the most highly lauded for the greater duration of time thus far in their careers, Dak Prescott has seen the more glowing reviews as of late.

Carson Wentz has at times shown the ability to make a big play that you didn’t see coming, but he has also been prone to the questionable risky throw that turns out to be the wrong play. Dak Prescott isn’t as gifted as Wentz when it comes to passing the ball, but his intangibles, ability to make the right decision, and ability to take care of the ball definitely is what helps him separate himself from the just average NFL quarterback.

If you look at the numbers, they are actually pretty in even. Prescott has a better completion percentage for the season, 65.5 percent to Wentz’s 63.4, and he has a better completion percentage across his career, 65.9 percent to Wentz’s 63.6.

Prescott also is besting Wentz in the yards per attempt category for both this season and across his career. Prescott averages 8.4 yards per attempt this season and 7.6 across his career, while Wentz averages 6.5 for the year and 6.9 across his career.

Prescott has one more touchdown this season, 26 to 25, but trails Wentz by two touchdowns for their careers at 95-93. Prescott also leads Wentz in interceptions for both this season and across their careers, 11-7 this season and 36-35 across their career.

What’s important to remember here though is that Wentz has played eight fewer games than Prescott has across his career, which does have an effect on how you read the numbers. While Prescott has thrown just one more career interception, it has been across a half-season more games played.

You also take a look at Wentz’s touchdowns across his career, where he leads Prescott by two while having played eight fewer games than him across his career. Something else of note to mention is that if you take a look at average passing yards per contest across their careers, Wentz leads Prescott by about six yards per game, with Wentz averaging 251.5 and Prescott averaging 245.3.

While answering this question can be confounding, there really is no wrong answer. Perhaps with a little bias in the mix, I would take Prescott as my guy for Sunday and as far as who has been better across their careers thus far, but the reasoning is actually pretty sound and logical.

Prescott has been more reliable and trustworthy with the football, durable, just as productive and has won nine more games than Wentz has. Yes, he has played eight more, but that is a summation of all the moving parts mentioned above.

If Wentz was on the field, which you would like your franchise guy to be, then he could have had those opportunities but unfortunately, he wasn’t. Another way to view it is that Wentz has been defeated more across his career than Prescott, which inevitably makes Prescott the more winning quarterback, even if that wasn’t something that you couldn’t already see with your own eyes.

It is for the aforementioned reasons that in Sunday’s game and across the rest of their careers, I would take Dak Prescott. Hopefully, he and the Cowboys show you just why that is the correct choice on Sunday.