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Jerry Jones praises “Vintage Dak” after Cowboys’ dominance vs Vikings

By Lauren Barash

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - NOVEMBER 20: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys warms up prior to playing the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 20, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - NOVEMBER 20: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys warms up prior to playing the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 20, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) /
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Although Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is an eternal optimist, there was clearly plenty to smile about after his team absolutely demolished the Minnesota Vikings on the road to the tune of a 40-3 victory.

Not only did the Cowboys get a much-needed road win to help them sit comfortably at 7-3, but they also took down arguably one of the best teams in the NFL right now in seriously dominating fashion.

Stellar performances from players like Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, Dorance Armstrong, Tony Pollard, Brett Maher, and Ezekiel Elliott allowed the Cowboys to play seamlessly in all three phases. The constant three-and-outs and abhorrent run defense from Week 10 were a blip in the rear-view mirror.

While Jones was impressed enough by his whole team to tell reporters he thinks the Cowboys are serious Super Bowl contenders, he made a point to talk about one player in particular — quarterback Dak Prescott.

Although No. 4 hasn’t been consistent this season, against the Vikings, he played the most accurate and best game of this season. The performance got a lot of praise from the man who pays his paychecks.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones calls Dak Prescott “Vintage Dak” after consistent and impressive performance against Vikings

After Prescott was accused of being the “weak link” of the Cowboys last week (looking at you, Stephen A. Smith), he was one of the stars just a week later. So much so, that Jones referred to him as “Vintage Dak.” Here’s the full quote from Jones:

"Well I think you saw Vintage Dak. You saw the Dak that I hope I get to see for ten more years at least. *long pause* Seriously. You saw Dak play the game that he and the coaches worked out to play, and he was right on the mark. He basically made the deicsion, made the play calls, made any change of call at the line of scrimmage. And boy he was right on the money with what they all agreed is how to play this team.When Dak Prescott does that… and he will do that because he’s so great at taking what he has in the classroom and what he does in practice to the game. That’s why I look at him as quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for a long time."

Did he say 10 years?! That would make Prescott 39 years old, which seems to heavily imply that Jones wants the 29-year-old to be a Cowboy for life. Right now, No. 4 still has two more years in his four-year, $160 million contract, and some Dallas fans have been waiting for him to consistently play like a quarterback who deserves that paycheck.

While it seems Cowboys Nation tends to be very split on whether Prescott deserves to be this franchise’s quarterback, there’s no denying that he’s been inconsistent in 2022. He’s gone 3-2 in games played and has eight passing touchdowns and four interceptions. The inconsistency in his stats doesn’t lie.

As far as completion percentage goes, the season opener was a dismal 48.28% (one of his worst-ever outings), 76% against Detroit, 77.78% against Chicago, and 68.7% in Green Bay.

His 88 completion percentage from Sunday was the second-highest of his entire career.

“Vintage Dak” went 22-for-25 and threw for 276 yards. He had two touchdowns and zero interceptions to give him an impressive 139.3 passer rating on the night. That’s his seventh-best passer rating in his 94 games as a Cowboy.

The version of Prescott we saw in Minneapolis is the one we need to see every week. Week 11 Prescott is a quarterback who can help this team get dominant wins. But can they stay consistent? No. 4 said it’s all about how the group handles the success:

"“Right now, the challenge is handling success. Having a game like this, 40-3, in the NFL is tough to do. We’ve got to put this behind us. We’re as good as our last game, so we’ve got to turn the page and go put another one together on Thursday.”"

Two dominating games in a row, especially against a division rival, would certainly help his case.

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