Early Thursday morning, the Associated Press announced the finalists for eight of its top awards for the 2025 season, the winners of which will be revealed at the NFL Honors ceremony at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on February 5, three days before the playing of Super Bowl 60 at Levi's Stadium.
Of the eight awards—six of which are for players, with the other reserved for coaches—only one member of the Dallas Cowboys organization was named as a finalist, that being quarterback Dak Prescott, who's nominated for Comeback Player of the Year, which he undoubtedly deserves.
The other four finalists in the CPOY category are New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs, Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, all of whom have strong cases to win the award, with McCaffrey being the likely favorite after racking up 2,126 total yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns in leading the injury-plagued Niners to a 12-5 regular-season record.
There is another Cowboys connection among the finalists, as Micah Parsons, despite missing the final three games of the regular season after suffering a torn ACL in the Green Bay Packers' Week 15 loss to the Denver Broncos, is one of the five nominees for Defensive Player of the Year.
But we're not here to rehash all of that, though every single person associated with America's Team, whether coach, player, or fan, has undoubtedly wondered over the past few months what the dreadful Dallas defense would have looked like had Jerry Jones not traded Parsons. And Prescott could very well be the one wondering the most, as Matt Eberflus' unit clearly cost him from being one of the five finalists for NFL MVP.
Dak Prescott likely would have been an NFL MVP finalist had the Dallas defense not cost the Cowboys several wins
The Cowboys' offense was one of the best in the league in 2025, ranking second in the NFL total yards per game (391.9) and seventh in scoring (27.7).
And Prescott was undoubtedly the biggest reason for that success, as the 10-year veteran had one of the best overall seasons of his career, completing 67.3 percent of his passes for 4,552 yards, with the latter representing the second-highest total of his career and the third-most in the league this season. His 30 touchdown passes also ranked fourth among all QBs in 2025.
The Dallas defense, meanwhile, ranked 30th in total yards allowed, surrendering 377.0 per game, and dead last in scoring, giving up 30.1 points per contest. So, it's safe to say that unit cost the Cowboys several victories. And had Dallas won 10 or 11 games instead of just seven, a playoff berth would have been secured, as the Packers took the No. 7 seed at 9-7-1. And as the Philadelphia Eagles took the NFC East at 11-6, the division could have been in play as well, which it actually was up until the final few weeks of the season.
And if the Cowboys had indeed gotten into the postseason, Prescott undoubtedly would have been named one of the five finalists for NFL MVP, a list that now officially features the aforementioned Christian McCaffrey and Trevor Lawrence, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
You can't really argue against Allen (who won last year, of course), given everything he does for the Bills, both with his arm and his legs. And it's honestly tough to argue against the McCaffrey nomination, as he was basically the only 49ers superstar who stayed healthy this season and got them to the playoffs.
And there's certainly no arguing against Stafford and Maye, who are easily the top two favorites, with Stafford likely coming out on top after leading the league in both passing yards (4,707) and touchdown passes (46).
But Trevor Lawrence? Yes, he led the Jags to an impressive 13-4 season and the AFC South title. And it truly was nice to see him have a solid season after a couple of rough years. But let me put his numbers next to Prescott's, and you can be the judge on which was better.
Stat | Dak Prescott | Trevor Lawrence |
|---|---|---|
Cmp% | 67.3 | 60.9 |
Pass Yards | 4,552 | 4,007 |
Pass TD | 30 | 29 |
Interceptions | 10 | 12 |
Passer Rating | 99.5 | 91.0 |
Rush Yards | 177 | 359 |
Rush TD | 2 | 9 |
Lawrence wins the rushing battle, but Prescott takes everything else. Well, except for victories, of course.
Look, that's not meant to be a knock on Lawrence, as, again, it was great to see the former No. 1 pick have the season he did. The point is just that with a few more wins, Prescott, who can't be blamed for any of the Cowboys' problems this season, likely takes that fifth MVP nomination.
We're not saying he'd win, given the numbers Stafford and Maye put up, but Dak deserved to be in the conversation all season long, and it's simply unfortunate for him that the Dallas defense cost him one of the best years of his career.