Did we just witness the best game of Dak Prescott's career? That's hard to say because it ended in a tie, and Prescott has certainly had great outings in the playoffs before. But given the expectations leading up to kickoff, and the sheer precision and fearlessness with which he played, it's right up there.
Sunday night was supposed to be the Micah Parsons show in his return to AT&T Stadium. While Parsons eventually got home with a chasedown sack of Prescott in overtime, he was largely held in check by a Dallas Cowboys offensive line that was down two starters. And it was Prescott who stole the spotlight.
There's no denying who made the bigger impact in the game, and Jerry Jones made sure to let the world know when he was asked about paying Prescott and not Parsons after the tie.
Cowboys' Jerry Jones shaded Micah Parsons in praising Dak Prescott
"It's very simple: Dak was indispensable in my mind. Micah wasn't. It's just numbers. It's that easy. And that's not personal at all."
In a perfect world, Jones would have paid Parsons after already paying Prescott. Most would argue that Parsons should've gotten paid when Prescott got paid in 2024, because Parsons was eligible for an extension and Prescott should've been paid a year earlier.
It's easy for Jones to say now that it came down to numbers, but, for whatever reason, he ultimately decided that having three or four players is better than one Micah Parsons. Many Cowboys fans take issue with that rationalization - Dallas beats Green Bay on Sunday with Parsons - but this is what Jerry does. He feeds into the narratives that he creates.
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But, if we can be fair to the 82-year-old for just a moment, Prescott is indispensable, even more so than Parsons, who is a top-two EDGE in all of football in his own right. So often used as a Jones' verbal punching bag when backed into a corner about the salary cap or when discussing contracts, it was refreshing to see Jones defend his $240 million quarterback.
Cowboys fans can only hope that Prescott's heroic performance serves as a wake-up call for Jones to stop wasting his prime.
Prescott is more than good enough to win deep into January, but Dallas' defenses haven't been anywhere near close enough, even in their best years under Dan Quinn. Those teams either got bludgeoned by someone in the Shanahan coaching tree or got run all over. It was an inevitable letdown, even with all of the takeaways and sacks during the regular season.
The 2025 Cowboys defense gets bludgeoned by everyone, and it will ultimately be their downfall barring a miraculous turnaround. Prescott is going to have to play out of his mind in most games. Sunday night showed the world that he's capable of doing that.