Coming into the Dallas Cowboys' 2026 regular-season opener on Sunday night, Dak Prescott had absolutely owned the New York Giants.
After losing his first two games to Big Blue as a rookie in 2016, Prescott rattled off 14 consecutive victories over the Cowboys' longtime rivals, giving him the second-longest winning streak in NFL history for a quarterback against a single opponent, trailing only the 17 straight won by Miami Dolphins legend Bob Griese against the Buffalo Bills from 1968 to 1979.
That streak came to an end back in January when Dallas dropped its regular-season finale to New York, and Prescott obviously now has a two-game losing streak against the Giants after the Cowboys took a disheartening 28-20 loss on Sunday.
But while Dak undoubtedly deserves a portion of the blame for the defeat, as it was his lone interception that swung the momentum in New York's favor, it's not as if he played a terrible game from an overall standpoint. Truth be told, after going back and watching the tape a second time, I feel very comfortable giving him a "B" grade for his performance.
Dak Prescott was solid in Week 1 vs. the Giants outside of that inexcusable interception
If looking only at the simple stats, Prescott obviously didn't put up the big numbers that he typically has against the Giants, as he threw for just 175 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
And when compared to what some of the other quarterbacks in the league did during an opening slate in which the 32 teams scored a combined 791 points, thus tying the 2012 season's record for the most Week 1 points scored during the Super Bowl era, the numbers look even smaller.
But one thing that unquestionably needs to be taken into account is the fact that his teammates let him down in the early going.
While Prescott completed a respectable 64.7 of his passes, connecting on 22 of 34 throws, four of those dozen incompletions can be attributed to drops, with two alone uncharacteristically coming from George Pickens in the first half. CeeDee Lamb and Ryan Flournoy also had one drop each.
Now, there's no excusing the pick the four-time Pro Bowler threw in the second quarter, as that was 100 percent his mistake.
To quickly recap, with the game tied 7-7 with just under a minute remaining in the second quarter, Prescott, who actually didn't take a single sack all night, was flushed out of the pocket and drifted 17 yards behind the line of scrimmage before throwing off his back foot toward the sideline in an attempt to just get the ball out of bounds. The problem, of course, was that the ball never made it out of bounds, with Giants safety Jevon Holland making an incredible sliding grab near the sideline.
And Prescott was fully aware of the mistake he made in his postgame presser.
"That was crucial,” Dak said of the pick. “I was trying to throw the ball away. The guy made a hell of a play. I got to make sure that it’s out of bounds, though. I was surprised. It’s one I want back, obviously. I think that was a huge point in the game.”
Six plays later, New York found the end zone, as Jaxson Dart and Isiah Likely, who'd already connected for one score, hooked up for a 15-yard touchdown, with Dominic Zvada's extra-point attempt giving the G-Men a 14-7 lead heading into halftime. Dart hit Likely for a third touchdown on the Giants' first possession of the second half, and the Cowboys simply couldn't overcome the 21-7 deficit.
But let's not pretend that Prescott didn't do his part in attempting to bring Dallas back, as he led second-half touchdown drives of 75 and 74 yards.
The problem, however, is that those were the only two possessions the Cowboys had in the final 30 minutes, as the Dallas defense simply couldn't get off the field, which was a problem the entire night, to be honest, as New York controlled the ball for nearly 37 minutes, including the final 5:21 of the game, with Prescott never even getting the chance to attempt to tie things up after that second touchdown drive of the half.
Did Dak play the perfect game? Certainly not. But he certainly played better than he's getting credit for. Take away the drops and some of the penalties on the offensive line that we didn't even mention, and his numbers would obviously look far better.
And while the momentum may have shifted with that interception, it was not the reason the Cowboys lost this football game. That, as anyone who watched the game knows, falls on the Dallas defense, which is an all-too-familiar feeling for fans of America's Team.
Dak Prescott Week 1 grade: B
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