Cowboys' Dak Prescott is NFL's most 'betrayed quarterback' thanks to putrid defense

This season has been frustrating for the Dallas Cowboys, who enter Week 7 with a 2-3-1 record. Dallas has been on fire offensively, overcoming injuries along the offensive line and at wide receiver thanks to the elite performance of quarterback Dak Prescott.

Defensively, they've been an absolute mess. They can't consistently pressure the opposing quarterback, and their pass defense has been abysmal.

It's such a wild difference between Prescott's performance and the defense that The Athletic's Mike Sando says Prescott is the most "betrayed" quarterback in the NFL right now.

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Sando uses a "betrayal index," which highlights the difference between a quarterback's play and the performance of the defense and special teams, showing which signal-callers are forced to do all the heavy lifting.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott reacts before the game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

"The index highlights differences in where these quarterbacks ranked on offense compared to defense/special teams, using TruMedia’s EPA model," Sando writes.

"The better a quarterback’s team was on offense and the worse his team was on defense/special teams, the more 'betrayed' the quarterback was in the games he started."

Dak Prescott's elite performance is being wasted

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott looks on during the second half against the Carolina Panthers. | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

This season, Prescott is the No. 2 quarterback on Sando's chart, but the team's defense is dead last.

"His production, measured by EPA per start on pass plays and QB rushes, ranks second among 33 qualifying quarterbacks (minimum three starts) this season, per TruMedia. The corresponding EPA generated by the part Prescott cannot control — Dallas’ defense and special teams — ranks last among those for the 33 QBs. The difference between those rankings (-31) makes Prescott the quarterback most betrayed by his defense and/or special teams through six weeks of this season."

MORE: Dak Prescott hyped for CeeDee Lamb's expected return to Cowboys' offense in Week 7

It's not a surprising statistic for anyone who has followed this team, and there's no way this team can find any success if they don't figure out how to get their defense up to an acceptable level.

The good news is that Prescott is playing so well that they simply need to be average on defense. The bad news is that their first seven games make that seem like an impossible task.

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