Does Cowboys Playoff Loss Ruin MVP Finalist Dak Prescott in NFL QB Rankings?
In his first season with coach Mike McCarthy in his ear as the offensive play-caller, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had a superb 2023 regular season that had him firmly in the MVP discussion.
But an embarrassing playoff loss means Dak's year - which featured him finishing second only to Baltimore's Lamar Jackson in MVP voting - won't be remembered fondly.
In NFL.com's ranking of all starting quarterbacks this year, which takes into account both regular- and postseason results, Dak finishes sixth.
“This is the season that will get lost in Prescott’s career story,” NFL.com writes. “For the majority of 2023, he played at an MVP level, growing from a quarterback overly reliant on CeeDee Lamb to a passer who was comfortable and using the full extent of his powers to spread the ball all over the field to a number of different targets."
The players above Prescott include Matthew Stafford (5th), Jared Goff (4th), Patrick Mahomes (3rd), Josh Allen (2nd) and Lamar Jackson (1st).
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Looking at the list, the lack of postseason success clearly hindered Dak's ability to be ranked higher, but did Prescott have a better regular season and postseason than Stafford? One could make the argument.
Is sixth still darn good? One could make that argument as well.
But again, the stench of how truly awful the Cowboys were against the Packers again tilts the scales against Prescott.
Dak's interception total in 2022 consistently made headlines and under McCarthy, that number dropped significantly, which is another feather in Prescott's cap.
"Mike McCarthy’s decision to appoint himself as play-caller worked because Prescott executed, and if it wasn’t for three truly dreadful outings -- Week 5 at San Francisco, Week 15 at Buffalo, and Super Wild Card Weekend against Green Bay -- he just might have won the league’s top award," NFL.com continued. "That playoff loss is how folks will remember 2023 for the Cowboys, and it’s simply a shame. Prescott was fantastic for most of the season, and he often won’t get the credit he deserved – except in this space.”
Prescott's 2023 season was as good as one could have hoped for at the start of the season. He threw for the most yards since 2019, had the highest completion percentage of his career (69.5), had the least amount of interceptions since 2020, and had a career-high quarterback rating (105.9).
By any metric, Prescott had a fine season. And in this space, he does get credit for that. At the same time, he didn't do enough - as Dak himself would be the first to admit.
