While it’s not too surprising, Dak Prescott is likely to be the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for at least two more games, as Tony Romo isn’t going to be ready health-wise to play at least until November 13.
This means Prescott, who has started through the first six games to lead the Cowboys to an NFC East best 5-1 record, will be the starter against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cleveland Browns. The discussion about Romo returning and starting is delayed a little bit, but always in the background, but with every game that goes by, especially after the road win in Green Bay and a bye week to process it all, benching Prescott doesn’t make much sense.
It really doesn’t matter that the Cowboys are limiting his decision-making freedom. That’s what you do with rookie quarterbacks. It really doesn’t matter that he’s playing behind the best offensive line in the NFL. Since when is that a problem? It really doesn’t matter if Ezekiel Elliott is getting so many yards because of that O-Line or because he’s the next Adrian Peterson. The Cowboys are playing well, and winning. Prescott isn’t making mistakes, while doing the right thing almost all of the time, which has turned the Cowboys into a team looking for short gains through passing and big gains on the ground. It’s working, against good teams.
Romo can do things Prescott can’t. But he’s also played only four games since the beginning of last season, and at some point, if it already hasn’t begun to happen, his body is going to show it when he’s on the field by struggling to do things it could do in the past. Romo is riskier (although his interception thing has always been blown out of proportion), and the Cowboys have been doing a fantastic job of managing the on-field risks so far, while getting their defense to step up without any major revamps. Prescott isn’t doing it on his own, but he’s an integral part of this turnaround compared to last year’s record, and removing him from it could make the whole house of cards collapse.
#Cowboys are starting QB Dak Prescott post-bye vs #Eagles, source said. No surprise. Tony Romo may not be ready to be considered vs #Browns
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 19, 2016
The way I see it, there shouldn’t be a problem or controversy. The NFL is a cruel league. Romo took advantage of that when he became a starter a decade ago over Drew Bledsoe. Prescott is doing the same thing now, and the Cowboys are looking great with him. Starting to mess with success by pulling Prescott out despite the team running so well with him just doesn’t make much sense football-wise, and while Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett have been very loyal to Romo through the years, there’s no reason to make this decision based on loyalty. It should be about who gives the Cowboys the best shot at winning as many games as possible. Right now, it’s Prescott.
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