Mailbag: Should Prescott be on the hot seat?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

Dak Prescott is heading into his 11th season as the starter, and he has produced exactly two wild-card wins. Should he be taking some heat? – Bill Cronin/Concord, CA

Patrik: Overall, I can see this being a viable question, for the reason you stated: lack of playoff success. But the timing of it feels very weird. If the Cowboys' defense was at least worth two dead earthworms smashed together in 2025, they make the playoffs and Prescott (who was in the MVP conversation before Dallas' wheels fell off in December) would've had a chance to try and change the postseason narrative.

Has Prescott been perfect? Not at all. Has he been the leader of one of (and sometimes, the) best offense in the league, also making sure his INT-heavy season was an outlier? Yes, he has. At some point, however, the defense, one that let the Packers explode at AT&T Stadium with 27 points in less than two quarters in the 2023 postseason, has to be factored into the conversation. Can Prescott be better? Yes. Has he been good enough to make a playoff run? Give him the Texans defense, as one example and, well, would he not?

My point is: have the entire conversation, not the cherry-picked part of it.

Tommy: I would say he deserves the same amount of heat as the entire team. Football is a team sport, always has been and always will be. Are some positions and players more important than others? Of course, but that doesn't mean the weight of the world can fall upon the shoulders of one man when there are multiple factors that go into winning and losing a playoff game.

Has Prescott needed to perform better in some of those games? Sure, and I think he would tell you the same thing. I understand why quarterbacks bear so much of the blame for when teams do and don't win the postseason, but it just doesn't tell the entire story. Some of the greatest quarterbacks we've ever seen have struggled to win in the postseason too.

So I don't chalk up as much of the "blame" if you will on Prescott. Last season showed that when he's healthy and playing at his best, he can help you win football games. Now, that'll need to show up in the postseason as well should Dallas make it back there in 2026, but it'll also need to show up from the Cowboys defense.