Once again, the hopes of Dallas Cowboys entering the Super Bowl were crushed after Jordan Love’s Green Bay Packers surprised them with a disappointing 48-32 defeat. Winning the NFC East division and entering the postseason as the No. 2 seed in their conference, Cowboys fans expected much more from this team. Perhaps they should’ve seen it coming. Prescott does have a history of choking in the playoffs. But someone did see it coming.
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As the game was nearing its end, SPEAK’s Emmanuel Acho shared a 3-month-old rant by the show’s co-host LeSean McCoy which actually turned out to be a well-thought-out prophecy. While tweeting out the video, Emmanuel in the caption playfully stated that McCoy will probably be proud and boast about being right about the Cowboys’ starting QB.
“Dak Prescott, you can’t win with that guy. Especially the big games. The lights get bright. He just start throwing pics.”
–@CutonDime25, who will be insufferable tomorrow pic.twitter.com/4RpLkWJQ8K
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) January 15, 2024
Dak Prescott despite throwing for 403 yards and three touchdowns faced difficulties connecting with his wide receivers thus missing opportunities in open windows. He completed 41 of 60 passes and also threw two interceptions, one of which was a pick-six.
Three months before this, the former RB LeSean McCoy in the same show had expressed doubt about Dak Prescott’s ability to perform well, especially when the stakes are high. His take came after the Cowboys suffered a devastating 10-42 loss in the Week 5 game against the San Francisco 49ers. McCoy had stated,
“Dak Prescott, you can’t win with that guy. Especially the big games. The lights get bright. He just start throwing pics.”
McCoy commented that Prescott struggles when the pressure increases, specifically mentioning that in crucial moments, “the lights get bright,” and Prescott tends to throw interceptions. The Cowboys recent loss against the Packers in the wild-card round matched McCoy’s earlier doubts about Prescott’s performance in critical games.
During the first half, Prescott threw an interception to Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander. However, a crucial moment occurred when he failed to spot Packers safety Darnell Savage intercepting CeeDee Lamb’s route in the middle, resulting in a return touchdown. Prescott’s second interception proved costly, putting his team 20 points behind by the end of the first half.
Cowboys’ Playoff Challenges Continue Despite Regular Season Success
The Dallas Cowboys entered the playoffs for the third consecutive year and it became their 13th playoff appearance which went without entering the conference championship games. The most recent Cowboys’ NFC Championship victory and Super Bowl win occurred in the 1995 season.
The #Cowboys are the 1st team to win 12 games in 3 straight seasons and fail to make the conference championship in any of them.
That is since the AFC & NFC created in 1970 Merger.@ESPNStatsInfo
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 15, 2024
Over the last three seasons, the Dallas Cowboys have ended their regular season with a similar 12-5 record. They have now become the first team in the history of the NFL to win 12 games in back-to-back three seasons without reaching the conference championship each time. This situation raises questions about their performance in the playoffs.
Even though they consistently perform well in the regular season, they are not able to translate that success into deeper playoff runs. In five career playoff games now, Prescott is 1-4. Aside from his lone two-point win against the Seahawks in the 2018 Wild Card Round, Prescott hasn’t done well in the playoffs. Is McCoy right? Is Prescott the common denominator behind the Cowboys’ playoff choking? And what would this mean for the QB’s future with America’s team?
