The Cowboys walked out of Monday night with a 38-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, and Dak Prescott had plenty to do with it.
Dallas got a huge lift on the ground, with Javonte Williams pounding out 25 carries for 155 yards and a touchdown. It was one of the team’s better rushing outings since the Ezekiel Elliott era, and it came in a game the Cowboys absolutely needed to have.
Prescott did his part through the air, too. He hit the throws Dallas had to have, and the biggest ones came on third down.
His first two touchdown passes, one to CeeDee Lamb and one to George Pickens, both arrived in those pressure spots and helped tilt the night squarely in Dallas’ favor. He finished 15 of 27 for 212 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Still, Stephen A. Smith wasn’t interested in treating that performance like proof that everything is fine in Dallas. Coming off a Monday night appearance in a suite at Lincoln Financial Field with Jerry Jones, Smith made his latest comments Tuesday morning on ESPN’s First Take and suggested the Cowboys are not fully convinced by their quarterback.
"This is my interpretation, I believe there's a lack of confidence, supreme confidence in Dak Prescott," Smith said. "You believe in him, you're paying him, but in the same breath, you're understanding the importance of having that balanced running attack. Because when you just have him dropping back the pass that football, you're not satisfied with the level of production that you're getting."
That’s a strong claim, especially with Prescott fresh off a three-touchdown night. But Smith’s point was rooted in what has happened over the last couple of games, not just Monday’s win.
Prescott has not been at his sharpest this season by his own standards, and the two straight losses to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers are a big reason why the criticism keeps coming. Across those defeats, he threw two touchdowns and four interceptions. Against Tampa Bay, both picks came on tipped passes, while the Packers game was the kind of tape Prescott would probably rather erase.
For now, the Cowboys have a win and a much better balance on offense to point to. Smith, though, is sticking with his read that Dallas is uneasy about what it gets from Prescott alone. In his view, the front office is "not satisfied."
And until Prescott strings together more performances like Monday night, that conversation isn’t going anywhere.
In Other News...
Jerry Jones Faces One Big Hurdle In Cowboys Pass Rush Chase
The Cowboys keep getting mentioned as a team that could use another defensive difference-maker, especially with the NFC East picture showing them as one of the conference's stronger clubs but still short on that true impact presence off the edge. Former NFL quarterback and CBS Sports analyst Russell Wilson added fuel to that conversation by suggesting Jerry Jones could explore a trade for a pass-rusher, the kind of move that would fit Dallas' appetite for chasing star talent when the right player becomes available.
The problem is fitting that kind of swing into the Cowboys' current asset situation. Dallas has already thinned out its draft capital, which makes any major deal harder to pull off, even before a team starts asking for premium compensation for a proven front-line defender. If Jones wants to chase a big name, the desire is clearly there, but the path to getting it done is a lot less straightforward than the speculation makes it sound. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys May Have Finally Found A Better Tight End Formula
The Cowboys win over the Eagles came with a notable shift in how the offense used its tight ends, and it fit neatly into a night when Dak Prescott was throwing the ball well and the unit was humming. Jake Ferguson, who has long been a central part of Dallas passing game, saw a reduced role compared with his usual workload, while Brevyn Spann-Ford picked up more of the work around the formation.
For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for the right balance in the middle of the field, the change was hard to miss. Dallas has been leaning more toward Spann-Ford in recent weeks, and the Eagles game suggested the Cowboys may finally be settling on a different formula at tight end, one that could reshape how this offense looks going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Turned This Eagles Win Into A Postgame Flex Fans Will Love
The Cowboys left Lincoln Financial Field with a much-needed Monday night win, beating the Eagles and quieting a building that expected a different kind of night. Dak Prescott settled in with 212 passing yards and three touchdowns, while Javonte Williams powered the offense with 155 rushing yards and a score as Dallas put together one of its cleaner performances of the season.
It also came at a useful time for a team trying to steady itself after a rough stretch, especially with Philadelphia dealing with a backup quarterback situation and another loss piling onto a difficult month. The bigger picture for Dallas was obvious enough in the locker room afterward: the mood matched the result, and the postgame celebration carried a little extra edge after a road win over a division rival. [Read more 🡒]