Is Dak Prescott playing tonight vs. Titans? Cowboys QB's status for TNF
Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are fresh off defeating the Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas Eve, and now attention turns to the Tennessee Titans...but will Prescott be taking his place?
With the NFC East essentially won by the Eagles if they win one of their last two games, it looks like, for all intents and purposes, Dallas will be the NFC's fifth seed for the playoffs.
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But with the Eagles not due to play until Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, Dallas can put the pressure on Nick Sirriani's team with a win against Tennessee.
Dak Prescott will take his place with the team for Thursday Night Football as this is a game that the Cowboys simply have to win if they want any chance of overtaking the Eagles for the NFC East division title.
In an ideal world, Dallas would get up big early in the third quarter and then rest a host of starters, including Prescott, to save them for the playoffs.
Prescott and Cowboys fully focused on playoff run
Sitting at 11-4, the Cowboys have had a superb season after starting off with a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1. With Prescott missing games due to a thumb injury, Cooper Rush stepped in to keep the season afloat.
Since Dak's return, Dallas has taken off and become one of the best offenses in the NFL, despite Prescott's increased interception rate. Dallas has the third-best offense in the league scoring-wise, averaging 28.9 points per game.
But the offensive side of the ball isn't where most of the issues stem, its defensively. After starting the season in superb fashion as teams could barely score touchdowns against Dan Quinn's unit, lately, they have been giving up points for fun.
They have given up 40 and 34 points in their last two games when in the previous four, no team scored more than 23. In the playoffs, that will need to change. Gardner Minshew walked up and down AT&T Stadium on Christmas Eve and that will not please head coach Mike McCarthy.
But against a Titans team that will likely rest a host of starters due to the game meaning nothing as the AFC South title will be determined next week win or lose versus Dallas, the defense has a chance to get its groove back.