"He's got to play better" - NFL analyst reckons it's either Super Bowl or bust for Cowboys' Dak Prescott
Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys were expected to make a deep run in the playoffs before the 2021 season began.
Despite finishing the season with a record of 12-5 and winning the NFC East division, the team fizzled out at the end. They lost to the San Francisco 49ers 23-17 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
ESPN NFL analyst Kimberley A. Martin was a guest on the morning show "Get Up" and gave her opinion on the Cowboys and their leader, quarterback Dak Prescott:
"The expectations for Dak are clear. Win a Super Bowl. It is no short of that and it's not just on him though. He's got to play better. Mike McCarthy has to coach better, but roster wise, they've got a good team with a lot of talent but they still have holes."
Martin continued to expound on other areas of improvement needed for Dallas to succeed next season.
"You've got to bolster this offensive line. You've got to get safety help. You've got to get linebacker edge help. Michael Parsons we rave about him all the time, but he is coming into the second year. And as dominant as he is. He needs help. So this team is very good, but they do need some depth."
Despite Martin pointing out areas of weakness for the team, she places the expectations of better play squarely on the shoulders of their Pro Bowl quarterback.
Can Dak Prescott lead the Dallas Cowboys to their first Super Bowl in over 25 years?
Thanks to the team's popularity and their loquacious owner Jerry Jones, "America's Team" always has high expectations placed upon them.
In the 1970s and the 1990s, the Cowboys won at a high clip, giving them a combined five Super Bowl victories.
If the team is to capture that elusive sixth Super Bowl in 2022, Dak Prescott will need to perform better down the stretch of the season.
The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback was an early MVP candidate during the first quarter of the season, when the team had a 6-1 record.
However, a calf injury suffered in a Week Six matchup against the New England Patriots caused him to miss a Week Eight game against the Minnesota Vikings.
It seems as if the injury may never have healed as it should have. The team began to struggle to score points after his return.
Prescott will be backed up by a defense led by 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Micah Parsons.
A LOT of love for Micah Parsons… good stuff 👇👇👇 twitter.com/TomPelissero/s…
The 2022 season will be the first time in a long time that Prescott will enter the season without having to recover from an injury or worry about contract disputes (he received a new contract in March 2021).
The deal can be worth up to $164 million, per source.
The deal includes $66 million to sign and $75 million in year one, the most in NFL history. twitter.com/AdamSchefter/s…
The expectations are for the former Mississippi State University standout to do just that next season...stand out and lead the team on a deep run into the playoffs and perhaps the Super Bowl.