‘Coach Dak Prescott’: QB on Headset as Cowboys Mike McCarthy & Kellen Moore Face ‘Hot Seat’

The coming Prescott-less weeks could define not only the Cowboys season but Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore's NFL careers as well.

As any Dallas Cowboys fan has likely retorted when their conversation partner brings up the results from the Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season, championships, at least on the gridiron, are not won in September. 

Careers, on the other hand? Thanks to the circumstances, they could be defined. 

The professions in question belong to Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore, the Cowboys' respective head coach and offensive coordinator who oversaw a 19-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday night. With McCarthy and Moore each known for offensive endeavors, it was perhaps a bit surprising to see them struggle. 

Your post-Labor Day nightmares at work were a breeze compared to what they had to go through, their job laden with feedback from the most merciless performance reviewers: amateur and professional football observers. 

To top it all off, one of the most vital employees is out for at least the next few weeks, as franchise quarterback Dak Prescott's thumb injury will remove him from the team's foreseeable future … though he will be involved in Week 2 as “Coach Dak,” wearing a headset and patrolling the sideline to help McCarthy, Moore and sub Cooper Rush.

Dak is joining a sizable infirmary that also includes Tarell Basham, Michael Gallup, Jayvon Kearse, and Connor McGovern. The gridiron gods' grudge against Dallas further manifests in a visit from the defending Super Bowl finalists from Cincinnati in Week 2's coming Sunday action (3:25 p.m. CT, CBS). 

The hand the Cowboys have been dealt is something conjured from the depth of the football underworld, a situation coaches would try to pray away on a nightly basis. For McCarthy and Moore, however, the greatest opportunity has presented itself. 

Yes, they face "Be Smarter'' scrutiny and a twin set of hot seats. But Prescott's injury and its projected lifespan gives them a chance to prove something as coaches. Win with Dak in street clothes? That will be a credit to the coaches and will quiet the critics.

At least until next week.

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