Dak Prescott to Super Bowl? Ex Cowboys Coach Jimmy Johnson’s Harsh Opinion

“He can win you a championship if you’ve got really good players around him,” Johnson says. “But …”

FRISCO - Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson is no “hater” of quarterback Dak Prescott; indeed, Johnson’s recent evaluation of Dak notes that “his No. 1 strength is that he is a great leader.”

But the rest of the two-time Super Bowl-winning ex-Dallas coach’s opinion?

It seems … harsh.

“He can win you a championship if you’ve got really good players around him,” Johnson said on “The Herd” this week. “They’re not running the football as well as they did a year ago. When they’re running the football, those play-action passes, Dak is really good. But when he’s gotta drop back and start reading the whole field and make decisions about where he’s throwing the football, and the defense isn’t slowing down for the run and they’re rushing the passer and putting pressure on him, he’s not nearly as good.”

Some might be taken aback at what Johnson views as a limitation of the Pro Bowl QB. And others - critics of Prescott, and especially critics of his $40 million APY contract - might be gleeful to hear an expert agree with them.

It is true that In his last four games, Prescott has thrown four touchdowns and five interceptions. 

It is also true that in the six or so games before that, he was rightfully being touted as an NFL MVP candidate.

Even owner Jerry Jones concedes that Dak is going through a “slump,” and Prescott has acknowledged that his decision-making has been subpar.

But then there is this: When it comes to Prescott’s ability to win a Super Bowl, and the idea that he can or cannot “carry the team to a title” … how many QBs can actually do that?

When Johnson said, “He can win you a championship, but you’d better get the running game back.” … isn’t this sort of “needs help” take both accurate and universal? Doesn’t Aaron Rodgers “need help,” and if one thinks not, why has he won just a single Super Bowl? Doesn’t Patrick Mahomes “need help”? And even Tom Brady - as much as he obviously lifts his teammates, he can’t do all the lifting by himself.

Dak Prescott hasn’t, however, done it even once, in any form, as those three QBs have. That means the verdict is still to be determined … no matter how respected the voice of any judge might be.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.