Troy Aikman Previews Cowboys at Bucs: 'Firepower' But 'Concern' About Dak Prescott

"I see a quarterback that was not playing with a great deal of confidence and I think that would be a bit of a concern going into this game," says Aikman of the Cowboys' Prescott. "Can he get that back?''

TAMPA - The Dallas Cowboys themselves feel confident going into Monday's NFC Wild Card playoff here Tampa Bay.

But Troy Aikman isn't so sure.

"I see a quarterback that was not playing with a great deal of confidence and I think that would be a bit of a concern going into this game," said Aikman of Dak Prescott. "Can he get that back?''

Aikman, the three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, will be on the ESPN call alongside Joe Buck, with Aikman believing that Dallas will need to fight through the negatives of its listless 26-6 defeat at Washington Commanders in the final week of regular-season play.

"I think there’s a little bit of lingering doubt when you have a game like that against an opponent like they had it against," Aikman said this week. "I would be a little bit concerned, especially considering the amount of pressure that I think it is on this team to go win a playoff game.''

The pressure is there; Dallas' late struggles have been mostly attributed, perhaps unfairly, to quarterback Prescott, who led the NFL with 15 interceptions.

Aikman hinted that it'll be vital for Prescott to get off to a fast start on Monday, especially to break one of the more dubious streaks in Dallas history: the team has not won a road playoff game since a 322-yard masterpiece from Aikman himself in the 1992-93 NFC title contest in San Francisco en route to MVP honors in Super Bowl XXVII.

But Troy also believes that in addition to a confidence-building fast start, the 12-5 Cowboys need another part of this game, another time in this game, to go Dallas' way against the 8-9 Bucs and Tom Brady

"If it’s a close game in the fourth, that doesn’t bode well for Dallas," Aikman said. "I think Dallas has the firepower. The last thing Tampa can afford [is] to get into a shootout and I think Dallas has the ability, if they play like they’re capable of playing, they have the ability to kind of really put pressure on Tampa early in the game.

"But the longer the game goes and it’s close and it’s in the fourth quarter, I think that begins to favor Tampa Bay even more.”

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