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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Meadowlands had all but emptied out by the time the Dallas Cowboys were done with the New York Jets on Sunday, but a loud group waited around to send a message to their hero. And as Dak Prescott left the field and headed toward the locker room, he smiled when he heard what they were chanting:
“M-V-P!”
“I mean, my ears work, so I heard it,” the Cowboys quarterback said. “But I didn’t hear it. It’s Week 5.”
It may only be five weeks into the NFL season, but it’s OK for him to listen, at least for a moment. Because those fans are right. Nearly one third of the way through the season, Prescott is the MVP of the league.
Dak Prescott heads off the field Sunday after another stellar performance to start the 2025 season. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) <!–>
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It’s not just the numbers that make a case for the 32-year-old veteran, even though those have been spectacular so far. He’s completed 71.3% of his passes, he’s second in the league with 1,356 yards, third with 10 touchdown passes, and has thrown only three interceptions so far.
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But it’s also about what he did on Sunday in a 37-22 win over the winless Jets — and how he did it, which has really been a microcosm of his season so far. The Cowboys weren’t just missing their No. 1 receiver, CeeDee Lamb, for the second straight week. They were forced by injuries to piece together an offensive line that was missing four starters. And they were also without backup running back Miles Sanders, reserve receiver KaVontae Turpin, depleting their weapons even further. And don’t forget, the Cowboys entered the game with the statistically worst defense in the league.
In other words, Prescott doesn’t exactly have a solid support system. If he can’t carry the Cowboys, nobody will. And while nobody around the NFL has been playing better than Prescott this season, his early MVP case comes down to something even more significant:
Nobody in the NFL has been doing more with less.
“Imagine going in with four brand new offensive lineman, receivers that are still learning and growing,” said Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer. “Look, I think we’re spoiled. I think he’s one of the best players in the league. He’s certainly one of the best teammates and leaders I’ve ever been around. The guys believe in him.”
With those four new linemen in front of him, and shorthanded at receiver, this is what Prescott did against the Jets: 18-of-29 for 237 yards and four touchdown passes, good for a passer rating of 127.4. In the two games now without Lamb, one of the best receivers in football, Prescott has thrown for 556 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception. And the Cowboys have scored an astonishing 77 points.
It helps that the Cowboys are getting impressive performances from two newcomers — running back Javonte Williams (447 rushing yards and five touchdowns) and receiver George Pickens (23 catches, 357 yards, 5 touchdowns) — but Prescott is the one fueling this rise. And it’s not just by his play on the field either. He’s the glue holding what’s left of the team together behind the scenes, too.
Like last week during practice, when he knew the Cowboys would be without left tackle Tyler Guyton, center Cooper Beebe and guards Tyler Booker and Tyler Smith. Prescott didn’t just leave the replacements alone to figure out how to protect him. He offered them help, his guidance, and a pep talk that apparently worked.
“I had a conversation with the young linemen earlier in the week about how I became a starter,” Prescott said. “If there’s ever a guy who’s going to believe in somebody having to step up to the plate when their number is called and people don’t think they’re ready, it’s going to be me. So, to me, it’s just about encouraging those guys and motivating those guys to understand that you’re meant to be here. You’re here for a purpose. You’re here for a reason.”
And the makeshift line proved it. The Jets’ defense may not be what it used to be, but Prescott was still only sacked once and hit just three times, while the Cowboys found enough holes to run for 180 yards.
Those are the little things that Prescott does. It’s the big things, though, that make the real MVP case. Things like throwing three touchdown passes against a blitzing defense on Sunday. Or throwing a 43-yard bomb of a touchdown pass to Pickens, when the entire stadium knows he’s the only dangerous receiver Prescott has.
Or how about turning Ryan Flournoy, a sixth-round pick from 2024 out of Southeast Missouri State, into an unexpected star? He came into the game on Sunday with 14 career catches. Against the Jets, he led the Cowboys with six catches for 114 yards.
That’s what great quarterbacks do. They make the best of what they’ve got.
“That’s one of the great things about having a veteran quarterback,” Schottenheimer said. “There’s nothing that he can’t handle.”
That includes handling the early MVP hype, even while the Cowboys (2-2-1) are struggling to find their own footing. Dallas will need to go on a run toward the playoffs to keep Prescott in a race that will surely include Bills quarterback Josh Allen, the reigning MVP, and probably other QBs like the Rams’ Matthew Stafford, Tampa’s Baker Mayfield or Detroit’s Jared Goff. And it’s not clear how capable the Cowboys are of a run like that yet.
It’s that potential run that matters to Prescott, though. The “MVP” chants are nice, and well-deserved, but to him they’re nothing more than that.
“I don’t care,” Prescott said. “I don’t care if it was Week 17. What I want [is] to win, the team goals. Right now, the success and continued success that’s going to happen is just a beneficiary of all the guys in that locker room.”
Maybe. But in this case the fans know better. They know an MVP candidate when they see one.
“Sometimes,” Prescott said, “it’s just happy and excited fans.”
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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