The Dallas Cowboys are going into this season knowing how much better they need to be than last season. Fortunately, they will not be dealing with the kind of obstacles that got in their way last season, but that continues to build up the pressure on their cornerstone players.
This preseason, things have not improved much. The Travis Frederick injury alone is enough to disrupt everything, but that is not the only thing that has gone wrong. The Cowboys already have to prepare to be able to make up for issues this season, and there is only so much the running game will be able to do.
The standard for Ezekiel Elliot and the offensive line cannot change much, because they always have and always will need to be the best unit in the entire NFL. With the way things have been looking, that is not going to be enough to make the Cowboys a playoff team, and that is leaving a world of pressure on the shoulders of Dak Prescott.
Keep in mind, the poor display by the backup players so far in the preseason suggests that the Cowboys will not have depth to look to in order to make up for these problems. In fact, that lack of depth is putting even more pressure on Prescott, because they will not survive if he is not able to make up for the various issues that have been on display heading into this season.
When you add on the fact that the Cowboys let his top deep threat go away, while only replacing him with Allen Hurns, the Cowboys need Prescott to create more than ever this season, and he will need to do a lot more than any other point in his young career.
One of the great strengths of Prescott, particularly in his rookie season, was the game management and lack of mistakes. Obviously, the moment he becomes turnover prone is the moment the Cowboys fall apart. He needs to make sure he sacrifices none of his ball security, while needing to make more things happen down the field in the passing game.
Right now, the only thing on this team that is taking pressure off Prescott is the running game, but that also sets a standard. When you have that kind of offensive line and running back, you cannot just be an average quarterback. Prescott has the pieces around him that will keep the defense honest, but then it is on him to make sure the running game does not have to do everything, because that will lead to a long and sad season.
The defense getting better would be the best way to take pressure off Prescott, but you cannot trust it right now. Most of the significant players on defense, like Byron Jones and Demarcus Lawrence are quite young. The Cowboys expect a lot from them, but their age makes it too difficult to trust right now, and Prescott needs to be prepared for a defense that may not be elite enough to carry a team.
There are a lot of question marks for the Cowboys, but they do not have many options to answer it. They have the pieces to make it work, and remain competitive in the division. that being said, the circumstances all come back to the Cowboys needing to be able to trust Prescott as much as anyone on this team.
When you are the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, the pressure of needing to establish that trust is enough to break down a lot of players. If that is the case, the Cowboys may have to start seriously reevaluating the state of the franchise.
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