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When quarterback Tony Romo injured his back in the preseason, Cowboys Nation panicked, fearful that yet another season was down the tubes complements of yet another Romo injury.
That panic was alleviated somewhat by the strong play in the preseason from rookie Dak Prescott. The hope was that Prescott could hold down the fort—keep the Cowboys from falling too far off the pace in the NFC East until Romo returns.
As it turns out, Prescott can do quite a bit more than that. And with the Cowboys setting the pace in the NFC East after a convincing 28-14 Week 5 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, a new day is dawning in Big D.
Because even once Romo is healthy, this team (and the starting job under center) should now lie with Prescott.
As he's been in every game this season, Prescott was as effective as he was efficient Sunday against Cincinnati. He completed 75 percent of his passes, both threw and ran for scores and extended his NFL record for passing attempts without an interception to start a career to 155.
Among all of the fourth-round pick from Mississippi State's accomplishments to this point, that's the most impressive. He hasn't committed the kinds of back-breaking mistakes that often plague rookie quarterbacks. The sort of mistake that cost Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the season Sunday.
As tight end Jason Witten told Bleacher Report's Jason King, while some young players shrivel in the spotlight, Prescott has thrived in it:
As a veteran, when a young player comes in here, you want to show him the ropes, but you always want him to earn it. And he’s earned it fairly quickly, not because he’s been thrown into a situation—just because every opportunity, he’s answered it.
In the huddle he’s good. In meetings he’s good. Obviously his ability to make plays on the field has been really good. I’m proud of him for that, and I think he’ll continue to build on it.
Sure, Prescott's had help. Tailback (and fellow rookie) Ezekiel Elliott averaged almost nine yards a carry and scored two touchdowns in his third straight 100-plus-yard game on the ground. One of the best offensive lines in football is helping both youngsters greatly.
However, when Prescott's been called on to make plays, that's exactly what he done, both with his arm and with his legs.
With the Cowboys at 4-1 and tied for first place in the NFC East, it's no surprise that a question's being floated by fans and the media alike. What happens when Romo is healthy?
Per David Helman of the team's website, in the eyes of team owner Jerry Jones, there is no question—once Romo's back is healed and he's cleared by doctors, the 36-year-old is the Cowboys starting quarterback:
That would be a mistake. A gaffe. A screw-up of ginormous proportions.
Now, is Romo a better pure passer than Prescott, who entered Week 5 1-of-7 on passes longer than 20 yards, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports? Well, duh. He's been doing this a while longer, and Prescott's spent most of the season without the services of top wideout Dez Bryant.
But that hasn't hindered the Cowboys' ability to move the football even a little. Dallas entered Week 5 second in the NFL in total offense and first in rushing. Prescott's mobility has opened up entirely new facets to the Dallas offense—things they simply cannot do with Romo at quarterback.
The Cowboys also entered this week's action second in the NFL in time of possession at over 35 minutes a game. Not only are the Cowboys dictating the tempo of games, but Prescott and the offense are keeping a less than stellar Dallas defense off the field.
Simply put, it's working. And the players know it's working. Its hot start has energized the team on both sides of the ball. Linemen are flying off their blocks. Defensive backs are flying around. The Cowboys are dialed in.
You just don't fix what isn't broken. Pull Prescott for a quarterback with a long history of both injuries and game-costing mistakes with the football. This isn't meant to knock Romo. Plenty of teams would gladly roll him out there every Sunday.
But if the Cowboys make the switch because, as La Canfora wrote, "The Cowboys brass believes it will have a more robust, well-rounded offense with Romo back under center and that he is best positioned to cull the maximum production out of their array of weapons in the passing game," then what's the best case? Things stay the same and the team keeps winning?
Never mind that the best of those "array of weapons" (Bryant) is himself on the shelf indefinitely.
The worst case is that the Cowboys get into a funk or Romo promptly gets injured again and Prescott struggles to regain his momentum—alternatives that involve Dallas losing games.
And possibly losing the locker room, as players wonder why the staff felt it necessary to mess with a good thing.
The reality is, it's probably going to be a few weeks before Romo's ready for a potential return. At the very least, the Cowboys are in a position where hurrying him back would be lunacy.
If Prescott scuffles next week in Green Bay (although he's given zero indication that will happen), the decision will make itself. We'll be right back where we thought we'd be. Prescott will have done everything the team could reasonably have asked—kept the team in the hunt until Romo's return.
However, if Prescott continues to thrive and the Cowboys knock off the Packers in Titletown—probably without Bryant—then the Cowboys will have accomplished something most would have thought impossible with Romo...
Win five of their first six games.
At that point, making a switch would just make no sense. I get it. Romo has done a lot of good things for the Dallas Cowboys. He's started 127 games for the team and led the Cowboys to the playoffs four times, including as recently as 2014.
Since then, though, it's been injury after injury. A pair of broken collarbones last year. The back injury before the 2016 season that so many thought would flush another season.
Thanks to Prescott, that hasn't happened. Quite the opposite. The team sits in first place. On Sunday, it rolled a Bengals team that's been to the playoffs after each of the past five seasons.
Could Romo "open up" the offense? Maybe—assuming he has a healthy Bryant at his disposal. But it's hardly a certainty that Romo could do more with "his" offense than Prescott's doing right now. It's working. What purpose is served by changing it?
We all knew that sooner or later Romo's time in Dallas was going to end at some point. That the Cowboys were going to have to look to the future at the quarterback position.
It's a safe bet the team didn't think a fourth-round pick necessarily represented that future. Or that Prescott would be this ready this early.
But it was. He is.
And it's time for the team to admit what anyone with eyes can see. The Cowboys' future under center is now. It's here.
Long live King Dak—Lord of America's Team.
Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.
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