Overreactions, reality checks for Super Wild Card Weekend Sunday games: Cowboys moving on from Dak Prescott?

Super Wild Card Weekend has lived up to the hype as the NFL playoffs have begun. The Green Bay Packers became the first No. 7 seed to win a playoff game while C.J. Stroud and Jordan Love provided glimpses of the future thanks to incredible playoff debuts. 

The Detroit Lions won their first playoff game since the 1991 season while Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid still proved the Kansas City Chiefs will be a tough out for any team in the AFC playoffs. With some teams moving on and others having their season end (Dallas Cowboys are one of those teams), here’s a playoff version of overreactions from the Sunday games that should linger for a while. 

Cowboys should move on from Dak Prescott this offseason

Overreaction or Reality: Overreaction

Prescott certainly has had more than a fair shot to take the Cowboys deep in the playoffs, yet his 2-5 record in the postseason is tied for the worst record in NFL history for any quarterback with a minimum of five playoff starts. He still hasn’t made a conference championship game in his nine seasons in the league, despite quarterbacking a team that has won 12-plus games in four of the five times he has made the postseason.

What do the Cowboys do with their underachieving quarterback? Prescott is due for an extension in 2024 after having a cap hit of $59.455 million this offseason, as the 30-year-old quarterback has two years remaining on a four-year, $160 million extension signed in 2021. Do the Cowboys pay Prescott an even larger salary for underachieving performances in January? 

Despite Prescott’s inability to make a deep playoff run, he is a top-10 quarterback. The Cowboys could do better than Prescott, but could also have much worse. Hiring the right coach to help out Prescott is the better move, while giving Prescott a shorter extension would benefit both parties. 

Hard to blame Dallas if the Cowboys decided to turn the page, but hard to ignore 36 wins over the past three seasons with a healthy Prescott at quarterback. 

Jerry Jones should do whatever he can to hire Bill Belichick 

Overreaction or Reality: Reality 

What else can the Cowboys do at this point? The coach with the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history is available for anyone to get, and Jones has a checkbook to give Belichick any salary he commands. 

Here’s where the issue lies. Would Jones give Belichick the power to run the football team that way he sees fit? Would Jones stay out of Belichick’s way when asked to? Jones is the president and general manager of the Cowboys for a reason, but Dallas is just 5-13 in the playoffs since winning their last Super Bowl in the 1995 season. 

Jones has landed Bill Parcells and Mike McCarthy, two Super Bowl-winning coaches, in the years since his last Super Bowl title. Hiring Belichick would be a gamble, since Belichick is 84-103 without Tom Brady at quarterback. Of course, Dak Prescott is the best quarterback Belichick would have not named Tom Brady (assuming Cowboys keep him). 

The Cowboys won 12-plus games in three straight years. They are closer to a Super Bowl than many think. Jones has to concede some things in order to see if Belichick can give them that Super Bowl glory. 

Dan Campbell is best head coach in Lions history 

Overreaction or Reality: Overreaction

Campbell is the first Lions coach to win a playoff game since Wayne Fontes in 1991. He’s just the fifth head coach in Lions history to win a playoff game and can be the first head coach for the franchise to win two playoff games since George Wilson — before the Super Bowl was even conceived. 

With all due respect to Potsy Clark and Buddy Parker, Campbell is taking the Lions to the heights both of those head coaches had the franchise in the 1930s and 1950s. Detroit is 22-13 over the last two seasons with a playoff win, and 21-7 in their last 28 games (including postseason). Campbell is one win away from taking the Lions to their first conference championship game since 1991 and winning as many playoff games this season as the Lions have won in the past 66 years. 

What Campbell is done in Detroit is get rid of the losing culture, something no coach really has done since Wilson led the franchise in the 1950s and 1960s. Another playoff win and this conversation may be revisited. 

Sean McVay cost Rams opportunity to advance 

Overreaction or Reality: Reality 

McVay may be an offensive maestro, but his timeout management left a lot to be desired in Sunday’s loss. 

The Rams were trailing 21-17 with 59 seconds left in the first half at their own 5-yard line with all three timeouts at their disposal. McVay decided to head into the half with all of them in tow, having a 6-yard run and 7-yard pass to end the half. With the Rams getting the ball to open the second half, wouldn’t the smarter move have been to try to be aggressive and go for points? 

The Ford Field crowd caused McVay to blow two timeouts in the second half, leaving him with just one on the Lions’ final drive. All Detroit needed was two first downs to win the game, getting the ball and holding a 24-23 lead with 4:07 left. The Lions could kill time off the clock before forcing the Rams to burn their final timeout, after Jared Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown for the first down that sealed the win. 

Prior to giving the ball back to Detroit with 4:07 left, McVay opted to punt from the Lions’ 44-yard line instead of going for it and potentially getting the first down and the win. McVay decided to be conservative multiple times in the game and it cost his team. 

McVay had a great season, but his time management prevented it form being even greater.