The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott come into the 2022 with some pressure on them to win the NFC East again.
However, that pressure might crack their star quarterback as they are setting him up to fail.
While Dak has done well during the regular season, it’s the postseason where things take the wrong turn for him.
But the failure isn’t coming from a lack of talent on his part.
It comes from a couple other avenues where the team will let him down in 2022.
The 2022 offseason wasn’t as good as some Cowboys fans would think.
Losing some of the team’s key players will lay the groundwork for Prescott’s failure this season.
Dak Heads Into 2022 Season Without His Best Receiver
Prescott and Amari Cooper have played many splendid games together in Dallas.
When the Cowboys got him from the Raiders, he made an instant impact on the team.
The two players had a connection, both on the field and sidelines in every game.
Dak Prescott to Amari Cooper after throwing him a touchdown against the Giants: Hey, was that easier than Philly?
Amari Cooper had 217 yards and 3 touchdowns (including the game-winner) when Dallas hosted the Eagles last season.
(via @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/fQsZvPab2n
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) September 10, 2019
However, the Cowboys have taken this away from him by trading Cooper to the Cleveland Browns.
With Cooper gone, Prescott doesn’t have that savvy veteran receiver to connect with during plays.
It seems the Cowboys are putting their faith instead in a younger receiver that shows promise in Dallas.
But is that faith well placed with someone else?
Dallas Believes In CeeDee Lamb As Their New Top Receiver
A new era at wide receiver is coming about with CeeDee Lamb taking over in the wake of the Cooper trade.
He’s been impressive during his first two seasons with the Cowboys, posting 2,037 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.
However, those numbers could be from Cooper being on the field with him.
With that in mind, having only Lamb as a top receiver might become a trap for Dak going into the 2022 season.
Defenses who saw the young wide receiver light up the scoreboard last season can now double-team him.
If Cooper was taking the heat off Lamb so he could shine, it mirrors another wide receiver duo from Pittsburgh years ago.
Could Dallas Be Making The Same Mistake Pittsburgh Made?
In Pittsburgh, the team had a great wide receiver combo in JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown.
However, the team would switch to keep Smith-Schuster and let Brown go.
The reason for this was how Brown had declining numbers, while Smith-Schuster’s were improving.
But this move backfired on the team, as he never played as well without Brown taking away the best defenders.
Juju Smith-Schuster:
Games with Antonio Brown as teammate 30
Games w/o Antonio Brown as teammate 33100-yd-rec games with Brown as teammate 11
100-yd-rec games w/o Brown as teammate 1 pic.twitter.com/XqR4nNv3LY— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 24, 2022
It’s possible the same could happen in Dallas.
However, it comes down to Dak being able to overcome this with his new top target in Dallas.
It also means Lamb has his work cut out for him with his new role for the team.
But with some of the poor judgment calls by Prescott during the team’s playoff game, things might not work out.
With some fans believing he’s being more like Tony Romo, the best years of Prescott might be behind him.
NEXT: Dak Prescott Continues To Be A Regular Season Star
Pete Panagiotopoulos says
Dak will adapt and overcome! It’s not like this is 2018 when he had Deionte Thompson/ Allen Hurns/ Geoff Swaim/ Chaz Green/ Joe Looney/ Xavier Su’a-Filo/ Cam Fleming starting at key positions on offense. The main thing is we pass block better so Dak has more time to get the ball downfield. I like the young WR’S we have and the young 0-lineman.. That being said I would add some cheap veterans like Will Fuller/ TY Hilton/ Dede Westbrook/ Eric Fisher/ Darryl Williams/ JC Tretter/ Eric Ebron/ Jesse James/ Jason Pierre Paul/ Ndamukong Suh/ Dont’a Hightower/ Joe Shobert/ Jamie Collins/ Danny Trevathan/ Alexander Johnson. Have them in for a look and see if they have anything left and take it from there. I do agree the Cowboys didn’t do enough this offseason but that’s Jerry/ Stephen’s way of running the team. The difference between the Jimmy Johnson teams and the Jerry/ Stephen Jones teams is the depth and always has been. Jimmy had 2nd stringers who were capable of starting and Jerry/ Stephen have guys who are lucky to be in the NFL