Cowboys' Dak Prescott Laughs Off 'Comical Hot Takes' As Pressure Mounts

Dak Prescott is completely right about the scrutiny that comes with wearing the title of "America's Team'' - and of being the "face of the franchise'' of that tean, as he very much is.

Prescott is, however, only partly right about the "comical hot takes'' that surround this year's edition of his Dallas Cowboys. ...

Because there is nothing all that funny about this supposed "contender'' stumbling to a 2-4 start to this NFL season.

"Occasionally, you do get a hot take or you hear a hot take or you get asked about it, and yeah,'' Prescott recently told Front Office Sports. "it's comical.''

Occasionally? Certainly. 

Mindlessly making fun of the Cowboys is a lucrative cottage industry; ESPN's "First Take'' wouldn't have much for Stephen A. Smith to (pretend to) care about if he didn't (pretend to) know and hate Dallas.

But the Cowboys are bringing much of the present criticism on themselves. Dallas has suffered back-to-back losses against the previously winless Buccaneers and the Packers, triggering an avalanche of harsh analysis by media, bitter anger by fans and silly jokes by critics.

Dallas is among the NFL's worst on defense. And the much-celebrated Prescott-led offense? It's scored just 29 points total in the last two weeks.

Oh, and in the end, for 11th-year QB Dak? At 33, he's won Rookie of the Year and Man of the Year and he's been an MVP finalist while being paid the biggest contract in NFL history at $60 million per year.

But the Cowboys have two playoff victories in the Prescott era.

Our "not-hot take''? If Prescott and second-year coach Brian Schottenheimer can't combine to win this awful NFC East to advance to the playoffs?

They don't deserve any more chances.

"At the end of the day we know the ins and the outs of the organization and what's happening and why we're not getting things done,'' said Prescott, deflecting away whatever criticism he thinks to be unfair. So some of these takes are just for clicks and that's OK, too."

Prescott wisely notes that under owner Jerry Jones, the Cowboys have cultivated attention ... and that it's not all going to be positive.

"That's the territory," Prescott said. "You can't ask for the rain and be mad about the mud."

Jones, 84, is the overseer of a 30-year championship drought. ... but loves to boast about how he nevertheless keeps his Cowboys in the headlines.

"I think ultimately when he does that, whether you like his messages or not, you create an opinion of the Cowboys," Prescott said. "And if you have an opinion of the Cowboys, good or bad, you're gonna wanna tune in, you're gonna wanna find out if they're winning or if they're losing … When you have an opinion, eyes are all on."

The eyes are indeed on, as it's Dallas at Philadelphia Eagles on "Monday Night Football.'' And along with the eyes come the rain and the mud ... and some so-far legitimate "hot takes'' that aren't always "comical.''