Dallas’s coach likes Andy Dalton’s experience and leadership as he takes over for Dak Prescott; the owner sees shades of 1993 Bernie Kosar.
The Cowboys players made in clear in the video they posted this week: they’re doing it #4Dak. But however far they go the rest of the way this season, they’ll be doing it with Andy Dalton.
Highly regarded as perhaps the best backup quarterback in the league when the season started, Dalton could have been starting for several teams. Now he’s starting for America’s Team. And while the organization and its fanbase had their sights set on a Lombardi Trophy before Dak Prescott’s season-ending ankle injury, team owner Jerry Jones had an interesting take when asked if Prescott’s absence should temper that optimism. He even dialed up a pertinent history lesson from the team’s glory days.
“We should adjust expectations. Different than optimism,” Jones said Friday on the K&C Masterpiece show on 105.3 The Fan. “But we should adjust our expectations. Dak is a very incremental part of the potential success of this football team.”
While Jones almost certainly misspoke when he used the word incremental– instead of integral or instrumental or any other word that doesn’t mean small– he made sure he was perfectly understood in expressing his belief that Dalton’s ascension to the starting role should have no effect on the end goal for the season.
“On the other hand,” Jones continued, “if we don’t reach where we want to go ultimately- and the ultimate success is to win the championship- it will not be because of Andy Dalton. It will not be because of our play at quarterback. He’s capable of stepping in and playing at that level.”
He unquestionably is. The nine-year veteran went to three Pro Bowls, and threw for 31,000 yards and over 200 touchdowns as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals and went 70-61-2 while there. He’s still the all-time passing leader at TCU, where he led the Horned Frogs to a Rose Bowl win in his final collegiate game.
“Andy’s got a lot of pelts on the wall,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday after he led Dallas to a last-second win over the Giants.
He’s a longtime leader on and off the football field, and an exponential step up from the warm-body backup quarterbacks that have been in Dallas over Prescott’s young career. Someone who’s been there before is an invaluable commodity when the leader goes down. Now Dalton’s vast experience as a pro should help make the transition easier for everyone as he assumes control of the team’s offense.
“You have to remember how much football Andy’s played, how much winning football he’s played,” McCarthy reiterated during a press conference on Friday. “That’s a big part of his game. He knows exactly what to say, when to say it, whether it’s in a protection meeting, to the center- ‘Hey, make sure you just make the declaration; let’s not make it rocket science.’ So he has a very smart way of getting his point across in as few words as possible. I’m a believer in direct leadership, and Andy’s a guy that everybody loves. How do you not? If you don’t love Andy Dalton, then there’s something wrong with you.”
McCarthy was quick to put the loss of Prescott in its proper perspective, considering there are still 11 regular season games to play… and the hope of more beyond that. But he acknowledged the different vibe around the facility without No. 4 at practice, as Prescott is about to miss his first game as a Cowboy after 69 straight regular-season starts.
“You can never take for granted the presence and the command of Dak Prescott. So it was definitely noticeable. Frankly, it hit me from the practice structure when I went out to the quarterback school, not having him there. Just the two quarterbacks. But you have to turn the page on all injury situations. And I think we are so fortunate and blessed to have Andy Dalton. Andy has such a great way about him. He’s a different leadership style, but the practice, the efficiency that I’m always looking for as far as communication on the play call to the command in the huddle, pre-snap awareness and instincts, obviously the post-snap execution, I thought we had a good day. That’s a real credit to Andy.”
How’s this for credit? Jones hit rewind and compared Dalton to another veteran passer who came to Dallas late in his career as a backup to a superstar.
“In my time, the only thing I can think about comparable to him as far as having available in a backup situation was Bernie Kosar. And it was unique that we got Bernie. And Bernie did step in and was a key to us beating San Francisco and ultimately getting in the playoffs and getting to the Super Bowl when Aikman went down.”
Some of the similarities between Kosar’s case in 1993 and Dalton’s current situation are uncanny.
The longtime Browns quarterback was signed to a one-year deal by Dallas solely to be their backup. But Kosar suddenly found himself leading the defending Super Bowl champs’ offense after Troy Aikman suffered an injury… against the Giants. Kosar got the win that day and started the Cowboys’ next game… versus the Cardinals.
Aikman returned to action that season, but Kosar stayed ready. In the NFC Championship versus the 49ers, as Jones recalled, Aikman was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Kosar played in relief again, helping to seal the win and earn the team a second consecutive Super Bowl berth.
Aikman played Super Bowl XXVIII still dealing with the aftereffects of that concussion. But it was Kosar who took the final snap of the game that night, kneeling to complete the championship victory.
A lesser backup might not have been able to complete that journey in 1993. Jones thinks Dalton’s experience makes him similarly qualified to take the Cowboys on a winning journey of their own in 2020.
“I think he’s very accurate,” Jones said of the 32-year-old Dalton. “I think he has a quick delivery of the football, technically. I think you couldn’t ask for a better background or experience; he’s a proven player, proven player under pressure. He brought with him from the get-go that he will rise to the occasion. He does his best in a challenge- you saw a little bit of it the other day. He is completely knowledgeable with what we’re trying to do, our scheme.”
Subbing in Andy Dalton for Dak Prescott is obviously not a case of interchangeable parts. But neither was swapping Troy Aikman for Bernie Kosar. And McCarthy and Jones see no reason why the newly-revamped scheme can’t still get the 2020 Cowboys where they had set out to go all along.
“We couldn’t be in better shape than, if you take into consideration we’ve lost Dak,” Jones concluded, “than to have Andy Dalton step in.”
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