Has Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott Become Tony Romo?

Another Dallas Cowboys season ends with disappointment. For the second consecutive year, America's Team gets bounced out of the playoffs by the San Francisco 49ers. How fitting, considering the history between these two franchises. What was a bit surprising was that rookie quarterback Brock Purdy outshined the more experienced Dak Prescott in the key NFC Divisional Playoff battle.

After a terrific performance against Tampa Bay last weekend, Prescott made the kind of mistakes that have frustrated Cowboys fans all season long. He threw a pair of interceptions and he was nearly sacked for a safety in the 19-12 loss to San Francisco last night. Despite all of his mistakes, he still had a chance to march Dallas down the field and tie the game late in the 4th quarter. He just was not able to deliver another comeback to keep the Cowboys season alive. More now that ever, Prescott's career resembles another popular Dallas quarterback.

Tony Romo took over as the Cowboys full time starting quarterback in 2006, when he played the final 10 games of the season after Bill Parcells demoted starter Drew Bledsoe. Despite injuries later in his career, Romo would remain the starter for Dallas until 2016, when Prescott would take over the reigns as the team's quarterback. When you start to compare the statistics of both Romo and Prescott, you realize that the two signal callers have a ton in common besides wearing the star on their helmet. Especially, when it comes to their postseason performances. Let's take a closer look at both thanks to pro-football-reference.com.

Dak Prescott Career Postseason Stats

Tony Romo Career Postseason Stats

As you can see by the comparison above, both Prescott and Romo are 2-4 in six career playoff games. Their QBR (quarterback ratings) in all six games is also strikingly similar. Romo owns an average postseason QBR of 93 while Prescott is 92.3. (Career regular season QBR is also nearly identical - Romo 97.1 and Prescott 97.8). Dak's first postseason game came as a 23-year old rookie while Romo did not play in a playoff game until he was 26 years old. Both quarterbacks have never taken the Cowboys to the NFC Championship.

Besides their similar performances on the field, both signal callers are regarded as terrific people off the field. That is not good enough when any Dallas fan under the age of 35 has no recollection of watching the team's last Super Bowl win. Prescott is under contract with the Cowboys through 2024 and he will make $31 million next season, with the team's cap hit nearly $50 million. That salary makes him virtually impossible to trade, although owner Jerry Jones said last night that he is committed to Prescott for the foreseeable future. The only thing Dallas fans can hope is that Dak cuts down on his interceptions next season (he led the NFC in picks despite missing five games), especially in the playoffs. Until then, the Cowboys have to pick up the pieces from another promising season that slipped away.