Dak Prescott has mirrored Tony Romo’s playoff struggles as Cowboys seek to break conference title game drought

Dak Prescott has done plenty of winning for the Dallas Cowboys since becoming the team’s starting quarterback in 2016. Of course, playing quarterback for the Cowboys means competing for Super Bowl titles — not early playoff exits.

The Cowboys’ drought of appearing in the conference championship game stands at 27 years, which Prescott has played a role in extending. Prescott has appeared in the divisional playoff round three times and lost all three starts, joining Cowboys great Tony Romo in that club. 

Dallas is the only franchise in NFL history to have two quarterbacks start three games in the divisional round and not advance past that game, a sign of how hard it’s been for the franchise to reach the NFL’s final four in recent decades. The Cowboys have 12 straight playoff appearances without making the conference championship game, the longest streak in NFL history.

Prescott is 2-4 in his postseason career (including a win in the wild-card round this past season), but the combined record of opponents the Cowboys have beaten in his two playoff victories is 18-15. Per NFL Media, that is the lowest opponent win percentage (.545) in playoff wins among the 109 quarterbacks to win multiple postseason games in their career. 

Of course, Prescott has had success in the NFL. His 50 games with a 100-plus quarterback rating after his first seven seasons trail only Russell Wilson (56) for most in NFL history, while his 97.8 passer rating is eighth among qualifying quarterbacks in league history. Prescott has 193 career touchdowns through his first 97 games, fourth-most in league history (trailing only Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers, and Patrick Mahomes). 

The playoff exits have hurt Prescott’s legacy to this point, but the Cowboys quarterback has been successful in the regular season with a 61-36 record (.629 win percentage). If Prescott can lead Dallas to one deep playoff run, the narrative on the Cowboys’ playoff exits will certainly need an alteration.