The first meeting of strikingly similar MVP candidates

Dak Prescott is not in a relationship with Lamar Jackson.

Sure, the quarterbacks are cordial when they meet at one event or another, but their paths have rarely crossed since Prescott hosted Jackson on his college visit to Mississippi State.

In case you forgot, Jackson chose Louisville.

Prescott and Jackson will face each other for the first time on any level when the Cowboys host the Baltimore Ravens at AT&T Stadium on Sunday afternoon. For two men who don't really know each other, their NFL career trajectories are strikingly similar.

Both started as rookies and led their teams to the playoffs. Since entering the league, they have two of the better win percentages. Jackson is the league's reigning most valuable player. Prescott finished second.

And the playoffs? Well, the story is consistent there too. Two talented players in the regular season whose teams continue to fall short.

Jackson is 2-4.

Prescott is 2-5.

So many similarities. But let's put aside what happens in January. The Cowboys and Ravens need a quarterback to shine this weekend.

Dallas is coming off a devastating 25-point home loss to New Orleans. Baltimore came into the game with an 0-2 start and games against Buffalo and Cincinnati after that.

Related:Playoff déjà vu? The Cowboys' clear defeat against the Saints seemed familiar

Both teams can take a loss in this game and bounce back, but this is an early litmus test for both teams.

And both quarterbacks.

“A damn good player,” Prescott said of Jackson. “I've always admired his game, just what he can do. His talent. Incredible with the ball in his hands, a damn good shooter.”

“For me, it's about understanding the quarterback on the other side and knowing what he can do. I have to make sure our offense fires up and we put pressure on them instead of just letting them run and start an offense.”

Passing the torch

Prescott can't remember what was going through his mind in the days leading up to his game against the Ravens in his rookie season, unless he was upset that he couldn't face linebacker Ray Lewis, who had retired a few years earlier.

But this week was significant.

Tony Romo suffered a compression fracture of the first back during the preseason, forcing the Cowboys to trade the team for a fourth-round pick early in the season. After losing the opening game, Dallas reeled off eight straight wins before Romo was ready to return.

But on Tuesday before the game against Baltimore, Romo called a press conference to essentially give a speech about the loss.

“He has earned the right to be our quarterback,” Romo said of Prescott.

Then he paused, as he did at several other points during his nearly five-minute statement.

“As hard as it is for me to say this, he's earned that right,” Romo continued. “He led our team to an 8-1 record and that's hard to accomplish.”

Owner Jerry Jones had repeatedly referred to the Cowboys as Romo's team during the winning streak, and Prescott echoed the same sentiment in his comments. It was assumed that the 36-year-old quarterback would return to the starting lineup once he was healthy.

He never did. In the days leading up to the Baltimore game, the torch was passed publicly.

“To be honest, I couldn't have told you exactly what week it was,” Prescott said. “When he made the announcement, I knew that was how I felt shortly after. That's how it was going to go, the way I played and the way the team rallied around me.”

“I had no control over it, so this week I just focused on whoever it was.”

In that game, Prescott threw for over 300 yards for the second time in his young career, beating the Ravens. He now has 26 yards.

He threw three touchdowns. If he does it again on Sunday, it would be the 37th touchdown of his career, putting him three touchdowns shy of the franchise record. Guess who holds that record?

Rome.

The Cowboys extended that winning streak to 11 games before going 13-3 in Prescott's rookie season. It remains his team and will continue with the four-year, $240 contract extension he agreed to on the eve of the season opener.

The immediate concern is getting an offense back on track that has scraped together just three touchdowns in the first two games. Although the running game has been poor, much of the focus this week has been on improving the running routes in the passing game.

“Yes, it's close,” Prescott said. “We want to take the next step.”

“I see it well. The guys are doing what they're supposed to do. We can be a little better down low. I can be a little more precise on some shots. We can hold some windows longer. I can anticipate a little better.

“I think once we get that a little bit better, the red zone will take off right there.”

Where it all began

Sunday is Jackson's first game at AT&T Stadium. But he's been here before. The quarterback was one of the college players invited to the 2018 NFL Draft.

He was the last player selected in the first round by Baltimore.

The Ravens let him learn behind Joe Flacco, who had led the Ravens to the title five years earlier. But Flacco suffered a hip injury in Week 9 and was replaced by Jackson.

He went 6-1 and has been Baltimore's starting quarterback ever since. Jackson has two MVP awards to his name and holds the single-season rushing record for a quarterback with 1,206 yards in 2019.

Mike McCarthy constantly points to the 2.3-second barrier, the mark at which the protection breaks down on the first pass play and a quarterback has to extend the play with his feet. The Cowboys head coach jokes that this barrier is closer to 6.8 seconds when Jackson is on the field.

“He’s really remarkable,” McCarthy said.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh talks about how he gave Jackson the keys to the offense that was restructured by coordinator Todd Monken.

At the beginning it was a rather mixed picture, similar to Dallas' offense.

“There's a lot in there, but right now it's kind of hidden,” Harbaugh said. “It's in the bushes.”

“The things we want to build are being built. We're working on the details and there are a lot of plays being made, decisions being made, game decisions being made that I'm happy with and we've got to keep building on that.

“We are going in the right direction. We have the right plan. We just need to learn to implement it better and more consistently, and I think we will do that over time.”

Jackson completed 47 of 75 passes for 520 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He rushed for another 167 yards. Harbaugh said his quarterback is playing well and making good decisions.

“I think we're right there,” Jackson said of the offense. “Like I said, it's the little things we mess up. That turns into big things because we lose our games.”

“I believe if we just continue on the right path, we will emerge victorious.”

To gain time

Baltimore has yet to win a game. The Ravens have to play Buffalo and then travel to Cincinnati after playing Dallas.

In the first month of the season, very few games can be described as must-win games, and the Ravens almost fit that definition.

“We're starting the season slow, but I trust the guys in the locker room,” Jackson said. “We know what we want to do when we go out there on Sunday, and we know we've worked our butts off every single game.”

“We're not getting anywhere, but I feel like at the end of the day we're beating ourselves up because the penalties are killing us and we're making mental mistakes. Even for me, when I make the bad shots, we just have to fix those little things and I feel like we're going to win our games like we're supposed to.”

The Cowboys had a 16-game home winning streak against the Saints in the regular season. After the Ravens, four of the team's next five games are on the road against New York (Giants), Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Atlanta.

The only home game in this section is against Detroit.

“You have to understand that this is your job and nobody wants to, like you said, lose at home,” Prescott said. “We sure as hell don't want to start a season at home with two losses in a row. It's important for us to get back on track.”

“They're a good team to do that against. You have to understand that they haven't won a game yet. They're going to come into the game hungry. We have to make sure we're focused, concentrated and paying attention to all the details in all three phases of this game.”

It starts with Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson.

Join David Moore and Robert Wilonsky as co-hosts of “Intentional Grounding” on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) every Wednesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. through the Super Bowl.

Twitter/X: @DavidMooreDMN

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