Michael Irvin, Kurt Warner, other NFL pundits question Dallas Cowboys’ future without Dak Prescott

The Dallas Cowboys were the hot topic on the NFL pregame shows on Sunday. A week after losing starting quarterback Dak Prescott with a fractured thumb on his throwing hand, many pundits had opinions on the Cowboys season.

The NFL Networks’ GameDay pundits had mixed feelings on Sunday morning if the Cowboys can remain competitive with quarterback Dak Prescott out with the fractured throwing hand.

Former Cowboy Michael Irvin was the most optimistic: “All you do now is stay tight within the division. In the end, even if you don’t win the division, you can get in through the wild card … the Cowboys are still in contention.”

After today’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cowboys face NFC East rivals: at the New York Giants on Sept. 26, then host the Washington Commanders on Oct. 2.

Former wide receiver Nate Burleson: doesn’t think the Cowboys can compete with quarterback Cooper Rush.

“The short answer is no, they will not be as competitive,: Burleson said. “ln my opinion, they are a team that struggled in week one. There are too many issues right now with this offense for a backup quarterback to keep this team afloat.”

If the Cowboys lose today and drop to 0-2, history shows they have just a 12 percent chance of advancing to the playoffs.

Former coach Steve Mariucci was more pessimistic: “Dak’s hand with pins and screws and whatever he has that’s really unprecedented. I don’t know of a quarterback with all of that stuff trying to come back and throw spirals The area I am really concerned about is the receiving corps. This receiving corps has got to get better.”

Super Bowl winning quarterback Kurt Warner said there is a glimmer of hope.

“If this is a short-term thing, because (owner) Jerry Jones has us believing this could may be four weeks, but I don’t think any of us believe that. With the schedule, they could stay in the mix. If this becomes an eight-week thing, I don’t believe they stay in contention. They have a lot of issues with this team. You need plays with your quarterback. That’s what Dak gives you … I am not sure that I’m not sure Cooper Rush can make enough splash plays to keep them in contention.”

NFL Network commentator Rich Eisen said the problem goes beyond the quarterback situation.

“If fDak hadn’t broken this though, the conversation would have been ‘What was that out of the offense?’ Because the word that I don’t think the Cowboys ever want to be called (is) boring.They were ineffective, They looked horrible on offense.”

On ESPN’s Sunday Countdown show, former players and coaches had similar thoughts.

There’s two guys I’d like to see in the package today,” former NFL wide receiver Randy Moss said. “That’s (Tony) Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott. The OC (offensive coordinator) needs to be able to put both of those guys in position; Pollard as a pass-catcher, Ezekiel as a pass catcher so be able to take some heat off Dalton Schultz, take some heat off (CeeDee) Lamb.”

Former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he expects Rush to have a good game against the Bengals.

Rush “did not look great last week,” Hasselbeck said. “Given a week of practice … he will have a better chance to be successful.”

Hasselbeck noted that Rush played well in his one start in 2022 when the Cowboys won at Minnesota.