{"id":48862,"date":"2025-05-17T03:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T03:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48862"},"modified":"2025-05-17T03:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T03:06:09","slug":"breaking-stephen-a-smith-rips-cowboys-qb-dak-prescott-with-wildest-accusation-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48862","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Stephen A. Smith Rips Cowboys QB Dak Prescott With Wildest Accusation Ever.."},"content":{"rendered":"
Stephen A. Smith of ESPN doesn’t get the “person part” of Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. And we’ve known for a long time that he doesn’t get the “football part” of anything.<\/div>\n
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In his usual attempt to go viral,\u00a0Stephen A. Smith\u00a0recently questioned whether Dak Prescott commands true respect in the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo people respect the man who doesn\u2019t show up in January?\u201d he said, with that patented smirk and manufactured conviction.<\/p>\n

But the better question \u2014 the one more people should be asking \u2014 is this:<\/p>\n

Do people respect analysts who are allergic to context?<\/p>\n

Because that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happening here.<\/p>\n

What ESPN loudmouth Stephen A. didn\u2019t mention \u2014 maybe because he didn\u2019t know, or maybe because it doesn\u2019t sell as well \u2014 is that over the\u00a0Cowboys\u2019 last three playoff losses, they\u2019ve averaged just 3.5 yards per carry. That\u2019s not some stat to brush aside. That\u2019s everything.<\/p>\n

When defenses can sit back in seven-man coverage, without stacking the box, and still completely shut down your run game, the\u00a0quarterback has no chance. You become one-dimensional. Predictable. Easy to sit on. And your margin for error gets cut in half.<\/p>\n

Dak Prescott hasn\u2019t been perfect. He\u2019ll be the first to tell you that.\u2028But this is the ultimate team sport. And if the guys up front don\u2019t win their matchups, if the ground game doesn\u2019t do its part, and if the system breaks down under pressure \u2014 the quarterback pays the price for everybody.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the part Stephen A. refuses to say.\u2028Or maybe just doesn\u2019t understand.\u2028And that\u2019s why this whole \u201che doesn\u2019t show up in January\u201d take falls completely flat and is a wild but empty accusation.<\/p>\n

The suggestion that the locker room doesn’t respect Dak is an inane one; I remember no less an authority that Troy Aikman once telling our Mike Fisher that Prescott is a fine a leader as Troy has ever encountered – as high a praise as one can imagine.<\/p>\n

So Stephen A. doesn’t get the “person part” of this.<\/p>\n

And we’ve known for a long time that he doesn’t get the “football part” of anything.<\/p>\n

Stephen A. Smith isn\u2019t a football analyst.\u2028He\u2019s an actor. A brand. A performance.\u2028Paid to polarize. Paid to say something loud \u2014 not necessarily something accurate.<\/p>\n

The people who really know this sport?\u2028They can fairly debate the merits of Dak the player. But they don\u2019t respect noise.\u2028They respect nuance. … and we trust that you join us in that category.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen A. Smith of ESPN doesn’t get the “person part” of Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. And we’ve known for a long time that he doesn’t get… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Stephen A. Smith Rips Cowboys QB Dak Prescott With Wildest Accusation Ever.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48862\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Stephen A. 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