It's understandable some people might view this upcoming season as "make or break" for Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.
After all, the Cowboys have made the postseason two years running, but have come up short two years straight in the playoffs, losing both times to the San Francisco 49ers with Dallas' offense coming up short in each.
Now, with head coach Mike McCarthy taking over play-calling duties from the departed Kellen Moore, and with Prescott coming off a career-high (and NFL-worst) 15-interception season, there's arguably even more pressure for the Cowboys to perform better in key moments.
But Prescott sees things a little differently on that matter, explaining that when you take a step back and look at the big picture, there were plenty of positives to be taken away from Dallas' past two seasons.
"You're able to take two 12-win seasons over into this one and build," Prescott said on Dallas-Ft. Worth's The Ticket, via The Athletic's Jon Machota. "It's the first time in my career I can say I feel like consecutive seasons are building."
We don't tend to think of progress as linear in a league where teams going from last place to first is a nearly annual achievement. It's even more impressive when you consider that the Cowboys are one of only two NFL teams to win 12-plus games each of the past two seasons. The other? The Super Bowl-champion Chiefs.
Prescott believes that having more success than failure over that stretch – even with two unsatisfying season endings – will help the Cowboys as they embark on 2023.
"Going back to 2021, we've been able to build," Prescott continued. "We built that year, and we can build again. I think that's the best real chance that you have of making it.
"You got to give it knocks. You've got to see what it feels like (being in big moments). Us having that now, you feel a lot more comfortable, you're excited about the details, the changes that we've had on the offense and just the team. I'm looking forward to it with a lot of excitement."
