Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are billowing with confidence coming off their division title last season.
Spinning forward, the quarterback had a prediction when asked about the upcoming year on the red carpet before Wednesday's ESPY Awards:
"We're the Cowboys. We're gonna win the NFC East," Prescott said, via Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News.
After a fantastic, out-of-nowhere rookie season, Prescott is the main reason for optimism swelling in Dallas. The tandem of Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott behind the best offensive line in football can push the Cowboys to a repeat division title.
While Dallas might enter the season as the favorites, it's not a given the Cowboys will steamroll their rivals. The NFC East has improved from top to bottom. The Eagles have given Carson Wentz new weapons. The Redskins have upgraded their defense. And the Giants have surrounded Eli Manning with even more playmakers to complement a stout D.
The Cowboys have questions of their own, including on the defensive side of the ball entering training camp. Another concern could be some regression to the mean for Prescott in Year Two.
Speaking on NFL Network's Good Morning Football, ex-quarterback Chad Pennington discussed how teams could adjust to Prescott after getting a full year of tape on the QB.
"It's going to be challenging, it really will be," Pennington said. "And the challenging thing for Dak is to not get caught up in measuring numbers. Not comparing numbers from last year to this year. Focus on decision making. Focus on are you putting your team in the right position? Don't worry about stats. Let fantasy football take care of that. Because he could actually play better and his stats be less."
If Prescott lives up to the hype that followed his rookie season, the Cowboys will be playoff bound in back-to-back years for the first time since 2007.
