Dak Prescott has performed so well he's relegated a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback to a backup role.
Ahead of Sunday's clash with the Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees declared it the end of Prescott's rookie season.
"I don't know after nine games if he's considered a rookie anymore," Pees said, via NFL Network's Mike Garafolo "You could say he's a first-year player. I don't think he's a rookie anymore. This guy's seen a bunch of stuff now. They played three divisional teams that you know throw at him everything they can throw at him and nobody's rattled him. I don't look at him as a rookie. I look at him as another quarterback that's an excellent, excellent talent. We don't think about that at all. If this was going to be his first game starting, I'd say OK we have a rookie quarterback going in. But not when you're 8-1 and he's taken them all the way and they've demolished some people."
The Cowboys have gone seven straight games with 400-plus total yards, the longest streak in franchise history.
Plenty of credit goes to the offensive line, Ezekiel Elliott and coordinator Scott Linehan for how he's handle his rookie-rookie backfield. However, the poise, precision passing, and heady playmaking down the stretch of games is all Dak.
Prescott has already set the Cowboys rookie record for wins (8), passing yards (2,339), passing TD (14) and passer rating (106.2). He is the only rookie QB since at least 1950 with 14-plus passing touchdowns and two-or-fewer interceptions in his first nine games. Prescott is also the first rookie since Russell Wilson in 2012 to throw multiple touchdown passes in four straight games.
Pees added that the Ravens defense doesn't change no matter who is under center for Dallas.
"You prepare for the offense," he said. "It's their offense. They're going to run what they run. If something like that were going to happen and he was out or break a chinstrap or something and (Tony) Romo came in, it's not like the whole offense for the Dallas Cowboys is going to change. Twenty-one (Elliott) is still back there. Eighty-eight (Dez Bryant) is still out there. Eighty-two (Jason Witten) is still out there. And that offensive line is still there. It's not going to change."
