Stephen A. Smith unloads on Dak Prescott on First Take after Cowboys' playoff loss

The Dallas Cowboys collectively fell on their face in the postseason again on Sunday with their loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wild Card. Still, as the quarterback of the franchise, Dak Prescott earned a fair share of the blame and, as such, Stephen A. Smith had plenty to say about him come Monday.

Smith went in on Prescott following Dallas’ latest playoff defeat on ‘First Take’ this morning. He had his criticisms of him for not taking the team to the level of success that they expect in Arlington season in and season out.

“There does come a point in time where Dak Prescott needs to shut the hell up,” Smith stated. “A standard? What would you know about the standard? You haven’t lived up to the standard that was once set decades before you.”

“The Dallas Cowboys were winning Super Bowls in the ’90s when Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman, and Emmitt Smith were there. And, ultimately, Deion Sanders came there. The Dallas Cowboys were winning in the ’70s when you had Roger Staubach there, okay? With the Drew Pearsons of the world, with the Tony Dorsetts of the world. They were winning!” yelled Smith. “What would you know about that if you are a Dallas Cowboy since 1996? You wouldn’t know anything about that! If anything, all you know is that, historically, there was a standard that you have failed to live up to in your entire career in a Dallas Cowboy uniform.”

At that point, Smith then turned to how Prescott is perceived by those on the outside looking in. While many respect the person that he is, he believes we much collectively be more severe considering his shortcomings in the postseason.

“I say that respectfully and here’s the reason why. It comes a point in time – we all know Dak Prescott is an incredible role model. Is a really, really good guy, a really decent guy. He’s class personified,” Smith said. “We know all these things, we say all these things. But have you noticed that most analysts have gotten to a point where we preface anything we say about him by bringing that up? The time has come to stop all of that.”

“We’re talking football. Not talking anything else. We’re not talking about your character, we’re not talking about you as a man, we’re not talking about how good of a person you are. We’re talking about the fact that, come the month of January, you plummet,” said Smith. “You have a winning record in every single month but January! That is not an accident. That is not an accident.”

Prescott ended a season where he was up for consideration for Most Valuable Player with a poor performance in the playoff. He went 41-60 (68.3%) for 403 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions including one pick-six and the other nearly being returned for a defensive touchdown. He also took four sacks in a game where Jordan Love clearly outplayed him.

All in all, it was an outing where Prescott, along with the Dallas defense, couldn’t keep them in striking distance. The offense found more success in the second half and the fourth quarter but, by that point, it was way too little and far too late.

Smith isn’t one to shy away from going after Dallas, especially when they fall at this time of year. However, this analysis was some of his most scathing yet, especially when it comes to Prescott.