Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys have relied heavily on their quarterback through the start of the 2026 NFL season, and owner Jerry Jones made clear this week that he won’t wait on the rest of the roster to catch up.
Prescott’s offense ranks fourth in the league in EPA per play, a sharp contrast to a Dallas defense that sits last in the NFL and gives up six yards per snap. That gap has defined an uneven 1-2 start.
Dallas opened with a loss to the New York Giants, rebounded with a 37-20 win over Washington in which Prescott threw four touchdowns and passed Tony Romo for the franchise passing record, then watched a tying drive in the final minute go to waste as Baltimore answered with a 56-yard field goal for a 34-31 loss.
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Rather than wait for the defense to find its footing, Jones and the front office made their move Wednesday, acquiring cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-rounder, ending a contract standoff that had kept Porter out of Pittsburgh’s plans.
WFAA’s Ed Werder shared Prescott’s response when asked about pairing a top-five offense with a bottom-five defense, and the quarterback welcomed the front office’s urgency.
“This game is complementary. It doesn’t matter how good we are if the other side’s not trying to do the same,” Prescott said. “To make a win-now trade, it means a lot. It just shows you that this whole organization is on the same page, and you’re thankful when you have guys at the top, the owners, making those decisions and not waiting.”
Porter gives defensive coordinator Christian Parker the kind of corner Dallas has lacked outside. At 6-foot-2, he brings size and physicality to go with 31 pass breakups in 41 career starts.
Parker has already dubbed him a “boundary-eraser,” a role that could matter fast, with Dallas still without an interception and only two sacks on the year.
Dallas gets its first look at that pairing Sunday, October 4, on the road against the winless Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. ET on FOX.
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