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Prescott More Impressive Than Wentz

Sunday Night Football should see an increase in ratings this week when the Dallas Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles. The rating should be helped with the Cowboys alone, who produce a strong reaction in nearly every NFL fan.

The game should also get a boost from two rookie quarterbacks: Dak Prescott, who is still at the helm for the Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles feature quarterback Carson Wentz.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo didn’t return to practice today, but he was http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000728169/article/injuries-tony-romo-back-throws-passes-in-practice?campaign=Twitter_atn">on the field throwing the ball to teammates. Romo won’t be back this week, but Dallas is going to have to answer the question sooner or later about the team’s quarterback situation.

Head coach Jason Garrett knows which way the locker room is leaning, and that should help guide him to his decision. There is no reason to announce to the rest of the league what will happen when Romo is fully healthy, but he needs to have a plan in place to avoid a quarterback controversy.

But the Romo-Prescott problem is for another week. This week, it’s the quarterback drafted second overall against a fourth-round quarterback.

Before the preseason, it seemed highly unlikely that Wentz and Prescott would be starting for their respective teams. Even more unlikely is that http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-corner-blog/article110133902.html">both quarterbacks have a combined 9-3 record.

Rookie quarterbacks aren’t supposed to be this successful this fast. Instead, http://www.pennlive.com/philadelphiaeagles/index.ssf/2016/10/philadelphia_eagles_carson_wen_18.html#1">Prescott has the 5-1 Cowboys on a five-game winning streak coming off their bye week. Wentz has the Eagles at 4-2, and the team beating the Vikings last week ended a two game losing streak.

Both quarterbacks have very http://www.pennlive.com/philadelphiaeagles/index.ssf/2016/10/philadelphia_eagles_carson_wen_18.html#0">similar numbers, but Prescott has been better. He has thrown for 1,486 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception. Wentz has thrown for 1,324 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions.

Prescott is completing 68.7 percent of his passes with a 103.9 passer rating, and Wentz is competing 63.8 percent of his passes with a 92.7 passer rating. Prescott is averaging 8.2 yards per pass, and Wentz is averaging 7.2 yards per pass.

Even when needing to use their legs, Prescott has been better. The Cowboys rookie has 20 rushes for 67 yards and three touchdowns, but Wentz has 43 yards on 18 carries and zero touchdowns rushing.

Both quarterbacks must work on protecting the ball in the pocket and rushing. http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/2577417/dak-prescott">Prescott has four fumbles, and http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/2573079/carson-wentz">Wentz has six this season. Wentz has been sacked 12 times for a loss of 60 yards, and Prescott has been sacked nine times for a loss of 44 yards.

In fact, the Cowboys’ fourth-round draft pick http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/completionPct">has out-played most of the quarterbacks in the NFL.

Prescott is second in the NFL in completion percentage at 68.7 percent and trails only Tom Brady. He is fifth in yards per pass attempt at 8.7 yards, with Brady, Matt Ryan, Andy Dalton and Philip Rivers ahead of him.

Among quarterbacks with more than 150 or more pass attempts, only Brian Hoyer has fewer interceptions than Prescott, who has zero. His single interception matches Russell Wilson and Sam Bradford among quarterbacks with 150 or more pass attempts.

Prescott is fifth in passer rating at 103.9 with only Brady, Ryan, Matt Stafford and Drew Brees ahead of him.

But in some categories, Prescott doesn’t rank near the top of league.

He is 20th in passing yards per game, 23rd in passing yards, tied for 22nd in passing touchdowns, 26th in pass attempts and 25th in completions. This is because http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/rushing">Dallas runs the ball more than a lot of other teams.

But Prescott has only 57 incomplete passes at this point. He is http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17892089/why-dak-prescott-qbr-much-better-carson-wentzs">completing 73.1 percent on third down and has completed 48 percent of third down throws for first downs to keep drives alive. Prescott is making good decisions and protecting the ball, which is something rookie quarterbacks aren’t good at doing.

Sunday Night Football is the first look at a quarterback battle that could define the league for the next two decades. If that doesn’t move the ratings, nothing this season will pick them up.

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