Steve Beuerlein calls Cowboys games for a living, and he is not sugarcoating where Dak Prescott sits entering 2026. “Dak should be looking at this year as, hey, this might be my last best chance to really make it happen,” Beuerlein said.
Beuerlein sat down with PFSN for an exclusive interview to discuss all things football. The former QB recently enrolled in Heartflow’s GAMEFILM Registry, a program analyzing the heart health of former professional athletes.
Steve Beuerlein on Why Dak Prescott Gets a Pass in Dallas
Beuerlein, a backup on the Cowboys’ Super Bowl 27 team and now the club’s national radio analyst, starts from a place of respect. “Dak is still Dak. He’s a special talent,” he said. “He’s earned all the accolades he’s gotten.”
The accolades have not come with January results, and Beuerlein thinks the conversation around that gets lopsided. “Sometimes he is given a little bit of a pass in terms of some of the issues that the Cowboys have had,” Beuerlein said.
To Beuerlein, the real drag has been on the other side of the ball. “The defense has been the big problem the last few years with the Cowboys,” he said, “since that blowout loss in the playoffs to the Packers.” Dallas, the NFC’s No. 2 seed, lost that January 2024 game 48-32 after falling behind 27-0. “You look at that game, he threw a pick six that really started the whole floodgates opening up,” Beuerlein said.
Prescott is 2-5 in the playoffs, and Beuerlein does not pretend otherwise. “His history in the playoffs, he really hasn’t proven himself as a guy that can win those games,” he said, “when you have to have them in the big games at the end of the season.”
Beuerlein Sees ‘All the Pieces in Place’ for a Cowboys Run
The reason 2026 feels different to Beuerlein is the roster around Prescott. “I think they’ve done a lot of great things in the offseason,” he said. “The draft I think went really well. I like some of the moves they’ve made personnel-wise, going back to the Quinnen Williams trade during the season last year.”
The skill talent is loud. George Pickens posted 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2025, CeeDee Lamb made his fifth straight Pro Bowl, and Javonte Williams ran for 1,201 yards. Beuerlein ran through it himself. “You got George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb,” he said. “Javonte Williams coming off a really good year.”
To Beuerlein, that gives Prescott everything he needs. “He’s got all the pieces in place now to make a deep run, and this is his chance,” he said.
The challenge, in Beuerlein’s telling, is whether Prescott meets the moment after a 7-9-1 season. “Even though he played really well last year, there were some games where they had a chance to win and he didn’t play his best games,” he said. “You’re never going to have your best game every week, but you got to be able to step up and win those games you have a chance to win.”
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
It comes back to one question, the one Beuerlein keeps circling. “Can he be that guy, that difference maker they need him to be to get to that next level?” For a quarterback Beuerlein clearly admires, 2026 is where the answer finally has to come.
