Dak Prescott makes Cowboys history with dominant Week 7 performance
With the third quarter winding down in the Dallas Cowboys' dominant performance over the Washington Commanders in Week 7, it's safe to say the team hasn't looked better.
The Cowboys' offense has been clicking all season, but the defense finally showed up in a big way on Sunday.
The man who makes the offense click has been Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Prescott has been playing at an MVP level this season and put his name in the history books once again within the franchise.
Jon Machota of The Athletic tweeted out that Prescott has now tied Tony Romo with the most games having thrown three touchdowns, with 40.
No quarterback is facing more pressure in recent memory than Prescott, Honestly, it's to be expected when you are the highest-paid player in the leauge.
Prescott earned that moniker before the start of last season. Unfortunately, injuries would sideline Prescott for the majority of the season, giving fans plenty of arsenal to dunk on him if things went south.
However, things are far from south at the moment. Prescott is earning every dime from that contract. Without him, the Cowboys are probably winless.
The leader of the Cowboys' offense continues to make history for all the right reasons.
NHL Must Throw the Book at Capitals’ Goon Tom Wilson
The National Hockey League needs to step in and protect its players from unabashed cheap-shot artists like Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson.
On Sunday, Wilson lined up an easy target in Vancouver Canucks center Filip Chytil. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Wilson delivered a heavy, blindside hit on Chytil near the end of the first period.
With the Capitals trailing 3-0, Wilson decided to take out his frustration on an unsuspecting and helpless Chytil, who had just released the puck on a neutral-zone rush.
Chytil did not return to the game. The 26-year-old has a history of concussions and needed to be helped off the ice.
After review, no penalty was called on the play, and it was announced as “a clean hit.”
Back on Mar. 15, Chytil suffered his fifth career concussion when he was on the receiving end of a brutal hit from behind from Chicago Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson. No supplemental discipline was issued to Dickinson from the NHL Department of Player Safety.
Dickinson skated away scot-free. Chytil would miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season. Does that seem fair in any kind of way?
It’s Time to Get Serious About Player Safety
Now, it’s possible that Chytil may have suffered a sixth career concussion due to the whiplash nature of Wilson’s hit. At some point, Chytil will need to end his career prematurely because the NHL refuses to adequately protect the health and safety of its players.
Too Often, Greats Have Hung up Their Skates Prematurely
Calling it the Department of Player Safety is a joke. Who are they keeping safe here? It seems like they’re doing a lot more to ensure that the goons are safe from discipline rather than actually protecting the guys who play it clean.
Too often, we’ve seen great players have their careers shortened by repeated concussions.
Former No. 1 overall pick Rick Nash was one of the league’s brightest stars during a career spent mostly with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers.
Nash suffered at least three known concussions – and probably sustained several other traumatic brain injuries that went undiagnosed throughout his 15 years in the NHL.
While a member of the Boston Bruins, Nash suffered the final concussion of his career when he was hit high by Tampa Bay Lightning center Cedric Paquette on Mar. 17, 2018.
Earlier that season, Paquette served a one-game suspension for boarding then-Bruin Torey Krug. That slap on the wrist punishment did nothing to deter Paquette from ending Nash’s career.
Nash initially waited for his concussion symptoms to fade before he ultimately retired from the league prematurely at age 34.
Paul Kariya, Eric Lindros and Pat LaFontaine are among Hockey Hall of Famers to have their careers shortened by repeated concussions and post-concussion syndrome.
Kariya was asked by TSN’s Michael Farber in 2017 about the possibility of the league hiring someone like him to work for NHL Player Safety.
“That’s a question for the league,” Kariya responded.
In the same interview, Kariya pointed to the need for the league to take head shots more seriously.
“I think today we’re in a way better spot (than) when I retired,” he said. “Things are moving in the right direction, but still those targeted head shots are still in the game. And for me, there’s no reason to have that in the game.”
Currently, the NHL Department of Player Safety is run by former enforcer George Parros. The 45-year-old recorded just 36 points across 474 career regular season games, while being whistled for 1,092 penalty minutes.
Having Parros as the head of NHL Player Safety feels a bit like inmates running the asylum. Maybe there would be actual change if someone whose career was cut short by head shots like Kariya, Nash or Marc Savard was in charge.
It's long overdue for the NHL to finally get serious about concussions and player safety.
