Dak Prescott is not in a relationship with Lamar Jackson.

Sure, the quarterbacks are cordial when they run into each other at this or that event. But their paths have rarely crossed since Prescott hosted Jackson during his college visit to Mississippi State.

Jackson chose Louisville, in case you forgot.

Prescott and Jackson will face each other for the first time at any level when the Cowboys host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium. For two men who don’t really know each other, their NFL careers are strikingly similar.

Both took over as starters and led their teams to the playoffs. They have two of the best winning percentages since they entered the league. Jackson is the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player. Prescott was second.

And the playoffs? Well, the story goes there too. Two talented regular season players whose teams continue to fall short.

Jackson is 2-4.

Prescott is aged 2-5.

So much in common. But let’s see what happens in January. The Cowboys and Ravens need their quarterbacks to shine this weekend.

Dallas is coming off an ego-crushing 25-point loss at home to New Orleans. Baltimore has since stumbled to an 0-2 start with games against Buffalo and Cincinnati.

Both teams can survive and bounce back from a loss in this match, but this is an early litmus test for both teams.

And both quarterbacks.

“A great player,” Prescott said of Jackson. “Always admired his game, just what he can do. His talents. Great with the ball in his hands, a great pitcher.

“For me, it’s about understanding the quarterback on the other side and what he can do, making sure our offense is running well and putting pressure on them, rather than just letting them do their thing and run an offense.”

Passing the torch

Prescott can’t remember what was going through his mind leading up to his rookie season against the Ravens, other than being angry that he wouldn’t be facing linebacker Ray Lewis, who had retired a few years earlier.

But that week was important.

Tony Romo suffered an L1 compression fracture in his back during the preseason, forcing the Cowboys to deal a fourth-round pick to open the season. After losing the opener, Dallas reeled off eight straight wins before Romo was ready to return.

But on the Tuesday before the game against Baltimore, Romo called a press conference to essentially give a speech admitting defeat.

“He’s earned the right to be our quarterback,” Romo said of Prescott.

Then he paused, as he often did during his statement, which lasted just under five minutes.

“As hard as it is for me to say, he’s earned that right,” Romo continued. “He’s led our team to an 8-1 record and that’s hard to do.”

Owner Jerry Jones had consistently referred to the Cowboys as Romo’s team during the winning streak. Prescott took the same stance in his comments. The assumption was that the 36-year-old quarterback would return to the starting lineup once he was healthy.

He never did. The torch was passed publicly in the days leading up to that Baltimore game.

“I honestly couldn’t have told you that this was the exact week,” Prescott said. “I knew when he made the announcement, I kind of had a feeling that was how it was going to go, the way I was playing, the way the team rallied around me.

“I had no control over it, so I just focused on whoever it was that week.”

Prescott threw for over 300 yards in that game to beat the Ravens for just the second time in his young career. He now has 26.

He threw three touchdowns. If he does it again on Sunday, it will be the 37th time of his career, which would put him three behind the franchise record. Guess who holds that record?

Rome.

The Cowboys ran that winning streak to 11 games before losing, finishing 13-3 in Prescott’s rookie season. They remain his team and will continue with the four-year, $240 million extension he agreed to on the eve of the season opener.

The immediate concern is getting an offense going that has scraped together three touchdowns in its first two games. As bad as the running game has been, a big part of the emphasis this week has been on cleaning up the route running in the passing game.

“Yes, it’s close,” Prescott said. “We want to take that next step.

“I see it well. Guys are doing what they have to do. We can be a little better in depth. I can be a little more accurate in some throws. We can hold some windows longer. I can anticipate a little better.

“I think once you get that going a little bit more, that’s when the red zone really starts to emerge.”

Where it started

Sunday will be Jackson’s first game at AT&T Stadium. But he’s been here before. The quarterback was among the college players drafted in the 2018 NFL draft.

He was the last player Baltimore selected in the first round.

The Ravens brought him in to learn behind Joe Flacco, who had led the Ravens to a title five years earlier. But Flacco suffered a hip injury in Week 9 and was replaced by Jackson.

He went 6-1 and has been Baltimore’s starting quarterback ever since. Jackson has two MVP awards to his name and holds the single-season rushing record for a quarterback with 1,206 yards in 2019.

Mike McCarthy keeps referring to the 2.3-second threshold, the point at which protection breaks down on the first pass play and a quarterback must extend the play with his feet. The Cowboys head coach jokes that the threshold is closer to 6.8 seconds when Jackson is on the field.

“He’s truly remarkable,” McCarthy said.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh talks about how he handed the keys to the offense, which has been revamped by coordinator Todd Monken, to Jackson.

It was a bit of a mixed bag early on, much like Dallas’ offense.

“There’s a lot in there, but it’s kind of hidden right now,” Harbaugh said. “It’s in the bushes.

“The things that we’re trying to build are being built. We’re working on the details and there’s a lot of plays being made, choices being made, play decisions being made that I’m happy with, and we’ve got to keep building on that.

“We’re going in the right direction. We have the right plan. We just have to learn to execute it better and more consistently, and I think we’ll do that as we go.”

Jackson has completed 47 of 75 passes for 520 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He has also rushed for 167 yards. Harbaugh said his quarterback is playing well and making good decisions.

“I believe we’re there,” Jackson said of the offense. “Like I said, it’s the little things that we mess up. It turns into big things because we’re losing our games.

“I believe that if we stay on the right path, we will emerge victorious.”

Time to win

Baltimore is still without a win. The Ravens face Buffalo and then travel to Cincinnati after the game with Dallas.

There are few games that can be labeled must-win in the first month of the season, and this comes close to that definition for the Ravens.

“We’re starting the season slow, but I believe the guys in the locker room,” Jackson said. “We know what we want to do when we get out on the field on Sunday, and we know we’ve worked really hard every game.

“We’re coming up short, but I feel like we’re kind of punishing ourselves at the end of the day because it’s the penalties that kill us and the MEs (mental mistakes) that we’re making. Even me making the missed shots, we just have to fix those little things, and I feel like we’re going to win our games like we should.”

The Cowboys saw a 16-game regular season home winning streak snapped by the Saints. After the Ravens, four of the team’s next five games are away in New York (Giants), Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Atlanta.

The only home game during that period is against Detroit.

“You have to understand that this is your job and nobody wants to, like you said, lose at home,” Prescott said. “Hell, not two straight losses to start a season at home. It’s important that we get back in the win column.

“This is a good team to do that against. Understand that they haven’t won yet. They’re going to come in hungry. We’ve got to make sure we’re focused, locked in and paying attention to all the details in all three phases of this game.”

That starts with Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson.

Tune in every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. ET to hear David Moore and Robert Wilonsky co-host Intentional Grounding on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) through the Super Bowl.

Twitter/X: @DavidMooreDMN

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.