If it were up to his teammates, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott would be a leading vote-getter in the MVP race despite the 2-2-1 start entering Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. Former Dallas coach Mike McCarthy agrees. Prescott registered seven touchdown passes without an interception over his last two outings.

“He’s playing his ass off,” McCarthy told Pat McAfee about Prescott. “I don’t know what his completion percentage is, but I know it’s gonna be well over 70 percent. I just love the way he’s distributing the football. And I really like the maturity of the perimeter group, and you’ve got an offensive line that’s got a lot of depth there. So exciting on offense, and I just think he’s managing that thing exactly the way it needs to be managed.”

Offensive production has not been an issue for Dallas, but struggling to stop the opposition is the primary reason the Cowboys aren’t leading the NFC East ahead of Week 6.

Over two wins and a tie, Dallas scored 117 points, but the Cowboys gave up 99 points in those games along with 55 in losses to the Eagles and Bears. The Cowboys’ scoring defense ranks 29th in the NFL at 30.8 points per game, this coming after the franchise traded away its best player — Micah Parsons — ahead of the opener.

Prescott leads the league in passing attempts. The four players ahead of him in completion percentage — Jared Goff, Drake Maye, Sam Darnold and Lamar Jackson — each threw at least 42 fewer passes.

“I want to be higher than that [71.3%]. I don’t like any incompletions unless it’s truly just throwaways, right,” Prescott said. “So our standard is high and we make sure we push it each and every day at practice. It’s just about going out there and continuing to raise it.”