Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys have been the definition of hot and cold this season. At the beginning of the year, they were dubbed Super Bowl contenders and Prescott was viewed as an MVP contender. Entering Week 11 against the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys were 5-4 and no one truly knew what to make of them.

Following their 35-27 win over the Matthew Stafford-less Lions, the Cowboys are now 6-4 and Prescott is back to playing at an elite level.

On the afternoon, Prescott ended up completing 29 of his 46 pass attempts for 444 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. He also picked up 18 yards on the ground. Those numbers speak mostly for themselves.

This is a game that the Cowboys needed to win. If they lost to Jeff Driskell and the Lions, things may have begun falling apart. Jerry Jones and company got the job done on the road and they got their franchise quarterback back on track in a big way.

All offseason long, the talks surrounding Prescott were about his potential contract extension. The team did not end up getting anything done with him, nor have they gotten anything done with him to this point in the year. These performances are simply driving up the price tag for Prescott.

So far this season, Prescott has thrown for 3,221 yards, 21 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He has also scored three touchdowns with his legs. Those numbers are certainly good enough to warrant putting him in the conversation for the MVP award, although there is a lot of work left for him to do.

Prescott has a ton of competition for the award. Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson are two prime candidates, while Aaron Rodgers and Michael Thomas have also received some talk as potential candidates. Even Patrick Mahomes has a chance to come back from his knee injury and make a run at repeating as league MVP.

The Cowboys are hoping to make a deep playoff run this season. They have not shown the consistency to be that kind of team so far this season, but if Prescott continues playing like he did today, they will have a shot.

Obviously, the Lions are not a Super Bowl contending team in any way, shape, or form. This win is a big one for Dallas, but it doesn't make a huge statement just yet. Prescott putting up big individual numbers is good for MVP discussions, but his focus is on bigger team-oriented things.

Dallas will face a real test to find out what kind of team they are next week on the road against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Prescott must come through with another massive game if the Cowboys want any chance of coming out with a win. We'll find out a lot more in Week 12 about this football team.

All of that being said, this performance is going to throw Prescott back into MVP talks this week and deservedly so.