Prescott overcomes turnover bug in victory over Raiders

Dak Prescott prides himself in taking care of the ball, but the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback has been more prone to interceptions in his sophomore campaign.

Prescott threw two picks in Sunday’s 20-17 victory over the Oakland Raiders, bringing his season total up to 11.

On the opening drive of the game, the Cowboys had a third-and-10 from the Raiders’ 35. Prescott tried to hit Dez Bryant but overthrew him and the ball landed in the hands of Raiders cornerback Sean Smith. That killed a potential scoring drive for the Cowboys.

Prescott hadn’t been intercepted in his previous two games. He threw just four interceptions as a rookie.

He was intercepted again in the third quarter by Smith. That turnover led to an Oakland field goal that tied the score at 10-10.

The most interceptions Prescott threw at Mississippi State was 11 in his junior season.

The Cowboys’ defense, meanwhile, couldn’t get a takeaway in the first half. But they had an opportunity.

Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie stripped Michael Crabtree midway through the second quarter. Safety Jeff Heath had the first chance to pounce on it but whiffed as he tried to scoop-and-score.

Smith hurt

Cowboys All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith limped off the field in the third quarter with a knee injury. He did not return to the game.

Smith exited after Prescott and Cole Beasley failed to connect on a third-down play from the Dallas 24. The Cowboys ran a successful fake punt on the next play with Chris Jones picking up the first down.

But Smith stayed on the sideline as swing tackle Byron Bell entered in his place.

Smith gave up a sack in the game as Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack beat him in the first half.

Smith missed two games earlier this season with a groin injury. He’s also managed a back injury in recent years.

Strong early

The Cowboys did something they hadn’t done since the season opener — shut out an opponent in the first half.

The Cowboys’ defense kept the Raiders out of the end zone, and were fortunate when Oakland’s Giorgio Tavecchio missed a 39-yard field goal to end the first half.

The Cowboys also held the New York Giants scoreless in their season-opening victory.

The defense made a strong statement early. After Prescott threw an interception on the opening drive, the defense responded by forcing a three-and-out.

The Raiders finished the opening half with just 105 yards of offense, including 31 yards on the ground. Marshawn Lynch, who entered averaging 4.2 yards per carry, was held to 26 yards on seven carries (a 3.7 average).

Oakland quarterback Derek Carr, meanwhile, had just 74 passing yards.

Bailey’s kick

Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey had the worst game of his football life last week against the Giants. He missed two field goal attempts and his first career point-after attempt.

Bailey made no excuses for his performance and showed signs of being his old self against Oakland. Bailey knocked in a 45-yard attempt in the first quarter to give the Cowboys a 3-0 lead.

And then he had no problems with a point-after try later in the half to put the Cowboys up 10-0. Bailey also made another PAT and the game-winning field goal from 19 yards out with 1:44 to go.

Bailey had never missed a PAT until he was wide left on a fourth quarter try against the Giants. He had made 273-of-273 attempts before the miss.

This story was originally published December 17, 2017 at 11:01 PM with the headline "Prescott overcomes turnover bug in victory over Raiders."