How Dak Prescott’s ‘crazy’ stat affects whether Cowboys win or lose

Over a span of 96 games in his college and pro career, including a playoff game and one game at Mississippi State when he only played a few minutes, Dak Prescott has only four games without a rushing attempt.

Three of those are with the Dallas Cowboys. One in each of his first three seasons, the most recent of which came last week in the loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Prescott is 1-3 in those four games.

The Cowboys are 5-7 when he has two or fewer runs, including 0-3 in 2018. They’re 13-4 when Prescott rushes five or more times. And, guess what? Dallas is 5-0 when he rushes seven or more times.

The lack of runs shocked Prescott after last week’s game.

“It’s crazy. After the game, you feel as healthy as I did, you almost have a bad feeling because you realize you didn’t run the ball,” he said. “I didn’t do certain things where I’ve got to be able to do that, take matters into my own hands and go do it even if it’s not called.”

But, as Prescott pointed out, it’s not that quarterback rushes weren’t called. He always has the option to take off if he sees an opening or doesn’t find a receiver. Part of the issue against the Colts, however, was the Cowboys weren’t necessarily struggling to move the ball, especially early. They just struggled near the red zone.

“I didn’t necessarily feel that there was a need at any point to do this or make this open up. It was kind of one of those things that happened naturally in the game and it simply just didn’t happen,” he said. “There probably were times I could have extended plays, maybe getting out of the pocket, situations like that.”

It’s hard to refute what recent history tells us about the Cowboys’ success when Prescott is a threat to run. And it’s not that he needs big gains against a team to make it work. It’s the threat that will serve his receivers and Ezekiel Elliott well. The Colts’ defense never felt threatened.

“I kind of just go with what the defense is giving me and their schemes and, if they’re giving me running lanes or something like that, taking off,” he said. “As much as I’ve run in my career and all that, when you leave a game knowing you didn’t have any rushing attempts it’s kind of crazy.”

And it typically means losing. Whether keepers are presenting themselves or not against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at noon Sunday, Prescott would be well advised to give the defense something to think about early. It doesn’t have to be a 15-yard gain. Just put the thought in their heads.

Now that would be ‘crazy’ good.