Dak Prescott showed why the Cowboys are sold on him with win at Giants
Let Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence tell it.
Dak Prescott did not have to play in Sunday’s regular season finale against the New York Giants just as Ezekiel Elliott, left tackle Tyron Smith and right guard Zack Martin did.
“Who is going to stop him? Who is going to stop me,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence, who said “hell naw” to the notion of playing all four quarters when asked about it on Friday, was true to his word, playing just 12 snaps in the game.
He was on the field in the first half and sat for the final two quarters of the Cowboys’ dramatic 36-35 comeback victory in which Prescott played every minute, adding to his game and reverence in the locker room with one of the finest performances of his career.
Prescott completed 27 of 44 passes for 387 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions and a 120.2 passer rating while rallying the Cowboys back from two fourth quarter holes.
The final one came on a nine-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by Prescott scrambling to his left and throwing a miraculous 32-yard touchdown strike to receiver Cole Beasley with 1:12 left.
A two-point conversion pass to Michael Gallup when Prescott again scrambled to buy time proved to the difference in the game.
“Pure warrior,” Lawrence said when asked about Prescott in the postgame locker room. “He could’ve came out the game anytime and saved himself for next week, but it was important for him to go out there and lead us troops and for them to install more trust into him and to this wide receiver corps.”
Said a laughing and giddy Prescott when told about Lawrence’s comment: “I think me and (Lawrence) see the game a little different from that standpoint. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s wrong, who knows. The competitor in me wanted to play. I wanted to get out there. I said it during the week, I wanted to play. I wanted to have this momentum. Throw the ball and just carry this going into the postseason. I’m glad with the way it turned out.”
It was a certainly a game in which the Cowboys wanted to emphasize the passing game, build some confidence and gain some momentum heading into Saturday’s wildcard playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks.
But the Cowboys could have done that in the first half when Prescott threw touchdowns passes of 13 and 19 yards to tight end Blake Jarwin to put them ahead, 14-7, at halftime. There was really nothing consequential to gain in the game against the Giants with NFC East title already clinched and their playoff seeding already locked in.
But Prescott played on, throwing a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jarwin in the third quarter and a 49-yard pass to Allen Hurns to set up a 1-yard touchdown by Rod Smith in the fourth before the final heroics to Beasley.
“Even some teammates asked me, ‘How much are you playing?’” Prescott said. “I told them that I simply wasn’t told anything. I prepared myself to play the entire game. I practiced all week long to play the entire game. I took the two-minute drive this week, and it worked out.”
It more than worked it.
It worked like a charm.
Prescott wasn’t perfect. But it was his first ever four-touchdown game. The 387 yards were the second highest of his career. The 44 attempts were his fourth-highest total.
And he got the victory, marking the 14th time he has directed a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or later, the most in NFL history in a player’s first three seasons.
“We wanted to keep building on a lot of the things we were building on in our offense, and you’ve got to have you quarterback out there to do that,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “He did a great job and he didn’t even blink. That’s who he is. He’s ready to play any game. He doesn’t treat any game any different than he did.
“It was big for him to have a game like that. We put a little bit more emphasis on the passing game. I just thought he did a great job.”
Jason Garrett said the pass to Beasley was the best play he’s ever seen Prescott make since taking over for the injured Tony Romo in 2016.
Prescott came back to earth some in 2017 in a season that was marred by a six-game suspension for Elliott and injuries to Smith.
And this year he has endured a team-record 56 sacks, many of which have been blamed on him for holding the ball too long.
Garrett said the final touchdown is what you get with a mobile quarterback like Prescott.
“Yeah, I thought it was a pretty remarkable play by our quarterback and our receiver,” Garrett said. “Obviously, they put some pressure on him and he had to get out of the pocket. Dak does such a great job moving in the pocket, he does such a great job keeping his eyes up and making those throws on the run. Sometimes people get down — ‘Hey, he takes sacks’ — but one thing you have to understand when you have a movement quarterback like that, there are a lot of good plays that he makes too, and certainly that was as good a play as I’ve ever seen him make, and (Beasley) made a big-time catch on the other end of it.”
What you also get with a quarterback like Prescott is a guy who wants to win more than anything. If he is on the field, he is playing to win.
That he was able to do it without Elliott speaks volumes to his growth from last season and is a bright spot heading into the postseason. Elliott led the league in rushing despite sitting out the final game. The Cowboys gained just 53 yards on the ground, averaging 2.3 yards per carry against the Giants without him.
But they had Prescott.
“I wasn’t coming out there saying I needed to prove people something,” Prescott said. “I was coming out there to try to get a win, simple as that. Get a win for our teammates and keep this momentum going. If anything, just show the guys how much winning means to me no matter the circumstances, meaningless or not. That’s the only thing that was important to me.”
Prescott’s humble and focused attitude has been the same since his rookie season. It’s why the Cowboys didn’t worry about sending an awkward message by playing him all four quarters while sitting guys like Elliott, Smith, and Martin who were deemed too valuable to risk injury.
“I worry about a lot of things. Awkward verbiage around Dak is not one of them,” owner Jerry Jones said. “This guy has got them both (feet) on the ground solid. That is part of his best asset. There is no question I am so proud of the game that he played and what he did. I know his teammates feel the same way. I am proud for him he deserved a game like today.
“I would say that for him to basically step out there and work through and take what was there under the circumstances, those were unique circumstances out there, when you were halfway being safe on your personnel halfway doing this on your thinking, yet want to get out there and improve. Dak showed us all how to use a game like this and get better. Our team got better. Dak got better.”
There remains room to grow and get better for Prescott, starting Saturday against the Seahawks in the second playoff game of his career. He lost the Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the division round as a rookie.
But the Cowboys are willing to be patient no matter what happens in the playoffs because of what he has already accomplished and what he showed against the Giants. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is only quarterback to win more games than Prescott since 2016.
“Dak is in his third year,” Stephen Jones said. “No one wants to be better at what he does than him. He has an insatiable appetite to be great. He has rare leadership skills and rare it factor. The best thing I like about him is he is a winner.”
And he doesn’t take himself out.
This story was originally published December 31, 2018 at 8:59 AM.
