Cowboys turn keys over to Dak Prescott, who’s the leading man in victory over Lions
This is now Dak Prescott’s team.
The Dallas Cowboys officially made the transition from running back Ezekiel Elliott and the ground game being the foundation of the offense and their success to Prescott and the passing game in Sunday’s 35-27 victory against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
Let it be written.
Let it forever be done.
Prescott completed 29 of 46 passes for 444 yards and three touchdowns.
It is his third 400-yard game of the season to tie Tony Romo (2012) for the most 400-yard passing games in a single season in Cowboys history.
Prescott now has four games with more than 375 passing yards and three or more touchdowns this season, tying Hall of Famer Joe Montana for the second-most in a single season in NFL history. Only Peyton Manning (six in 2013) had more.
Prescott tied Montana (4 in 1990) for the most games with at least 375 passing yards and two more touchdowns through their team’s first 10 games of a season in NFL history.
“It’s humbling anytime you get thrown in with the name Montana,” Prescott. “It’s great, right? For me, it’s let’s go get another win and maybe I will get a fifth one. It’s all about moving forward and getting better.”
Suffice it to say, Prescott has been doing this all year in what has been a narrative-altering breakout season from bus driver to leading man.
He came into the game among the league leaders in a number of categories, including No. 1 in QBR.
Yet, the Cowboys had to be be brought kicking and screaming to this new revelation and epiphany.
But it might have happened soon enough to save the season that has the Cowboys (6-4) leading the NFC East by one game over the Philadelphia Eagles (5-5) with much tougher tests ahead than the lowly Lions (3-6-1).
It took the regrettable circumstances of last week’s 28-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings when the Cowboys took the game out of Prescott’s hands and unsuccessfully tried going to the ineffective Elliott with the game on the line, despite Prescott’s 397 passing yards and three touchdowns.
And it took another slow start by the offense, enabled by an Elliott fumble on the second play from scrimmage that led to a 7-0 deficit, before the Cowboys finally fed Prescott to the Lions and came out looking like the ultimate gladiator.
The Cowboys gained three yards on five plays on their first two drives that included a fumble and a punt. They then turned the game and offense over to Prescott, an obvious nod to the the lessons learned from a week ago.
“Why go away from something that is working,” Prescott said. “We are not going to hit our head against the wall. So we went back to what was working.”
Prescott then led the Cowboys to scores on four of their next five drives, passing for 274 yards and touchdowns of 21 yards to running back Tony Pollard and 19 yards to receiver Randall Cobb. Elliott had a 1-yard scoring run and Brett Maher kicked a 30-yard field goal as the Cowboys led 24-14 at halftime.
The last drive was a thing of beauty as Prescott took the Cowboys 83 yards on four plays, starting with a 10-yard pass to receiver Michael Gallup then a 49-yarder to Cobb. He hit tight end Jason Witten for 5 yards before zipping a dime through a tight window to Cobb for the touchdown.
Were you not entertained?
“Yeah, he just continues to grow and develop as a quarterback,” coach Jason Garrett said of Prescott. “I think that’s a big part of it. But, you know, he’s seen the field pretty well throughout his career. He’s won a lot of big games for us and played a lot of big games for us.
“Obviously he played really well. We talk about making a lot of little plays in games and making a lot of big plays in games. I think he did both. Obviously we want to run the ball better. They did a good job paying a lot of attention to our run and making sure that we didn’t get the run game going. Dak responded really well.”
The up-and-down play of the Cowboys’ continually mistake-prone defense allowed the Lions to stay in the game through the fourth quarter, despite backup quarterback Jeff Driskel filling in for the injured Matthew Stafford.
But with the Cowboys clinging to a 27-21 lead in the fourth quarter, it was Prescott who put the game away while leading an offense that no had pretense of even running the ball anymore.
He again took the Cowboys 84 yards, highlighted by a 15-yarder to Amari Cooper, a third-down conversion to Witten for 11 yards, a 16-yard to Cooper and a 17-yard touchdown pass to Elliott on third down.
A 2-point conversion by Pollard made it 35-21, which should have allowed the Cowboys to breathe easy.
But the defense gave up a quick 25-yard touchdown pass from Driskel to Marvin Jones.
Prescott need just a little more magic to put the Lions away for good but a Cobb dropped pass killed the ensuing drive.
Not being able to run the clock out with the ground game proved to be an issue. Elliott finished with 45 yards on 16 carries. He had 47 yards on 20 carries last week.
The Lions gave the Cowboys a late scare when Driskel hit Kenny Golladay for 35 yards. A face-mask penalty added 15 more.
But a sack by Michael Bennett ended the surge.
This was Prescott’s day and Prescott’s game.
He is simply in a zone right now and he admits he has never been more confident. That was evident Sunday as Prescott’s outing came without a big day from leading receiver Cooper, who was limited to three catches for 38 yards.
Yet, Prescott completed passes to seven different receivers, led by Gallup (9 for 148) and Cobb (4 for 115).
“That is the name of the game,” Prescott said. “That is what allows us to have balance. We’ve got playmakers. We can pick and choose. It gives you a lot of confidence. It gives you so much confidence.”
Elliott said Prescott was in total command of the Cowboys’ offense that has made the transition from run-oriented to being led by the passing game.
“Dak (Prescott) spread the ball around,” Elliott said. “Dak is playing the best football I have ever seen him play, he definitely took his game to the next level, just the things he has been able to do. Come up to the line, change the plays, getting us in the right plays versus certain looks.”
The numbers speak volumes.
Prescott’s 841 combined passing yards in the past two games are the most in consecutive games by a quarterback in Cowboys history
Prescott is the first quarterback quarterback in Cowboys history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in the first 10 games of the season.
His 1,098 yards over the last three weeks are the most in a three-game span in Cowboys history.
Prescott now has 3,221 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season, his fourth consecutive season with 3,000 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns to start his career. He is only the fourth quarterback in NFL history to begin a career with 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in each of his first four seasons
It’s his team.
Now he and the Cowboys will try to maintain their division lead with a showdown next Sunday at the New England Patriots (9-1).
This story was originally published November 17, 2019 at 3:41 PM.
