Dak reacts: Prescott on Dallas Cowboys’ confidence, momentum, Zeke and that coin flip
This was what most of us thought would be a prototypical Dak Prescott game.
Prescott completed 15 of 23 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns in the Dallas Cowboys’ 44-21 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Instead of lighting up the box score with heroic passing numbers, Prescott oversaw a dominating rush attack that included both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard rushing for over 100 yards.
Prescott discussed the running game, the team’s confidence, trying to carry the momentum for the “playoff game” next week in Philadelphia and the odd coin toss confusion during his post-game press conference.
Here’s a portion of Prescott’s comments from the team’s official transcription service:
On the importance of tonight’s win
It’s huge. I talked about it all week, that we just needed to win one of these things and we could build from there. But it obviously starts with getting a win. But tonight, we played complimentary football which is something we hadn’t done. We talked about it this week, about helping each other out, having each other’s backs and that’s what you saw. Defense made plays and we came and capitalized on it and vice versa.
On Jason Garrett’s pregame speech about complementary football
He gave us the story about him playing baseball and about what it means to be a team and about having each other’s backs. Saying matter what happens, I got you, I’ll pick you up. That’s what it was. That’s what we did tonight through adversity and success. A bunch of guys voiced it, looked at each other and said, ‘I got you, I’m going to pick you up.’ We were able to do that tonight and we have to continue to build on it.
On Jason Witten’s touchdown catch in the first quarter
It was a great play. Not a great ball necessarily by me but the defender undercut it. Jason did a great job of hauling it in and getting in the end zone. He showed up and did what Jason Witten does.
On the coin flip
Definitely a weird start. We wanted to set adversity there instead of on the field so that we could play from behind immediately laughs]. Just bad use of words by me. We listened to the audio and got it figured out but it just wasn’t the cleanest coin flip I’ve been a part of.
On what he said at the coin flip
A little bit of everything. There’s audio.
On what you are supposed to say at a coin flip
It depends on the strategy. You can say defer and get the ball in the second half. You can kick it and get it in the second half. Or you can receive and get it. There’s a lot of options.
On facing two first round quarterbacks (Eagles Carson Wentz and Rams Jared Goff) from his draft class
Respect to those guys. Those guys are great players but obviously when you play them, there’s a little bit of a chip on your shoulder. You want to beat their teams, it’s as simple as that. We came out and were able to get a good team win over those guys.
On the run game today
Excellent. It starts out front. Those guys communicating and coming off the ball, it was beautiful. Then you look at the runners, the way they broke tackles, made people miss, both of those guys [Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott], it was so impressive. The receivers were outside making plays. Even Tavon’s number was called on a flat sweep or whatever it was, everybody contributed whether it was them with the ball in their hands or them doing their jobs and blocking. Just great, complimentary football.
On the offensive line’s protection
It starts with them, run game and pass game. Credit to those guys. We’ve talked about how great they are all year long and what they mean to this team. That’s where this team begins.
On his touchdown pass to Tavon Austin
It’s one of those plays where we were faking another play, rolled out – we have one concept that we can change if we want to and we were able to get that communicated to get Tavon on the over. They gave us a tough look to protect and basically that put us a man off. They had a guy come in free and he was able to make him miss. Tavon crossed the field, two guys ran at each other and he did the rest.
On the value of the two 90-plus yard drives
Something about our offensive field position, we say that’s more of a challenge for us – ‘Hey, let’s go show who we are, show our character and lock in one play at a time.’ It doesn’t matter if it’s a 90 yard drive or 20 yard drive. We just have to lock in and do what we do on that single play and worry about the next one when it comes. Then you look up and put some long drives together which we did tonight.
On the team’s ability to maintain this momentum
For sure we can. We don’t need to think about it. We just need to get a win. I said momentum is a dangerous thing and it’s about getting it on our side. We just have to build off of tonight, simple as that. We’re still not where we want to be and we haven’t necessarily peaked but we’re headed in the right direction and we just have to continue to build and get better.
On watching the play of veterans Sean Lee and Jason Witten
It was so awesome. Those are two guys that embody everything that it means to be Dallas Cowboys and what the team is about. I don’t know if I’ve been more excited during a play in a football game than I was when Sean Lee intercepted that ball. He’s been trying to get that pick on me for a long time in practice. He did two years ago and it’s been a constant battle with me and him there. He was able to get that interception and had a great return. I didn’t necessarily see the interception but I looked up and saw him making people miss and hey, there’s another fullback if we need one. It was great. Then Witten with the catch, like I said, those are two guys that embody everything that ‘the star’ means.
On the significance of next week’s game against the Eagles
It’s a playoff game. Simple as that. It’s a rival. It’s a team in the division. It’s a ‘must win’ game. We have to approach it as a playoff game and we will. Back to work tomorrow.
On how much momentum from this week carries on to next week
It’s huge. But we have to continue to build on it. We can’t hang our hats on this. We will turn the page, enjoy tonight and move in. We’ll come in early in the morning and we’ve got the right guys with the right character to do exactly that and continue to grow.
On how having a solid kicker helps the confidence of the offense
It’s great. When you’re not getting those touchdowns but you’re getting down there, you’re able to capitalize with those three points. Kai [Forbath] did a great job tonight. I’m thankful for that.
On the 97-yard touchdown drive
We just focused in one play at a time. I just mentioned that and that was our mindset. We said it before we even ran that first play. It was just, ‘Hey, it’s 97 yards but let’s not worry about that. Let’s worry about this specific play right now, everything that goes into this play and we’ll worry about the next one when it’s called.’ We’ve got the right guys to do that. They did their jobs and we looked up and we were in the end zone.
On if the team reestablished its identity tonight
In a way. We just played complementary football. We were good to each other. When they made plays, we responded and we made good plays and vice versa. We just picked each other up. That’s what it’s all about.
On Tony Pollard’s play tonight
He’s something else. Arm tackles and all of that stuff, he’s just getting through it. He continues to make plays any time the ball is in his hands. He’s a special player and I’m thankful we have him.
On team morale after the loss to Chicago
We definitely hadn’t gotten down on ourselves. We never have because we know the team we have, we know the talent we have, we know the men and the character we have on this team. It’s about just going out there and putting a good game together on both sides of the ball and complimenting each other. When you have the team that we have and the confidence and the skill, you never have a down day. It’s just about learning and moving forward no matter what happens.
On what they will focus on this week to replicate today’s game
To be better. I don’t know if it’s a sense of replicating. It’s a sense of getting better from what we did today. We can’t say that we need to go out there and have the same performance. We have to go out there and improve on this one offensively and defensively. We have to be even better. Those field goals have to turn in to touchdowns. It’s just about putting the pedal to the metal and trying to play our best ball when it means the most.
