Dak Prescott sparks historic Dallas Cowboys comeback win before COVID-19 record crowd
Mike McCarthy had never seen anything like it.
Not the woeful start, nor the heroic comeback.
In the end, McCarthy continued his undefeated record at AT&T Stadium, including four victories and a Super Bowl win with the Green Bay Packers.
More importantly, his first win as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys was one for the ages and one this team might one day look back on as the impetus for its own title run.
Right now, McCarthy and Cowboys are still giddy with shock and disbelief after rallying from a 20-point first-quarter deficit to knock off the Atlanta Falcons, 40-39, before an NFL record for attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic of 21,708.
Kicker Greg Zeurlein executed the perfect onside kick that the Cowboys had only practiced but never tried live.
He dribbled the ball out to the left sideline, and five Falcons players just watched as the ball crossed the 10-yard mark. Cowboys cornerback C.J. Goodwin recovered it at the 46.
Three plays later, Zeurlein nailed a 46-yarder as time expired, sending the Cowboys on the sideline into a frenzy and the fans in stands into a delirium.
It was the fifth time in club history for the Cowboys to rally from at least 20 down. It was the second-largest deficit overcome to win a game in franchise history. It was the first time they have ever come back from a 20-point first quarter deficit as they moved to 1-1 to start the McCarthy era.
“I’ve seen it in practice. But that’s the first time I’ve seen in live action,” McCarthy said of the onside kick. “It was a beauty. That’s for sure … We hadn’t tried it live yet, but it was obviously ready to go.”
It was in direct contrast to the Cowboys’ ugly start, which featured three lost fumbles and failed fake punt to help the Falcons jump out to the early lead.
Down 29-10 at halftime, McCarthy told his team this was an opportunity to learn something about themselves, win or lose.
The Cowboys chose the latter in miraculous fashion.
“We needed this opportunity to move forward and learn about each other,” he said. “This is a big momentum to build off of. We are 1-1. We want to establish home-field dominance. And to get an outstanding comeback, we found a lot about ourselves today. I can’t say how proud I am of our players.”
Before Sunday, teams were 1,875-6 when leading by 15 or more points in the final five minutes of regulation over the past 20 seasons, per ESPN.
The Cowboys’ record is now 2-35 when they trail by 19-plus points at halftime.
No one stood taller than quarterback Dak Prescott for his courage, moxie and sensational play.
Prescott completed 34 of 47 passes for 450 yards with one touchdown pass and three touchdown runs.
The 450 yards were the third most for Prescott in his career and he became the first player in NFL history to run for three touchdowns and pass for over 400 yards in a game.
That Prescott led the rally with touchdown runs and a touchdown pass after returning from concussion protocol is the stuff of legends.
“Huge performance. Obviously, he bounced back after the one play of being out,” McCarthy said. “He’s just so steady. It’s tough on a quarterback particularly when you get in a hole like that. But I thought he was strong in the pocket. I thought he was smart with the football. He’s just so composed. I thought he had a very strong performance.”
Down 29-17 late in the third quarter, the quarterback was rocked by a late roughing the passer penalty on a throw to tight end Dalton Schultz.
He was checked by Cowboys doctors on the field and then in the concussion tent. Backup Andy Dalton went in for two plays and then Prescott returned to the field to score on a 1-yard run to make it 29-24.
Prescott said he knew he was fine but the officials wanted to get him looked at.
“Just fearless,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said of Prescott. “No matter what the score is, Dak Prescott has the same mentality. For him to be as clutch as he was and make the plays he made, it was special.”
Elliott rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He had six catches for 33 yards. He and Prescott both lost first-quarter fumbles.
But the Cowboys were now back in the game, rallying from down 20 to down five with 4:17 left in the third quarter.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan tossed his fourth touchdown pass of the game to make the score 36-24 early in the fourth quarter.
A failed fake punt, the second of the game by McCarthy and special teams coach Jim Fassel, allowed the Falcons to increase the lead to 39-24 on a field goal with 7:57 remaining.
And when Prescott tossed a touchdown pass to Schultz to make the score 39-30, McCarthy’s decision to go for two appeared to be too much to overcome.
A failed run by Elliott left the Cowboys down two scores with 4:57 left.
No one informed Prescott or a resilient Cowboys team that was playing without its two starting offensive tackles and saw Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence on the sideline for much of the second half after taking a hit to the head.
Prescott, who connected with Amari Cooper on a one-handed 58-yard throw to spark a touchdown drive in the third quarter, hit Michael Gallup for a leaping 38-yard catch running it in from the 1 to narrow the score to 39-37 at the 1:49 mark.
After Zeurlein’s perfect onside kick, Prescott hooked up with rookie first-pick CeeDee Lamb for 24 yards to set up the game-winning field goal.
Prescott credited the fans who braved COVID-19 to witness history for making a difference.
“I don’t know if I’ve been in many games like this thing,” Prescott said. “But to be able to get the win, and in front of those fans that were there, stayed the whole game, they didn’t give up on us. That was a huge difference.”
Lamb led the Cowboys six catches for 106 yards. It was the first 100-yard game of his career. Cooper had six catches for 100 yards and Schultz, who had a first-quarter fumble, had a career-high nine catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.
After the 20-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the season opener, Prescott found himself answering questions about why the Cowboys were 1-6 in one score games since the start of 2019.
Now they are 2-7, after Prescott engineered his 15th career game-winning drive, passing Danny White for fourth in team history. He is now tied with Drew Brees and Derek Carr for the most game-winning drives from 2016-20.
“We showed our resilience,” Prescott said. “It was an incredible game to be a part of. The team showed faith in each other. We had to lock in. This was huge. Coach McCarthy said at halftime we needed to be here to find out who we are. This does so much. This is huge in so many ways.”
The Cowboys avoided the dreaded 0-2 start. They play at the Seattle Seahawks next Sunday.
This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 6:56 PM.
