After ‘worst of worst’ starts, Dak Prescott reacts to Dallas Cowboys historic comeback
Dak Prescott turned in one of the greatest games of his Dallas Cowboys career Sunday afternoon and the team needed every last yard of it.
Prescott threw for 450 yards on 34 of 47 passing and a touchdown. He also rushed for three scores in the Cowboys’ odds-defying 40-39 comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
He became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 400 or more yards and rush for three touchdowns in a game. It’s the third most passing yards, second most completions and fifth most attempts in his career.
In his 68 previous games (including three playoff games), he had never rushed for more than one touchdown. No other Cowboys quarterback had done it. No quarterback has done it since Russell Wilson rushed for three in December 2012.
It was Prescott’s fifth 400-yard passing game, tying Tony Romo for the most in franchise history. He tied Troy Aikman for second all-time for the Cowboys with his 13th 300-yard passing game.
Prescott on the Cowboys’ 20-point comeback
We showed our resiliency today. I just want to thank those 21,000-plus fans that showed up today. As you said, I don’t know if I’ve been in many games like this. All I can think of is the playoff game my rookie year. To be able to get the win and those fans that stayed the whole game and didn’t give up on us. They were a huge difference. I know the team fed off of that, and I know late in that two-minute drive after the onside kick, it was simply just incredible. It was an incredible game to be a part of, but I think the team just showed their faith and resilience in each other.
What was discussed in the huddle toward the end of the first quarter?
We just had to lock in. I credit Zeke [Elliott], and I credit [running backs coach Skip Peete] right there. It was as simple as that. The worst of the worst had happened. I don’t know if it could get any worse than the way we started off, but the future is always better than the past. We just needed to focus on our job, do our one-of-11 and don’t do too much more. It’ll all come together, and we did. We got a couple of stops from the defense and a great special teams play as well.
Prescott on using CeeDee Lamb late in the game
I’ve talked about it in training camp, and I’ll continue to talk about how much I believe in him. He’s a player that works hard, shows up, does the right thing and wants to make those plays. He wants the ball thrown to him in those critical situations. It was crazy. I was upset that I missed him. I just tried to be too pretty when I threw it to him on the goal line, but I just told him ‘we’ll get it.’ After that big drive, we came back to him and he went and made a huge play with a big run after catch. That just shows the character he has and him just staying at it. I’m just impressed by everybody today.
Prescott on Michael Gallup’s long reception late in the game
It was a great play. MG [Michael Gallup] just continues to show up and make huge plays time after time in one-on-one situations. He’s a guy that I count on. He’s a guy that this offense counts on in those situations. He wants his number called. With as much talent as we have, they’ve got to go make those plays. I told them earlier in the game that big players make big plays, and that’s what you all are, so let’s go do it. Each one of them did that, and it was huge for us down the stretch.
Prescott on the Cowboys’ momentum moving forward
This is huge. Coach [Mike] McCarthy said it at halftime, ‘We need to be here. We need to be right here where we are.’ The final score didn’t matter as much as finding out the type of men that we have within this team. But to show the resiliency to go out there and continue to fight and come out with the win, it does so much. Obviously, way better than starting 0-2, but going 1-1, and having a lot of confidence after we put ourselves in such a big hole. We just stayed at it, and everybody believes in each other. That [win] was huge in so many ways.
Prescott on Mike McCarthy’s presence during the comeback
It was great. Coach [McCarthy] came in at halftime and said what he said. The team felt that. We had to go out there and make plays. They [coaches] had us prepared for this game, and we as players put ourselves in a hole by simply not taking care of the ball. We just had to go out there and keep believing in the game plan and keep believing in one another. And [McCarthy] led it. It started with him and the way he carries himself around.
Prescott on throwing for 450 yards and rushing for three touchdowns
Those are just statistics. Those touchdown runs were from less than three yards. Credit the offensive line, they allowed me to get in. Let’s also credit these receivers. They went out there and continued to get open. Yeah, sure, I had to find them and had to make some plays here and there, but that was a team win all the way around. I think my stats today show just that. I wouldn’t have been able to throw for as many yards if the offensive line wouldn’t have protected the way they did and the receivers wouldn’t have got open. And like I’ve said, when you have a running back like Zeke, that [forces] them [Falcons] to focus in on him and allow for those easy rushing touchdowns. I give credit to the whole offense.
Prescott on doctors putting him through concussion protocol in the second half
I was sure I was fine. The ref told me I had to come out. Other than that, I know I was fine. I went into protocol and answered all their questions while going through the due diligence of everything. I was able to come out of that with great support. As I said, we have a great team that just stayed at it and went and got it done.
Prescott on winning a close game after losing six one-score games in 2019
Yeah, it was huge. I was waiting on that one-score game question. Definitely, I’m proud of the team. Like I said last week, it was just about getting one win underneath our belt. We needed a win in a close game, and it will all start rolling from here. It just gives everybody confidence and juice through the team, coaches and fans as well. It was a one-score game, but we were down a few scores. For us to show the resiliency and stay at it was huge. I’m proud of everybody.
This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 8:09 PM.
