Mentally-tough Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott eats pick-6 adversity, Eagles “for lunch”
As he was fruitlessly trying to chase down Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was like all of his haters and critics.
It was somewhere between here we go again and not this expletive again while Sweat was racing 42 yards down the sideline to the end zone after leaping high to intercept a Prescott pass on the Cowboys opening drive of Saturday’s 40-34 victory at AT&T Stadium.
One week after a Prescott pick-6 gave the Jacksonville Jaguars a walk-off overtime victory against the Cowboys, Prescott did it again in a crucial NFC East battle against Eagles.
Not only did Prescott throw a pick-6 in back-to-back games but it was his eighth interception in the last five games and 11th since returning to the lineup nine games ago. It marked the first time Prescott has thrown interceptions in five straight games in the same season in his career.
And as much as he and everyone has talked it about ad nauseam, it again proved to be something he can’t shake.
“Yeah, I was chasing him down like ‘is this really happening?’ ” Prescott said. “Obviously, I have to look at it. He’s a long guy. He’s big, obviously, with long arms. I just misjudged his length. He made a great catch. I don’t know if he’s had an easier interception and return than that one. As I said, as I was chasing him down, I was thinking ‘is this happening again’.”
It did happen again.
A seeming simple pass on a bootleg to a wide open tight end Dalton Schultz was simply too low and went into the waiting arms of the 6-foot-5 Sweat, who brushed off an attempted tackle from Prescott to run to the end zone, giving the Eagles a 10-0 and causing a smattering of boos to rain down on the quarterback in his home stadium from frustrated Cowboys fans.
Prescott has certainly had his share of mistakes and interceptions in 2022. But he has also shown a penchant for bouncing back with a flourish.
And against the Eagles, he simply painted a masterpiece.
Prescott led the Cowboys to a touchdown on ensuing drive, going 75 yards on 14 plays, capped by a 1-yard run from Ezekiel Elliott.
And after an interception by Jayron Kearse, Prescott put the Cowboys up 14-10 with 36-yard touchdown to CeeDee Lamb.
The Cowboys trailed 20-17 at halftime and the first second straight week Prescott missed just two passes in the first half, completing 16 of 18 passes for 168 yards with the only pass that touched the ground was a incomplete fade to in the end zone to Michael Gallup when he was blinded by the sun.
Prescott was simply that good in the first half but he was arguably he even better and more clutch in the final two stanzas when he ralled the Cowboys to victory from deficits of 27-17 in the third quarter and 34-27 in the fourth quarter, thanks to touchdown passes of 12 yards to Gallup and 7 yards to CeeDee Lamb.
The one to Lamb, which tied the game at 34-34 came after Prescott completed a 52-yard bomb to T.Y. Hilton on 3rd-and-30 following back-to-back sacks, including a fumble that was fortunately pounced on by center Tyler Biadasz.
The Cowboys tacked on two more field goals in the fourth quarter thanks to back-to-back turnovers by the defense.
“His performance said everything,” owner Jerry Jones said. “It says why you don’t ever count him out in any way. He responded of course and led our team and personally made plays that are everything that I hope to have. We don’t get that done tonight without Dak. We do not get it done without Dak.”
Prescott simply didn’t blink.
He credits his upbringing of have to deal with two older brothers and the lessons of Cowboys mental health coach Chad Bohling.
“That comes from, I guess, being a kid,” Prescott said. “When you are a younger brother, you get beat up and you take a lot of losses so the only way to keep going is by responding. It is by showing whatever happened last play really doesn’t matter, it’s all about the next play and that’s where I am. We have Chad, a great coach, who talks about staying neutral — the good, the bad, or whatever it is. Just thinking about and controlling the next. That’s all you can really do.”
“That’s a great example right there, obviously I threw an interception to put the team down 10 - nothing to start the game off and just to understand that thinking about it wont change that. Now, I just have to move forward, one play at a time and be my best.”
It was Prescott’s best performance of the season. He completed 27 of 35 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns in the game. He also added another 41 yards on six carries.
It was Prescott’s first 300-yard game of the season and it came against the league’s No. 1 pass defense which hadn’t allowed a 300-yard passer all season.
It was also the 12th fourth-quarter comeback victory of his career and his 18th victory with a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t know if you can respond any better,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “Obviously, he had the interception, you know great play. A play you don’t see every day, that’s for sure. Just didn’t get the ball quite on. I think clearly his performance going, you know I think he went 15 completions in a row. Just played at a huge level.”
Prescott bounce-back performance came as no surprise to McCarthy or the Cowboys.
They have come to expect it.
“I don’t know how else to say it, that’s who he is.” McCarthy said. “Adversity is something that he eats for lunch. He doesn’t blink. It’s a huge part to being successful. He believes in himself; he believes in this team. He wears it on his sleeve. I love Dak Prescott, everybody does. He’s a tremendous leader, super consistent.”
McCarthy didn’t ignore the elephant in the room. Prescott must find a way to rid is game of the interceptions. But McCarthy doesn’t want him to change the way he’s playing.
In addition leading the NFL in interceptions since his return from missing five games with a fractured thumb, Prescott has also led the Cowboys to seven wins in his nine games.
The Cowboys are also No. 1 in the league in points per game, yards per game and third down conversions during that time span, while clinching a playoff spot for the second straight season drawing to within two games of the Eagles in the race of the NFC East title and the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs with two games to go.
“He’s on a unique swing right here,” McCarthy said. “He’s played lights out, but his one critical play has been you know a big play for the other side a couple times here of late. We all understand that you have to talk about it, you focus on it. Like I said last week when you asked me, you know the most important thing is, he just needs to keep firing. Trust me, he knows that, doesn’t need to be reminded of it, but I’ll continue to remind him. He just needs to keep pressing and we’ll correct those things. That’s how this game works.”
