Prescott passes for two TDS as Dallas snaps losing skid
Cowboys top Redskins, overcome sluggish start
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott was getting X-rays on his swollen right hand when rookie Ryan Switzer scored his first career touchdown on an 83-yard punt return.
The extra time with the offense on the sideline kept Prescott from missing any plays, and last year’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year led the Dallas Cowboys to their first victory after three straight losses without suspended star running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Prescott threw two touchdown passes, including a franchise record-breaker to Dez Bryant, in the Cowboys’ 38-14 victory over the Washington Redskins on Thursday night.
The injury happened in the second quarter when Prescott’s right hand was hit by linebacker Josh Harvey-clemons just as he made an option pitch to Rod Smith. Thanks to Switzer’s dash to the end zone, Prescott never left the game.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever broken my hand,” Prescott said. “I couldn’t grip initially right after because the (hand) swelled up on me so bad. As I said, they wrapped it up, got the swelling down and I was fine.”
Bryant’s leaping 13-yard leaping in the end zone was the 2014 All-pro’s first score in six games and 72nd of his career, one more than Hall of Famer Bob Hayes.
The Cowboys (6-6) never trailed despite a sluggish offensive start, thanks to three firsthalf turnovers and four overall by the Redskins (5-7). Dallas kept it going after halftime with a 21-7 scoring edge after getting outscored 72-6 in the second half of three straight losses without Elliott.
Alfred Morris, Elliott’s replacement during the six-game suspension for alleged domestic violence, had 127 yards rushing and a clinching touchdown.
The Cowboys forced Nfl-leading Philadelphia to wait until at least Sunday to clinch the division title. But Dallas still faces a steep climb to playoff contention, and two more games without Elliott.
The Redskins had already been eliminated in the division race and are virtually out of the postseason picture after Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions and lost a fumble while throwing two touchdown passes.
Jamison Crowder let the pass go through his hands on Cousins’ first interception and fumbled on a Dallas punt a few plays later in the Redskins’ fourth straight loss to the Cowboys, the longest such streak in the series since 2003-04.
“It was just miscues,” Cousins said. “A dropped ball here, we had a nice drive down the field the second drive, just a tough turnover, and then it was one thing after another that were just mistakes. They happen, and we have to correct them.”