Prescott answered the haters yet again
In miracle comeback, QB did everything he supposedly can’t do
Pretty much every time the Dak Hate Hive finds something to nitpick about his game, the Cowboys quarterback smashes it to smithereens.
He did it again Sunday. Dak Prescott passed for 450 yards, the third-highest total of his career, and rallied the Cowboys to the second-biggest comeback in franchise history.
“It’s tough on a quarterback, particularly when you get in a hole like that,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “But I thought he was strong in the pocket. I thought he was smart with the football. He’s just so composed.”
He did it with two undrafted free agent tackles each making their second career start.
And he did it by completing key second-half passes to dudes like Blake Bell, Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown.
So maybe Prescott doesn't need All-Procaliber player at every position like some members of the Hate Hive suggest.
Then again, Kansas City has spent a fortune in cash and draft capital to keep or acquire players such as Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman and Clyde Edwards-Helaire to take advantage of Patrick Mahomes' immense talent. All quarterbacks need weapons.
Perhaps Prescott can elevate average players, which is another knock against the five-year veteran from Mississippi State.
It's evidence of Prescott's continued improvement and evolution as a quarterback. None of this should come as a surprise.
There's never been any question about Prescott's work ethic, so you shouldn't be surprised by his development.
He's started 66 regularseason games and participated in 4,399 plays. Prescott has been in the same offense for five seasons now, which is why McCarthy let play-caller Kellen Moore keep running the offense instead of taking it over himself.
Prescott has a nuanced understanding of the offense, and he displayed the depth of that knowledge against the Falcons.
He showed the usual intangibles — leadership and toughness — that his coaches and teammates have extolled since he arrived as a fourth-round draft choice in 2016.
He didn't panic when the Cowboys fell behind 20-0 in the first quarter.
He refused to sulk after his awful decision and subsequent fumble led to Atlanta's fist touchdown and a 7-0 deficit.
And he came back after being knocked out of the game for two plays in the third quarter on a personal foul to score his second touchdown of the game on a quarterback sneak.
The easiest thing for a quarterback to do is force the ball to his most established receivers — Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup — on the game's most important plays because he trusts them the most.
Well, on third-and-4 from the Dallas 31 with 7:27 left and trailing 39-24, Prescott escaped trouble in the pocket and lofted a pass to Bell for a 24-yard gain along the sideline.
Bell has 40 career catches in six seasons.
Seven plays later, the Cowboys made it a 39-30 game on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Schultz, when Prescott led him into open space so he could catch the ball despite tight coverage.
That's called throwing a player open, another thing folks in the Hate Hive suggest Prescott can't do.
Speaking of Schultz, he caught 55 passes in three seasons and 40 games at Stanford. He caught 13 passes in his first two seasons with the Cowboys as a backup to Jason Witten and Blake Jarwin. He dropped two key passes in the seasonopening loss to Los Angeles, but Prescott didn't lose trust in him.
With a full week of snaps as the starter, Schultz delivered a careerhigh nine catches for 88 yards and his first touchdown.
On the drive that pulled the Cowboys to within two at 39-37, Prescott hit Brown for a 47-yard gain on third-and-7 although a penalty negated the big play. Brown never has caught more than five passes in a season.
And on the game-winning drive, after the most miraculous of onside kick recoveries, Prescott completed a 24-yard pass to rookie CeeDee Lamb. Lamb and Cooper each had 100 yards receiving and nine targets. Eight players caught passes, and five were targeted at least five times.
That's an indication of a quarterback throwing the ball where defensive coverage dictates it should go.
It's the sign of a quarterback continuing to develop, something even folks in the Dak Hate Hive should be able to see.