Prescott injured as Cowboys rally for 37-34 win over Giants

ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott sustained a gruesome ankle injury not long after his first career touchdown catch before backup Andy Dalton led a drive to a field goal on the final play, and the Dallas Cowboys beat the winless New York Giants 37-34 on Sunday.

Michael Gallup made two spectacular sideline catches on throws from Dalton, the second a 38-yarder to the New York 16. The Cowboys ran the clock down to 3 seconds, and Greg Zuerlein had his second game-ending kick of the season, from 34 yards.

Prescott was going down in the arms of defensive back Logan Ryan at the end of a 9-yard run in the third quarter when the Dallas quarterback’s lower right leg got caught under Ryan and appeared to snap.

Prescott reached for the leg as he writhed in pain, and TV images showed his right foot bent at an awkward angle away from his leg. He was fighting back tears as he was carted off with a cast on the leg. Most of Prescott’s teammates rushed to greet him, as did several New York players, including Ryan.

The team said Prescott had a fracture dislocation of the right ankle and was taken to a hospital, where surgery was planned later in the day.

Dalton was Cincinnati’s starter for nine seasons before the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow No. 1 overall last spring and Dalton signed a one-year deal to be Prescott’s backup.

Dalton and rookie center Tyler Biadasz fumbled an exchange on Dalton’s first full series, setting up Devonta Freeman’s 4-yard scoring run and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas’ 2-point conversion catch for a 34-31 lead for the Giants (0-5).

After Dallas got even and forced a New York punt, Gallup made a toe-dragging 19-yard catch. Then Gallup made an over-the-shoulder grab with Dion Lewis running stride for stride. Both catches held up on review.

The Cowboys ( 2- 3), who trailed by two touchdowns in the second quarter for their fourth straight game with a double-digit deficit, extended their lead when Ezekiel Elliott ran in from 12 yards out to make it 31-23 three plays after Prescott’s injury. Elliott had 91 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Texans 30, Jaguars 14

HOUSTON — Deshaun Watson threw for a season-high 359 yards and three touchdowns and Houston got its first win of the season with a victory over Jacksonville in the wake of coach Bill O’Brien’s firing.

O’Brien, who was also the general manager, was let go on Monday after the Texans fell to 0-4 last weekend. Romeo Crennel was named interim coach and at 73 he become the oldest coach in NFL history, passing Hall of Famer George Halas, who was 72 in his last game with the Bears in 1967.

The Texans led 23-14 after a field goal with about 7½ minutes to go and got the ball back when Jacob Martin sacked Gardner Minshew and forced a fumble. It was recovered by Whitney Mercilus, who fumbled on the return, but the Texans pounced on the ball to keep it.

Houston (1-4) pushed the lead to 30-14 when

Watson found Brandin Cooks on a 28yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-4 with about five minutes remaining.

The Jaguars (1-4), who were missing three defensive starters because of injuries, have dropped four in a row since their season-opening win against Indianapolis. Minshew threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

The Texans were able to overcome two interceptions by Watson by taking advantage of two fumbles by the Jaguars. Those were the first turnovers forced by the Texans all season.

Raiders 40, Chiefs 32

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Derek Carr threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, outplaying Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes along the way, and the Las Vegas Raiders nearly shut out the potent Kansas City offense in the second half to rally for a 40-32 victory Sunday that ended the Chiefs’ franchise-record 13-game winning streak.

Josh Jacobs scored the go- ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, Daniel Carlson added a field goal a few minutes later, and Mahomes was intercepted on fourth down to set up another touchdown by Jacobs that make it 40-24 with 5:26 left.

Mahomes led the Chiefs quickly downfield, hitting Travis Kelce for a touchdown and Darrel Williams for the 2-point try to make it a one-possession game.

But after the Raiders (3-2) recovered the squib quick, Jacobs rumbled for a first down as the Chiefs (4-1) used up their timeouts, and Carr sneaked for a first down on fourth-and-1 near midfield with 2 minutes left to allow Las Vegas to end its five-game skid against Kansas City.

The Chiefs had won seven in a row over their longtime rival at Arrowhead Stadium, where Carr had been especially bad in losing each of his six starts. But he was simply spectacular with a relatively quiet 17,000 fans in the building, helping to guide the Raiders to their first win in Kansas City since Oct. 28, 2012.

Mahomes spent the entire game trying to escape the Las Vegas pass rush, which manhandled the Chiefs offensive line, and finished with 340 yards passing and two touchdowns along with an interception. Kelce had 108 yards receiving.

Rams 30, Washington 10

LANDOVER, Md. — Jared Goff threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, and Los Angeles improved to 4-1 by beating Washington in Alex Smith’s return almost two years since a gruesome injury put his career in jeopardy.

Smith played his first NFL game 693 days since breaking his right tibia and fibula, entering when new Washington starting quarterback Kyle Allen injured his left arm. He was 9 of 17 for 37 yards on the same field he was carted off of on Nov. 18, 2018, before undergoing 17 surgeries to repair the injury.

“It’s just spectacular to see him back on a football field,” said former Washington QB Joe Thiesmann, who broke his right leg in similar fashion 33 years to the day before Smith was injured. “I’m so thrilled and excited for him.”

The Rams are thrilled with such a strong start in a tough NFC West after missing the playoffs last season. They’ve swept the NFC East and are only a three-point loss on a questionable pass interference call away from being undefeated.

Led by Aaron Donald’s four sacks and blanket coverage, the Rams clamped down on defense and ran it up in the rain on offense. Against the team he spent seven seasons with as an assistant, coach Sean McVay dialed up a lot of play-action early, and unleashed Goff’s long-range passing game that had been largely absent through four games.

Washington fell to 1-4 on the season.