Cowboys win NFL 10th straight
Roethlisberger, Brown lead Steelers past Colts
LOS ANGELES:
Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott got hot in the fourth quarter as the Dallas Cowboys won their 10th straight with a 31-26 win over the Washington Redskins on the US Thanksgiving holiday. Prescott completed six of seven passes in the fourth quarter for the first-place Cowboys who improved to 10-1 on the season in front of a crowd of 93,099 Thursday at AT&T Stadium. Prescott ran for one touchdown and passed to receiver Terrance Williams for another as he finished with 17 pass completions for a total of 195 yards in the second of three NFL games on Thanksgiving day.
“We have high expectations for ourselves on offense,” Prescott said. “We obviously want to score on every possession and they gave us some scoring chances late. “No matter if we’re up or down, we’re going to go out there and score and I think we’ve shown that the last couple of weeks.” The Cowboys seized command in the fourth quarter with a couple of seven-play scoring drives, including the first one that chewed up 78 yards. Prescott capped that first drive with a sixyard touchdown run and rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott scored on the second 48-yard drive with a one-yard run.
“Those guys are just really good football players,” Dallas tight end Jason Witten said. “I don’t think we really view them as rookies. “The responsibilities that have been thrown on them, they’ve handled it well and they’re executing at in a big way at critical times throughout games.” The Redskins (6-4-1) got a solid performance from star quarterback Kirk Cousins, but couldn’t get past the Cowboys’s defense. Washington didn’t get its first touchdown until the start of the fourth and the Cowboys didn’t fold in the final seven minutes of the contest. Cousins, who pulled the Redskins to within 24-19 on a 67-yard scoring strike, completed 41 passes for 449 yards and three touchdowns.
Final push
The Redskins made one final push, closing to within five points on a Jordan Reed touchdown catch with just under two minutes remaining in the game. In Detroit, Matt Prater’s 40yard field goal on the final play gave the Lions a 16-13 win over the Minnesota Vikings and sole possession of first place in the NFC North. The Lions (7-4) have trailed in the fourth quarter in all of their victories this season. Darius Slay’s interception of a Sam Bradford pass set up the game-winner.
Prater booted a 58-yard kick at the end of regulation in Minnesota earlier this month, setting the stage for Detroit’s 2216 overtime win. In the night game, Ben Roethlisberger passed for 221 yards and three touchdowns - each to Antonio Brown and the Pittsburgh Steelers recorded a 28-7 victory against the host Indianapolis Colts, whose starting quarterback Andrew Luck was out with a concussion. Roethlisberger completed 14of-20 passes, and Le’Veon Bell rushed 23 times for 120 yards and a touchdown as the Steelers won for the second time in five days on the road after beating Cleveland on Sunday. — AFP