With 3 more TD passes, it’s hard to deny Prescott
CLEVELAND — America’s Team is looking more and more like Dak Prescott’s.
The rookie quarterback threw three touchdown passes and kept any talk about Dallas playing Tony Romo unnecessary, leading the Cowboys to a 35-10 rout of the winless Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Rookie Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 92 yards and scored twice, and durable veteran tight end Jason Witten had 134 yards receiving for Dallas, off to its best start since 2007.
Prescott has won seven consecutive starts since losing the season opener and, with the Cowboys (7-1) leading the NFC East and getting better, there is no reason for the team to accelerate Romo’s return from a back injury.
Romo practiced last week and is looking at a return at some point this season. But the way Prescott is playing, Romo, 36, doesn’t look as if he will be back on the field any time soon.
“We’ve got a great luxury and wonderful problem to have,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “We’ve got some real talent at our quarterback position. I think Tony Romo is one of the best quarterbacks who has played this game. My real regret would be to have had him here and not win a Super Bowl with him. He’s that talented. And then I look at Dak and how he’s playing, his future. I just don’t have a problem with this situation.”
As Dallas wrestles with success, Cleveland (0-9) is plunging to new depths.
The Browns have dropped a franchise-record 12 in a row dating to last season and have lost 19 of 20 — also a team record. Cleveland, which also started 0-9 in 1975, is 3-27 in its last 30 games, and the Browns are the first team since the 1964 Denver Broncos to allow at least 25 points in their first nine games.
“We’re not going 0-16,” LB Christian Kirksey said. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say this, but we’re not going winless.”
Browns rookie quarterback Cody Kessler returned after missing one game with a concussion and passed for 203 yards. Kessler threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Terrelle Pryor and also took several hard shots as the Cowboys’ defense teed off on him with the big lead in the second half.
Cleveland had just 28 total yards in the second half.
Prescott threw a 26-yard TD pass to Witten and a 6-yarder to Cole Beasley in the first half to help the Cowboys take a 21-3 lead.
And while Prescott is pushing Romo deeper into the background, the fourth-round pick from Mississippi State also is drawing comparisons to another Cowboys rookie QB — Troy Aikman.
Prescott broke two of the Hall of Famer’s team rookie records in the blowout, surpassing Aikman in TDs and completions. With eight games left, Prescott, who finished 21of-27 passing for 247 yards, will surpass all of Aikman’s first-year marks and might start to chip away at some others.
Jones said Romo will do more this week at practice, but he doesn’t know if the quarterback will be active when the Cowboys visit Pittsburgh on Sunday.