Prescott, Elliott look for way to advance

FRISCO, TEXAS» Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott have their first playoff win and the same divisional-round block the Dallas Cowboys haven’t been able to solve for nearly 25 years.

The star quarterback and running back figure to be leading the Dallas offense for years to come with new No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper, acquired midseason for the Cowboys’ first-round pick in this year’s draft.

Combined with a promising young defense that was humbled in a 30-22 divisional loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Prescott and crew have hope they can get the Cowboys within a win of the Super Bowl for the first time since the franchise’s fifth championship following the 1995 season.

But Dallas has been here before: six divisional losses since Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin last led the Cowboys to more than one win in the same postseason.

Two of the losses have been with Prescott and Elliott, the other to Green Bay as the NFC’s top seed when they were rookies two years ago.

“We have a lot of guys that have the right makeup to make sure that we get back here, and to hopefully get past this round,” Prescott said. “You’re going to lose guys and guys are going to be gone, sometimes coaches. And, that’s the unfortunate part about it.

“So, right now it’s just about enjoying this time, with these guys and with this team. Then it’s moving forward, and getting back to this point and getting past this point.”

After losing on some lastsecond magic by Aaron Rodgers at home to end the 2016 season, the Cowboys missed the playoffs last season when Elliott was suspended six games halfway through the season on domestic violence allegations.

Dallas recovered from a 3-5 start to win the NFC East with a 7-1 finish, then beat Seattle 24-22 in the wild-card round. The new part of the experience was a divisional game on the road. For one of the few times this season, the defense had the big letdown for Dallas, allowing a Dallas playoff-record 273 yards rushing.

“We’ll treat this season just like those past seasons,” safety Jeff Heath said.