The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Prescott beats Washington with legs, arm
Dak Prescott probably could have kept running — maybe all the way to the end zone.
Instead, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback stiff-armed Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman to put an exclamation point on his longest run of the game. Prescott spent Sunday afternoon carving up the Redskins’ defense with his arms and legs to the tune of 26 of 30 passing for 269 yards and three touchdowns and 69 yards rushing in a 31-21 Cowboys victory to improve to 2-0.
“If Dak could run the ball well and he can pass the ball well like he showed today, how can you prepare for us?” wide receiver Amari Cooper said. “We as a team can run the ball well and pass the ball well. It’s hard to prepare for that.”
A week after putting up a perfect 158.3 QB rating, Prescott responded from an interception to lead Dallas on consecutive touchdown drives of 97, 83 and 75 yards. At one point, he completed 18 consecutive passes and wondered the last time he had an incompletion.
“It’s just about being in the groove, offense working together,” said Prescott, who became the first Cowboys quarterback to compile seven touchdown passes in the first two games of the season since Don Meredith in 1966. “The run game was happening, we were able to throw the ball, receivers were making great catches and you just look up and it’s like that.”
On the verge of a contract extension that’s expected to guarantee him $30 million, Prescott connected with three receivers on the touchdowns: Devin Smith , Jason Witten and Cooper. Less than two weeks removed from ending his holdout and agreeing to a $90 million, six-year deal, Ezekiel Elliott had his workload increased to 23 carries for 111 yards and ran for a TD.
“It felt good,” Elliott said. “That’s my normal workload. I’m used to that. It definitely does feel good to be back out there.”
The Redskins (0-2) got a rushing touchdown from Adrian Peterson and passing TDs from Case Keenum to Paul Richardson and rookie Terry McLaurin. But their banged-up defense playing without two starters struggled to contain Prescott or cover his receivers.
“There are no excuses to be had,” coach Jay Gruden said. “We’ve got to look at ourselves, and we’ve got to play better. We’re minus a couple of pieces in the secondary. That adds an issue. But really, we should be better than this.”
49ers 41, Bengals 17: Jimmy Garoppolo tied his career high with three touchdown passes and the 49ers, who piled up 573 total yards, improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2012. They’ve opened the season with back-to-back road wins for the first time since 1989.
Lions 13, Chargers 10: Matthew Stafford overcame two interceptions and threw a go-ahead, 31-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Golladay midway through the fourth quarter and Darius Slay made an interception in the end zone with 1:03 left to save the game for Detroit.
Packers 21, Vikings 16: Aaron Rodgers threw two early touchdowns and Green Bay beat the Minnesota for the fifth time in their past seven meetings at Lambeau Field. Kevin King intercepted Kirk Cousins late in the end zone to preserve the win.
Colts 19, Titans 17: Jacoby Brissett passed for 146 yards and three TDs including a 4-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton with 4:38 left. Indianapolis sacked Marcus Mariota four times on a day when Adam Vinatieri, the NFL’s career scoring leader missed two extra points.
Seahawks 28, Steelers 26: Russell Wilson threw for three TDs, including a 28-yard rainbow to DK Metcalf, and Seattle held off Pittsburgh, which lost starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a right elbow injury late in the first half and fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2013.
Ravens 23, Cardinals 17: Lamar Jackson kept Arizona guessing, supplementing an effective passing attack with more than an occasional jaunt out of the pocket. He threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 120 yards. The 2016 Heisman winner outdid Kyler Murray, the 2018 Heisman winner, who went 25 for 40 for 349 yards.
Texans 13, Jaguars 12: Justin Reid stopped Leonard Fournette on a 2-point conversion attempt with 36 seconds left to rescue Houston. Instead of trying to tie it with a kicked extra point, Jaguars coach Doug Marrone opted to go for the potential win, but Fournette was stopped.
Chiefs 28, Raiders 10: Patrick Mahomes bounced back from the first scoreless opening quarter of his career in the regular season by throwing four TD passes in a near perfect second period to pace Kansas City. Mahomes’ 278 yards passing in the quarter were the most since 2008.
Bears 16, Broncos 14: Eddy Pineiro kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired, giving Chicago a wild win. Denver thought time had expired when Mitchell Trubisky threw a pass to Allen Robinson, who was tackled at the Denver 35. Referee Adrian Hill said there was 1 second left and Chicago called time and kicked the winner.
Rams 27, Saints 9: Jared Goff passed for 283 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score, and Los Angeles stopped New Orleans, which lost QB Drew Brees to injury in the first quarter, from scoring an offensive touchdown for the first time since 2016.