However, much like Tony Romo, Darren McFadden has lost his job to a promising rookie. Head coach Jason Garrett confirmed that Prescott will remain the starter, but it’ll be interesting to see what Dallas does if Prescott continues hitting the rookie wall with the playoffs approaching.
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That’s the dilemma the Cowboys face. Dak is hoping to bounce back after dropping their last game, 10-7, to the New York Giants on December 11th. They host NFC North-leading Detroit (9-5) for a Monday Night Football affair December 26.
It’s a good thing the Cowboys didn’t bench Prescott because he rebounded from the Giants’ loss by going 32 of 36 for 279 yards in a 26-20 win over the Buccaneers. Not only was he superbly accurate throwing the ball to eight different receivers, he also helped the team with his running ability.
Later in the second quarter, Prescott waltzed into the end zone on a QB draw, calmly walking through the parted red sea created by a brilliant play call and the Cowboys bruising offensive line, and Dallas had a 17-3 lead.
Look at Romo’s numbers when he last played a full season in 2014. The Cowboys line was good, but not quite to the level it reached this year.
When Prescott and Winston study the game film from Week 15, will have a better idea of what they didn’t do. In that game, Dak only had 165 yard and a single touchdown after giving up 2 picks. The Cowboys will try to bounce back from only their second defeat of the season, while Tampa Bay keeps making a push towards the playoffs. He will need to accumulate 259 yards over the next two games if he is to break Eric Dickerson’s 1,808 season total. The Cowboys will have a bye in the playoffs.
All of that makes for a game that’s hard to predict.
With at least one sack on Sunday at San Diego, Mack would tie for the second-longest streak of consecutive games with a sack since it became an official stat in 1982.
Trailing the Cowboys by two touchdowns at one point in the first half on Sunday night, Winston led a comeback that gave the Bucs a 20-17 lead with two third-quarter touchdown passes. For that, there are two game balls that have to be awarded, and those two earned them.
Prescott is Dallas’ future and his contributions have been phenomenal.
“He might have had sensitivity but Dak doesn’t”, Jones said Thursday, referring to the quarterback who won him three Super Bowls in the 1990s.
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Dallas would be a tougher out turning to the 14-year veteran who has thrown 247 touchdowns in his career. At times, offense was heavy on the dink-and-dunk, and settled for field goals too often, but showed it still could still function with the same efficiency as it had during it’s 11 game win streak.
