At long last, Dak Prescott had the emphatic start expected of the Cowboys franchise quarterback.
In a season-opening 19-3 loss to the Buccaneers, he threw one interception and zero touchdowns, and in Week 7, as he returned from the thumb injury that kept him out for five weeks, he was just solid in a win over a bungling Lions team. But in beating the Bears, 49-29, on Sunday, Prescott was stellar, throwing two touchdowns on 21 of 27 passing for 250 yards and reminding the league what he and the Cowboys’ offense can be when they are feeling it.
The Cowboys (6-2) scored a touchdown on six of their nine offensive drives (excluding the final possession in which Dallas knelt the game out). With the help of a handful of explosive runs from Tony Pollard (14 carries, 131 yards), Prescott repeatedly marched down the field and picked apart the Bears (3-5) defense with poise and daring.
Each of Prescott’s first two drives featured a play that set the tone for the rest of the day.
With 12:47 left in the first quarter, the Cowboys found themselves with third-and-6 from their own 46-yard line. The Cowboys overloaded the left side of the formation, letting Michael Gallup play a one-on-one ball to the right side. Gallup ran a simple slant but didn’t gain any separation coming out of the break, and Prescott knew it.
Rather than keep the ball high and in the receiver’s chest for the cornerback to contest, Prescott threw the ball low and out in front of Gallup, forcing him to the ground. Gallup had to make a play on the ball, but the cornerback, even with tight coverage, had almost no chance at reacting to and finding Prescott’s ball placement for the 11-yard gain. That drive ended with Prescott running in a 7-yard score.
The next Cowboys drive looked imperiled on third-and-9 at the Bears’ 21-yard line with 5:19 left in the first quarter. Dallas sent Lamb in motion from right to left, and rather than have a cornerback follow, the Bears rotated a safety, Jaquan Brisker, down to match him.
Prescott knew that was a matchup Lamb could win — Prescott only needed to rifle the throw in to beat the safety. He did just that, delivering a strike down the left hash that arrived to Lamb just as he crossed the goal line to put the Cowboys up, 14-0.
