After Tony Romo passes the torch, Dak Prescott responds with big game for Dallas
There was a great deal made this past week of Tony Romo’s news conference/soliloquy, when among other things, he symbolically passed the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback job to rookie Dak Prescott.
Romo is well enough now after suffering a broken bone in his back in the preseason that he’s back practicing and in uniform during games as the Cowboys’ No. 2.
Prescott responded on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens the way he has responded to just about everything since taking over after Romo’s injury: with aplomb.
Prescott led the Cowboys to their ninth straight win, 27-17 over the Ravens, with a near-flawless game: he completed three-quarters of his passes (27-of-36) for 301 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Cowboys strengthened their grip on the top seed in the NFC with the win, and have the best record in the NFL at 9-1.
Baltimore came into the game with the top-ranked defense in the NFL: No. 1 in total yards allowed, and No. 1 in rushing yards allowed; it was also first in third-down conversions allowed and third in points allowed, giving up just 17.8 per game.
But behind Prescott, Dallas rolled up 417 yards, the second-most given up by the Ravens this season (the Giants had 435 in Week 6), and converted an impressive 58 percent of its third-down chances (7-of-12).
And a good chunk of those numbers came after the first quarter-plus: Dallas punted on its first four possessions, gaining just 58 yards and picking up just five first downs. They didn’t punt again the rest of the game.
Prescott was nearly perfect in the second half, completing 14 of his 15 pass attempts. He’s just the fourth rookie quarterback (post-merger) to throw for 300 yards, three touchdowns and no picks in a game.
Fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott had 97 yards, but the Ravens held him to 3.9 yards per carry, the first time he’s been held under 4.0 since Week 2.
