Dak Prescott, Carson Wentz deliver the goods as Cowboys defeat Eagles in OT
Assuming Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz remain with their respective teams for the length of a good NFL career, we’ll see them face off a couple dozen times over the next decade-plus. And if these guys can continue on their respective trajectories, we’ll soon talk about Prescott-Wentz the way we used to talk about Brady-Manning. (Translation: overexposed, yes, but still worth watching.)
Sunday night featured the Cowboys facing the Eagles in a battle of dueling narratives: rookies pressed into unexpected service — Prescott by injury, Wentz by trade — and turning their unexpected opportunity into career launchpads. The Cowboys won in overtime, 29-23, but long before Prescott found Jason Witten wide open in the end zone for the game-winner, these two quarterbacks had established themselves.
The teams traded jabs throughout the entire game, fighters each searching for weakness in the other. Wentz was more accurate but shorter, completing 32 of 43 passes for 202 yards. Five Eagles receivers broke into double figures, but none caught a pass longer than 14 yards.
Prescott, by contrast, went for the theatrical, throwing for 287 yards and two touchdowns, the highlight a 53-yard connection to the returning Dez Bryant. Prescott completed barely half of his 39 attempts, but strengthened over the course of the game. Ezekiel Elliott burnished his own rookie-of-the-year credentials for Dallas, rushing for 96 yards, while Philly’s Darren Sproles checked in from 2011 with a strong 86-yard effort.
The Eagles took early, tenuous control of the game, leading by as much as 10 points thanks to a swarming, opportunistic defense. But give Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett and the Dallas coaching staff credit for staving off complacency. Dallas engineered a sweet second-half fake punt on fourth-and-8 deep in its own territory, a maneuver that resulted in three points. And Dallas attempted a classic wide-receiver pass that only misfired when Cole Beasley overthrew a wide-open Terrance Williams.
Still, the gambling spurred Dallas to a 19-3 run that included a brilliant Prescott-to-Bryant touchdown with three minutes remaining that tied up the game. Prescott hasn’t quite put the Dak-or-Tony-Romo question to rest, but he continues to make the question a valid one to ask as Romo finishes the final stages of injury rehabilitation.
The Cowboys have now won six games in a row and hold a two-game lead over the other three teams in the NFC East. The Eagles travel to New York for a divisional matchup with the Giants, while the Cowboys get the equivalent of an off-week scrimmage with a game against Cleveland. Prescott-Wentz II? That’ll be the final week of the season. Sounds about perfect.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
