Archer: When things were worst, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott was at his best

Cotton

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When things were worst, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott was at his best
8:24 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES -- The highlights for Dak Prescott from Saturday’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams are obvious.

The Dallas Cowboys rookie quarterback had the two throws to Dez Bryant, including a 10-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. He also had the beautiful throw to Terrance Williams for a 32-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

But the most impressive part of Prescott’s performance was what he did when he was facing second-and-34 after the Cowboys were called for three penalties in a four-play span in the second quarter.

There aren’t a lot of calls for offensive coordinators in second-and-34 from the opponent’s 48-yard line.

On second down, Prescott smartly checked it underneath to wide receiver Devin Street for an 8-yard pickup. On third down, the Rams brought a blitz, forcing Prescott out of the pocket. He picked up 14 yards on the ground.

The Cowboys went from likely having to punt to seeing Dan Bailey connect on a 44-yard field goal.

“You know, that’s something you can try to emphasize to the quarterback between plays, manage the situation, know where you are on the field, but you certainly got the sense that he knew that already,” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. “Really big play making the play with his feet to get us back into field goal range to give us a scoring opportunity there.”

The Cowboys have praised Prescott’s poise and composure since they selected him in the fourth round of this year's draft. But there is a difference between seeing that on a practice field in training camp and seeing that in front of 89,140 fans in the first game -- preseason or not -- of his professional career.

“He was running the show,” Bryant said. “He was leading. It was his huddle. He didn’t play like a rookie. His mindset was not like a rookie. It was like he’d been there before”

The Cowboys lost 28-24, but Prescott was the story for Dallas. He completed 10 of 12 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns, but it was not about sending a message that he could be Tony Romo’s backup.

“It was another opportunity to prove to my teammates and my coaches and this organization the player and person I am,” Prescott said.

Prescott knew Romo would not play and that the starter’s role was his for the preseason opener. His work in practice leading up to the game was sharp. He worked a pair of two-minute drills in back-to-back days in which his only incompletions were to spike the ball to stop the clock.

He showed no nervousness.

“I was kind of waiting on it all day the last couple days, kind of waiting for that nervous feeling,” Prescott said. “I never really got it, and I think that’s because I was prepared.”

Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan had to seek Prescott out in the locker room before the game to go over different alerts and situations. Because Prescott is a rookie, he didn’t dress near Romo or Jameill Showers, so Linehan had to step over and around players and equipment to get to him.

“He gets himself really well prepared for each day,” Linehan said, “and that gets him ready for the game. He puts himself in those positions, he studies his calls, his game sheet, his scouting report. He’s really a mature kid. He’s ahead of his years I think right now when it comes to that kind of stuff.”

When the Cowboys lost backup quarterback Kellen Moore for 3-4 months with a broken right fibula, the immediate thought was they needed to find a veteran to back up Romo. They made overtures to free-agent Nick Foles, who chose the Kansas City Chiefs. They spoke with the Cleveland Browns about Josh McCown, but the asking price was too high.

After that, the Cowboys put their focus back on Prescott and Showers.

Linehan can’t remember a time in which he went into a season with a rookie as the No. 2 quarterback.

“There’s never a day that we don’t feel really good about his development and where he’s coming,” Linehan said. “And we’re not getting carried away. We’re one preseason game into it. We’ve got some really good practices in -- offseason, training camp -- and feel like he’s progressing very, very well and we’re going to strive for making that our goal every day. So that’s really where we’re at right now. We’re real excited about where he’s headed, and he’s shown us a lot of really good things. And I’d be surprised if it doesn’t continue.”
 

Genghis Khan

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The amount of eagles fans on reddit trying to temper cowboys fans enthusiasm for dak is hilarious. They'd be slurping wentz's nuts if he played like that. They were already excited over wentz after a decidedly mediocre performance.
 

boozeman

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Genghis Khan

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Giants fans are bitching that Nassib sucks ass after three years to develop.

http://boards.giants.com/showthread.php?73103-Prescott-vs-Nassiib
Exactly. Dak's performance doesn't put him in canton, but it's a very encouraging sign. Guys like Weeden/Moore/McGee etc. never looked this good in any circumstances, preseason or not.

Maybe Dak crashes and burns but maybe not. He just seems to have a good work ethic and football IQ. He just seems to have that "it" factor. Those things can take him a long way.
 

L.T. Fan

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I will cross my fingers for now until a fair representation gives a trend.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Exactly. Dak's performance doesn't put him in canton, but it's a very encouraging sign. Guys like Weeden/Moore/McGee etc. never looked this good in any circumstances, preseason or not.

Maybe Dak crashes and burns but maybe not. He just seems to have a good work ethic and football IQ. He just seems to have that "it" factor. Those things can take him a long way.
Hell, at worst I at least feel a lot better about him being our backup QB this year. He will eventually have some struggles. He obviously can't maintain this type of a performance forever but as someone who never thought he could make real NFL throws I was impressed.
 

ravidubey

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Again, this is why we drafted him.

He gives Dallas a better chance to win than most of the shitty backups playing.

We haven't even really seen him use his legs, which alone you can base a gameplan around in relief of Romo.

Give him confidence in his arm too and with this supporting cast he can go farther than anyone might have thought.

He needs reps, bottom line.
 

dallen

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I've come to believe that two of the most important keys to developing a QB are confidence and momentum. It may have been a preseason game, but Dak knows now that he can compete in the NFL, and so do his teammates.
 

mcnuttz

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An impressive job that Wade Wilson has done with this young man.


:unsure
 

BipolarFuk

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It would be nice to see Dak be a superstar.

And it certainly would be a huge blow to most of the talent scouts on this board.
 

Rev

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It would be nice to see Dak be a superstar.

And it certainly would be a huge blow to most of the talent scouts on this board.
Lol. I'm not sure you have a leg to stand on. We used to see weekly sigs of your choices.
 

Simpleton

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The entire NFL let the GOAT QB drop to the 6th round, guess everybody in the league at the time should be out of a job, including the Patriots braintrust themselves.
 

Cowboysrock55

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The entire NFL let the GOAT QB drop to the 6th round, guess everybody in the league at the time should be out of a job, including the Patriots braintrust themselves.
That's exactly right. The Patriots get applauded for drafting him in the sixth but honestly if they had any real idea about Brady they would have taken him much sooner.
 
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