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By Jon Machota
Sept. 21, 2026 6:30 am CDT
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott can laugh about it now. After the Dallas Cowboys lost their 2012 season finale, dropping the team to 8-8 and eliminating it from playoff contention for a third consecutive season, a 19-year-old Prescott fired off a few tweets he remembers to this day.
“I’m DONE taking up for Romo,” he posted, referring to then Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who threw three interceptions in that 28-18 loss to Washington. Prescott also included the hashtag “#hadenough.”
He later followed that up by responding to a fan that Romo “doesn’t finish and none of those interceptions are on the offensive line.” To that one, he added the hashtag “#noexcuses.”
Another tweet a little later: “You’re supposed to throw it over the guy’s head. That was the most embarrassing one of them all. #stoptakingupforhim”
Prescott was a Cowboys fan at the time, not knowing that he would one day be teammates with Romo and eventually break his franchise records.
The Cowboys' defense was better, but not by much, in Week 2
Jon Machota
The latest, and arguably most notable, of those records fell Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium — ironically, against that same Washington franchise. Prescott’s four touchdown passes in a 37-20 win over the Commanders gave him 249 for his career, one more than Romo’s total.
After the game, Prescott mentioned those tweets he once posted.
“I was a big fan of Romo,” he said. “I was. I was a fan of the Cowboys, and so it led into being a fan of the quarterback of the Cowboys. Frustrated at times, as he was, or as some fans are of me, and there was a tweet out there, right, that when I got drafted, that was brought back up. I was just a dumb fan at that time, too.
“I didn’t know exactly what he was dealing with, you know what I mean?”
The only thing missing from Romo’s 11 seasons as Cowboys quarterback is the same item Prescott’s resume lacks: a deep playoff run. Romo won only two of his six playoff games; Prescott has won two of his seven.
There’s no questioning, though, that this year’s Cowboys have an offense capable of making a lengthy postseason run. After getting off to a slow start in last week’s 28-20 loss to the New York Giants, the Cowboys came out firing against the Commanders.
Prescott led a 10-play touchdown drive on the game’s opening possession. He connected with CeeDee Lamb three times on that drive, including a 3-yard touchdown pass. Aside from one three-and-out, Dallas scored on all seven of its other possessions.
Prescott and Lamb looked as good as ever — they connected on eight of nine targets Sunday for 153 yards and two touchdowns, including the 24-yarder that was the record-breaker. It might have been the best highlight of day, too, as Lamb wrestled the ball away from Washington cornerback Mike Sainristil.
“I think it starts certainly with Dak,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said after the game. “He’s playing at an incredible level. When he’s really rolling, he’s one of the best.”
Week 2 is too early to call a game “must-win,” but Sunday was pretty close to it for the Cowboys. Prescott acknowledged afterward that he felt it was on that level considering Dallas’s season-opening loss, so the explosive offensive performance helped turn down the temperature for now.
The Dallas defense, on the other hand, still has a ways to go to consider this a legitimate playoff team. Although the Cowboys’ communication issues appeared somewhat improved from Week 1, their third-down and rushing defenses were not.
That side of the ball likely was aided by not having to face Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels in the second half after he suffered a gruesome left elbow injury. Daniels had seven carries for 69 yards in the first two quarters, one week after Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart rushed for 54 yards on 11 carries against the Cowboys. Next week in Brazil, Dallas faces Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who is probably the NFL’s best running quarterback — so it could be another long day on the ground.
“Overall, I thought the communication was better,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “There’s certainly things to clean up. We certainly did a poor job of containing Jayden, but he can do that. He does that to a lot of people. That’s really where the rush yards got away. And then we got some things to improve on third down.
“I thought we really rushed the passer well. … I know we didn’t get any sacks, but (Daniels) and Marcus (Mariota) were both moved off the spot quite a bit. So, I felt good about that, but there’s always things to clean up. We certainly have not arrived. We got a lot of work to do.”
The hopes that Dallas possibly could field a top defense in Christian Parker’s first season as coordinator seem to be out the window — the talent doesn’t appear to be where it needs to be, and it might take another offseason focusing on that side of the ball to get it there. The Cowboys would be in good shape overall if the defense continued improving enough to be solid.
But Sunday was about Prescott, who is playing at an elite level. Through two games, he has thrown six touchdowns to only one interception.
“He was awesome today and he’s been awesome for a long time,” former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said on NBC’s “Football Night in America” Sunday. “Eleven years as a starter. We had him as a rookie and he won 13 games. So, I wish people would just pull back and just appreciate that guy’s greatness.”
Prescott said he woke up Sunday morning feeling emotional, because he knew he’d have a chance later in the day to get the franchise record. He thought about his mother, who passed away from colon cancer in 2013. He got choked up and had tears in his eyes talking about it after the game.
“In the moment it happened, I just felt my mom,” he said. “My mom was never short or never hesitant to tell me how proud she was of me. She was never, never, never short of that. And I could just hear that. And that’s enough. Thankful that my teammates, my coaches and everybody that believed in me and all that, but that’s enough. And I heard that my whole life growing up, and I hear it now as loud as I’ve ever heard it. And so I’m just blessed.”
When asked what he’d do with the record-breaking ball, Prescott joked about it eventually collecting dust somewhere.
That answer was still on his mind as he was leaving the postgame news conference podium and a reporter asked what’s left for him to accomplish.
“The one thing,” Prescott responded, referring to winning a Super Bowl. “The main thing. That one won’t be a dust-collector.”
Sept. 21, 2026 6:30 am CDT
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott can laugh about it now. After the Dallas Cowboys lost their 2012 season finale, dropping the team to 8-8 and eliminating it from playoff contention for a third consecutive season, a 19-year-old Prescott fired off a few tweets he remembers to this day.
“I’m DONE taking up for Romo,” he posted, referring to then Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who threw three interceptions in that 28-18 loss to Washington. Prescott also included the hashtag “#hadenough.”
He later followed that up by responding to a fan that Romo “doesn’t finish and none of those interceptions are on the offensive line.” To that one, he added the hashtag “#noexcuses.”
Another tweet a little later: “You’re supposed to throw it over the guy’s head. That was the most embarrassing one of them all. #stoptakingupforhim”
Prescott was a Cowboys fan at the time, not knowing that he would one day be teammates with Romo and eventually break his franchise records.
The Cowboys' defense was better, but not by much, in Week 2
Jon Machota
The latest, and arguably most notable, of those records fell Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium — ironically, against that same Washington franchise. Prescott’s four touchdown passes in a 37-20 win over the Commanders gave him 249 for his career, one more than Romo’s total.
After the game, Prescott mentioned those tweets he once posted.
“I was a big fan of Romo,” he said. “I was. I was a fan of the Cowboys, and so it led into being a fan of the quarterback of the Cowboys. Frustrated at times, as he was, or as some fans are of me, and there was a tweet out there, right, that when I got drafted, that was brought back up. I was just a dumb fan at that time, too.
“I didn’t know exactly what he was dealing with, you know what I mean?”
The only thing missing from Romo’s 11 seasons as Cowboys quarterback is the same item Prescott’s resume lacks: a deep playoff run. Romo won only two of his six playoff games; Prescott has won two of his seven.
There’s no questioning, though, that this year’s Cowboys have an offense capable of making a lengthy postseason run. After getting off to a slow start in last week’s 28-20 loss to the New York Giants, the Cowboys came out firing against the Commanders.
Prescott led a 10-play touchdown drive on the game’s opening possession. He connected with CeeDee Lamb three times on that drive, including a 3-yard touchdown pass. Aside from one three-and-out, Dallas scored on all seven of its other possessions.
Prescott and Lamb looked as good as ever — they connected on eight of nine targets Sunday for 153 yards and two touchdowns, including the 24-yarder that was the record-breaker. It might have been the best highlight of day, too, as Lamb wrestled the ball away from Washington cornerback Mike Sainristil.
“I think it starts certainly with Dak,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said after the game. “He’s playing at an incredible level. When he’s really rolling, he’s one of the best.”
Week 2 is too early to call a game “must-win,” but Sunday was pretty close to it for the Cowboys. Prescott acknowledged afterward that he felt it was on that level considering Dallas’s season-opening loss, so the explosive offensive performance helped turn down the temperature for now.
The Dallas defense, on the other hand, still has a ways to go to consider this a legitimate playoff team. Although the Cowboys’ communication issues appeared somewhat improved from Week 1, their third-down and rushing defenses were not.
That side of the ball likely was aided by not having to face Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels in the second half after he suffered a gruesome left elbow injury. Daniels had seven carries for 69 yards in the first two quarters, one week after Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart rushed for 54 yards on 11 carries against the Cowboys. Next week in Brazil, Dallas faces Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who is probably the NFL’s best running quarterback — so it could be another long day on the ground.
“Overall, I thought the communication was better,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “There’s certainly things to clean up. We certainly did a poor job of containing Jayden, but he can do that. He does that to a lot of people. That’s really where the rush yards got away. And then we got some things to improve on third down.
“I thought we really rushed the passer well. … I know we didn’t get any sacks, but (Daniels) and Marcus (Mariota) were both moved off the spot quite a bit. So, I felt good about that, but there’s always things to clean up. We certainly have not arrived. We got a lot of work to do.”
The hopes that Dallas possibly could field a top defense in Christian Parker’s first season as coordinator seem to be out the window — the talent doesn’t appear to be where it needs to be, and it might take another offseason focusing on that side of the ball to get it there. The Cowboys would be in good shape overall if the defense continued improving enough to be solid.
But Sunday was about Prescott, who is playing at an elite level. Through two games, he has thrown six touchdowns to only one interception.
“He was awesome today and he’s been awesome for a long time,” former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said on NBC’s “Football Night in America” Sunday. “Eleven years as a starter. We had him as a rookie and he won 13 games. So, I wish people would just pull back and just appreciate that guy’s greatness.”
Prescott said he woke up Sunday morning feeling emotional, because he knew he’d have a chance later in the day to get the franchise record. He thought about his mother, who passed away from colon cancer in 2013. He got choked up and had tears in his eyes talking about it after the game.
“In the moment it happened, I just felt my mom,” he said. “My mom was never short or never hesitant to tell me how proud she was of me. She was never, never, never short of that. And I could just hear that. And that’s enough. Thankful that my teammates, my coaches and everybody that believed in me and all that, but that’s enough. And I heard that my whole life growing up, and I hear it now as loud as I’ve ever heard it. And so I’m just blessed.”
When asked what he’d do with the record-breaking ball, Prescott joked about it eventually collecting dust somewhere.
That answer was still on his mind as he was leaving the postgame news conference podium and a reporter asked what’s left for him to accomplish.
“The one thing,” Prescott responded, referring to winning a Super Bowl. “The main thing. That one won’t be a dust-collector.”
