By Dwain Price, NDG Sports
ARLINGTON – Dak Prescott sure picked the perfect time to show why he deserves to be one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the National Football League.
In a sterling performance during the Dallas Cowboys’ dominant 35-17 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, Prescott was nearly picture-perfect as he passed for a whopping 405 yards and a career-high-tying four touchdowns in getting his team’s season started off on the right foot. Prescott completed 25-of-32 passes and joined Craig Morton (1968) as the only Cowboys quarterback with a 158.3 perfect passer rating in a season opener.
Afterward, owner Jerry Jones said Prescott’s large contract extension is imminent, possibly as soon as this week. However, Prescott’s mind is elsewhere at the moment.
“I’m turning the page and I’m worried about (next Sunday’s game at) the Washington Redskins,” Prescott said. “I have people that handle (contract talks).
“My focus is on this team, on the football game. I think as long as I can keep continuing to do that, this team will do things like we did (against the Giants).”
Sunday’s game demonstrated why the Cowboys are considered one of the heavy contenders to win this season’s Super Bowl. After falling behind 7-0, the Cowboys proceeded to score five touchdowns on their next five possessions to bolt ahead, 35-10, late in the third quarter.
Kellen Moore, in his first season as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator, had his shiny new offense on full display. And that spelled trouble for the Giants, whose heads were on a swivel all day.
“At the end of the day it was a great start,” Moore said. “We played well.
“There’s little moments where you want it a little bit better to start faster and end better. But we got to recognize all the good things and continue to build on those.”
The Cowboys probably know there’s much more building to be done considering running back Ezekiel Elliott was basically an after-thought in this game. Signed to a six-year, $90 million contract extension last Wednesday after missing training camp and the four preseason games, Elliott admitted he was rusty while rushing for 53 yards on 13 carries and scoring a touchdown.
“Their defense was really keyed into the run and we just had way too many weapons on the outside and we made them hurt,” Elliott said. “I’m excited to be back with these guys.
“I think we’ve got a great group and I’m excited for this season.”
Prescott also is excited about the array of talent-laden receivers he has at his disposal. Against the Giants, Michael Gallup collected seven receptions for 158 yards, Amari Cooper caught six passes for 106 yards and a touchdown, and Randall Cobb hauled in four passes for 69 yards and a TD.
Even 16-year veteran tight end Jason Witten, back with the Cowboys after spending last season as a TV analyst, joyfully caught a 4-yard touchdown pass.
“It felt good just to be back out there,” Witten said. “When I made the decision to come back, this was the moment I was thinking about – these games like this.”
And games like Sunday’s are always what Prescott thinks about. He got into a zone against the Giants and there was practically nothing the Cowboys’ NFC East divisional rivals could do about it.
“I will say it felt like a well-oiled machine,” Prescott said. “I talked about it (Saturday) night to the offense.
“We’ve got so many great players on that offense when whatever 11 is out there when you handle your one job and trust the other 10 guys are going to do that, that’s what happens. You are a well-oiled machine.”
Prescott and the well-oiled machine fired on all cylinders against the Giants as he aggressively went up top and tossed a 62-yarder to Gallup, a 45-yarder to Cooper, and also pitched a 28-yard TD to backup tight end Blake Jarwin.
“One of the things Kellen talks about with this offense is in a lot of ways we’re doing a lot of the same stuff we do, and aggressively take what they give us,” Witten said. “It’s one thing to say you want to be aggressive, it’s another thing to see it executed the way it did, so great start for Kellen.”
With an appreciative nod to Moore, Jones was certainly happy with a high-octane offense that produced 494 total yards and didn’t have any turnovers.
“I think (Moore) made that game exciting,” Jones said. “I know we all saw things that we just haven’t seen in the past.
“What I like was the way that we stepped out there and took what the Giants gave us, and that’s real promising.”
What also is really promising is the way Prescott took control of the offense. This was the four-year veteran’s second career 400-yard passing game – Prescott passed for 455 yards last Dec. 9 against Philadelphia – and he was razor-sharp all day long.
“I spoke to it about the latter part of the year last year about being able to just see the defense, seeing the things that I wanted to see so much quicker,” Prescott said. “This off-season, this spring, this training camp, it just continues to grow, continue to grow.”
That growth by Prescott absolutely stunned the Giants.
“We got different guys involved,” coach Jason Garrett said. “(Prescott) was seeing the defense well and throwing to the right guys. He had real command of the offense.”
While the Cowboys’ defense allowed 470 yards – mostly between the 30-yard lines – their offense undoubtedly will have defensive coordinators on their schedule encountering some restless nights if Sunday’s game is any indication.
“I think you saw a dose of what we can do,” Cobb said. “We did some really good things (Sunday), we did some things we could have done better, but overall I think we showed that we can dominate as an offense.
“I think that puts us on notice. I think everybody is definitely going to have an eye for us whenever they play us.”
