Prescott, Cowboys beat Giants 44-20 years after an ankle injury.
For the third week in a row, Dak Prescott was surrounded by more than 90,000 supporters in his home stadium as the Dallas Cowboys won their third straight game.
This one was perhaps a touch unique.
The Cowboys beat the New York Giants 44-20 the day before the one-year anniversary of Prescott’s catastrophic ankle injury in the same stadium against the same opponent,
and Prescott passed for three touchdowns.
Daniel Jones, the starting quarterback, was carted off after suffering a concussion while attempting to score from the 1-yard line in the second quarter.
The Giants’ already-injured running back Saquon Barkley had already been lost to an ankle injury.
Prescott went off the field after recovering from two early fumbles a year after being driven away in tears by the pandemic-stricken fans,
knowing his season was gone due to a horrific complex fracture of his right ankle.
“I certainly thought to myself when I saw the cart, ‘Get that thing out of here,'” Prescott recalled.
“I hope he’s okay, and I hope Saquon is okay, and I hope all of those guys are okay.”
We understand how taxing this game can be on your body.
It was all about turning the page and keeping focused on what I was supposed to be doing.”
On backup Mike Glennon’s first snap of the season, a fourth-down handoff to Barkley’s replacement Devontae Booker from the 1, New York (1-4) evened the score at 10-all.
Glennon and the Giants were unable to maintain their winning streak. After Prescott’s injury, 364 days ago,
Dallas backup Andy Dalton led a comeback to a 37-34 victory at home against the Cowboys (4-1),
who had won four straight games since losing to Super Bowl winner Tampa Bay?
Prescott threw touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb for 49 yards and Amari Cooper for 24 yards before star
running back Ezekiel Elliott grabbed a ball in the flat and high-stepped into the end zone for a 4-yard score just two plays after missing two.
Despite an interception when linebacker Lorenzo Carter tipped a fourth-down throw and grabbed it and a botched snap for a lost fumble when the Cowboys were in a scoring range early,
Prescott finished 22 of 32 for 302 yards and a passer rating of 116.9.
Coach Mike McCarthy remarked, “He’s so damned dedicated in everything he does.”
“His demeanor, attitude, and enthusiasm never change.
I felt he did a great job, especially after those two giveaways.”
Jones was hurt after rookie Cowboys linebacker Jabril Cox hit him just shy of the goal line on a bootleg from the 1. Jones fought to keep upright,
putting his hands on his knees twice before collapsing as Dallas’ Jayron Kearse and others raced to assist him.
On a play away from the ball, Barkley had two carries for 9 yards when he stepped on Dallas defender Jourdan Lewis’ foot. On television,
his left ankle was shown to be swollen on the outside.
Giants coach Joe Judge stated, “Our players are going to keep playing, that’s not going to be an issue.”
“There were a lot of nice instances today of people stepping up,
playing different roles, and making plays in terms of next man up mentality.”
Glennon completed 16 of 25 passes for 196 yards and two interceptions,
including a late 3-yard touchdown pass to Booker. The first was Trevon Diggs’ sixth of the season,
and Anthony Brown returned the second 45 yards for a touchdown in the last two minutes.
In each of the five games, Diggs had at least one interception.
Don Bishop was the only other Dallas player to accomplish this feat in 1961.
“I believe it is past time for quarterbacks to quit throwing at him,” Elliott said.
ROLLING RUN GAME
For the first time since three straight games in 2019, Elliott rushed for more than 100 yards in consecutive games, totaling 110 yards on 21 carries,
the final one was a game-winning 13-yard score run in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys totaled 515 yards of offense, including 201 yards on the ground,
which was exactly the same as the previous three weeks after they only managed 60 against the Buccaneers.
TONEY TOSSED
Following throwing a punch at Dallas safety Damontae Kazee after his last reception, Giants rookie receiver Kadarius Toney was dismissed.
Toney had a season-best of 10 receptions for 189 yards.
After Kazee dragged him to the ground at the end of a 13-yard play, Toney threw the punch.
Unsportsmanlike behavior penalties were imposed on both Toney and Kazee.
INJURIES
LT Giants Andrew Thomas was active, but due to a foot ailment, he did not play. Matt Peart took the place of Nate Solder, who moved from RT to LT.
Before opting out of the pandemic-affected 2020 season, Solder was the starting LT.
New York was already missing WRs Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton due to hamstring injuries when WR Kenny Golladay went down with a knee injury.
Rodarius Williams, a cornerback, was also unable to return due to a knee injury.
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