Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott throws for 403 yards and 3 touchdowns in game one in 11 months



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TAMPA, Fla .– From the start, everyone associated with the Dallas Cowboys has said they think Dak Prescott will be Dak Prescott when the 2021 season opens.

Turns out they were right, but it wasn’t enough to defeat Tom Brady and reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Cowboys lost 31-29 on a 36-yard field goal from Ryan Succop with two seconds left on Thursday night.

Considering this was Prescott’s first live action in 11 months following a complex dislocation and fracture of his right ankle and a training camp in which he was limited by a tension of the latissimus muscle in the right shoulder, its play was astonishing, even very surprising.

A 31-yard third and 11-yard completion to CeeDee Lamb on the play after the two-minute warning put the Cowboys in position for Greg Zuerlein’s goal with 1:24 left on 48 yards, but Brady responded to the Prescott’s greatness with greatness all its own.

Prescott finished with 403 yards, tying his career-high in passing (42) and setting a career-high in attempting (58) with three touchdowns and one interception. It was the eighth game of at least 400 passing yards in his career and the fourth in his last six starts.

Throwing that much may not be the best formula for the Cowboys. Prescott is now 4-11 when throwing 40 or more assists in a game.

At 5:54 p.m. ET, Prescott made his first appearance on the court, going through what is now a normal warm-up for his surgically repaired right ankle and his typical hip push and shoulder twist exercises. During the pre-match warm-ups, he couldn’t stand still, happily walking side by side with his teammates as he burned nervous energy.

Once the game started he looked what he was when he was healthy in 2020.

He attempted a personal best 32 assists in the first half. Only one quarterback threw more passes before halftime last season: The Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes had 33 against the Buccaneers in Week 12. By the end of the third quarter, he had 47 attempts. assists, the most by any quarterback in three quarters in a game since Aaron Rodgers in Week 7 against the 2016 Chicago Bears, when Mike McCarthy coached the Green Bay Packers.

His first accomplishment went for 28 yards to Amari Cooper. After the Buccaneers took a 7-0 lead on a 94-yard run, Prescott responded by completing his seven passes for 75 yards, culminating with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Lamb on a double move.

In the second quarter, he threw the first of his two touchdown passes to Cooper, recovering a low shot from Tyler Biadasz and calmly firing a pass to the pylon for Cooper. On the previous play, Prescott had his first point, a 7-yard gain, on a broken play.

In game three of the second half, Prescott showed he could still take a hit, getting hammered by Ndamukong Suh as he completed a first pass to Cooper on a practice that ended in a field goal. in the field. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore called a goal-for-goal quarterback for Prescott later in that practice, and he managed to escape the pressure from the Buccaneers.

He was only sacked once on a night when the Cowboys didn’t have their best offensive lineman, right guard Zack Martin, who is on the reserve / COVID-19 roster.

He had his first opening day interception in six games when a deep throw at Lamb deflected Lamb’s hands into the hands of Carlton Davis.

To prepare for Zuerlein’s kick, Prescott overcame two holding penalties from his offensive line, found Lamb for his longest pass of the game, and hit Cooper for a 10-yard gain to put the Cowboys within fielding range.

In many ways, Prescott’s night mirrored 2020. He posted giant numbers, but the Cowboys still lost anyway with the defense unable to protect the lead along with Brady’s heroism.

In the first four full games, he attempted at least 39 passes. He threw for 450, 472 and 502 yards in three straight games with eight touchdowns and three interceptions in Weeks 2-4 before his season ended on Oct. 11, 2020 against the New York Giants. He was about to throw over 6,000 yards when he was injured.

He underwent two surgeries after injuring himself, endured hours of rehabilitation, signed a $ 160 million contract in March, and constantly answered questions on his shoulder after retiring from training on July 28.

He answered all questions on Thursday, even though he and the Cowboys never had any.

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