Staff Reports, rhedges@bossierpress.com
In the first game of his fourth year as the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, former Haughton star Dak Prescott was perfect.
Prescott completed 25 of 32 passes for 405 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in a 35-17 victory over the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Prescott’s passer rating was a perfect 158.3. He’s the first quarterback in franchise history to have a perfect rating while attempting at least 20 passes.
The 405 yards was the second highest of his career.
“It’s fun to be a part of,” he said during his postgame press conference. “It’s fun to be the quarterback of this group, to be able to go out and lead these guys. The offensive line, the way they played, the receivers making plays, the backs obviously.”
Prescott, a member of the Class of 2011 at Haughton, threw passes to seven different receivers. His TD passes went to Blake Jarwin (28 yards), Jason Whitten (4 yards), Amari Cooper (21 yards) and Randall Cobb (25 yards).
Michael Gallup didn’t score but he led the team with seven catches for 158 yards. Cooper had six for 106.
In his postgame comments, the veteran Cobb said he wasn’t surprised by Prescott’s performance.
“I’ve been seeing it all offseason, throughout training camp, and I expect nothing less,” he said. “The way he played tonight is what we expect to see, week in and week out.”
Prescott praised new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s play calling for the offense’s success.
“I don’t know if we ran one play tonight that hasn’t been in our offense for some time,” Prescott said. “But as I said, credit to Kellen of just dialing them up, putting it at the right time, knowing what the defense is going to give us. It resulted in a few wide open touchdowns.”
Ezekiel Elliott, who became the league’s highest-paid running back last week, rushed for 53 yards on 13 carries and scored on a 10-yard run.
Prescott’s contract and negotiations for an extension have been the subject of speculation for months. As usual, he refused to take the bait when asked about it.
“I’m turning the page and I’m worried about the Washington Redskins,” he said. “I have people that handle that, and my focus is on this team, on the football game. I think as long as I can continue to do that, this team will do things like we did tonight. That’s been out of my focus for the past week and I told you guys that.”
The Cowboys play the Redskins at noon Sunday (Fox) at FedEx Field in Washington, D.C. Washington fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 32-27 in their opener.
