Former Haughton star Dak Prescott’s dream rookie season with the Dallas Cowboys ended in heartbreaking fashion Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Mason Crosby’s 51-yard field goal as time expired lifted the Green Bay Packers over the top-seeded Cowboys 34-31 in an NFC divisional playoff game.
Prescott, the Cowboys rookie quarterback, rallied his team from an 21-3 deficit. The Cowboys trailed 28-13 going into the fourth quarter.
“We don’t give up,” Prescott said in his postgame press conference. “We’re not going to stop no matter what the score is, no matter the game. It shows the true character of this team.”
His 7-yard touchdown pass and two-poind conversion run tied it at 28 with 4:08 left to play.
After Crosby kicked a 56-yard field goal to put the Packers back on top, Prescott led the Cowboys into field goal range. Dan Bailey’s 52-yard field goal tied it with 38 seconds left.
But Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed a 36-yard pass to Jared Cook, who made a tightrope catch on the sideline, to the Cowboys 32 with three seconds left. That set up Crosby’s kick.
Prescott completed 24 of 38 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. He had a quarterback rating of 103.2, very close to his season average.
Rodgers, a 12-year veteran, completed 28 of 43 for 356 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. His quarterback rating was 96.7.
The Cowboys finished the season 13-4. Green Bay (12-6) will play the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. in the Georgia Dome (Fox).
Cowboys owner/general manager praised Prescott in his postgame remarks.
“He was everything that you could dream about if you had a make believe situation on a rookie quarterback,” Jones said. “He played in a veteran way.”
When asked about his emotions following the tough loss, Prescott said there were as low as they can get.
“It’s a terrible feeling,” he said.
But he was glad he had the chance to compete on a big stage.
“It was a great atmosphere,” he said “AT&T (Stadium) was amazing today, the fans. It was a great game all the way around. Just hate to be on the losing end, obviously.
“But this is games that I dreamed as a little kid of playing in. I plan to play in many more of them.”
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
Outstanding season… more to come …
Good job Dak – you young and are blessed to be able to do great things – see ya next season
Did a fabulous job!!
Outstanding job Dak! We are so proud of you! A fantastic season. Looking forward to next year!
Great job all season by Dak!
Outstanding rookie season!!! What a terrible title for this article. We are so proud of you Dak!!!