LANDOVER, Md. — The praise that Jason Garrett was heaping on his rookie quarterback after he’d led the Cowboys to a comeback win over Washington was expansive enough. Yet it was nothing compared to the gushing that Jerry Jones did a few minutes later, a few feet away in the hallway outside of the visiting locker room.
In just a span of about two minutes, Jones invoked Tony Romo, Troy Aikman, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. He wasn’t saying that Dak Prescott, the fourth-round pick that fell into his lap on draft day, was their peer yet, but the comparisons were not outlandish. Not after the way Prescott handled the rollercoaster of breaks, gaffes and momentum shifts at FedEx Field before taking the Cowboys to their 27-23 win over the Redskins in his second NFL start.
MORE: Cowboys dodge bullet after botched onside kick
“You have a rookie quarterback in this situation,’’ Jones said, “(and) it also puts a lot of expectations on him, when you think about it. We expect to go out there and move that ball and make plays, and he's doing that. He's not turning the ball over, and he's also, in his way, making contributions. He may not be changing it up and making all the reads that Tony would be making; he is not. But Tony is extraordinary for where he is in his career.’’
Romo, of course, is 36. Prescott, who threw for 292 yards, no interceptions and had a passer rating of 103.8, turned 23 at the start of training camp.
“But what (Prescott) is doing is very sound, very good, and plenty to win,’’ Jones added, “plenty to win.’’
Sunday was his first NFL win, coming a week after the Cowboys’ final chance at home against the Giants disappeared when Terrance Williams failed to go out of bounds to stop the clock on their final drive. They are tantalizingly close to being 2-0, but also to 0-2 — yet could not have less to complain about from the quarterback forced into, arguably, the most scrutinized individual position in sports, Cowboys’s starter, just three weeks ago.
MORE: A rarity in NE — trouble at QB
This time, as opposed to the previous week, it was the other team that failed repeatedly in the final minutes — an end-zone interception by Kirk Cousins, a pass break-up on fourth-and-one, and a bumbled last possession that ended in a missed Hail Mary.
But it was also Prescott who was the epitome of poise all day.
It was never on display more than on the game-winning drive — 11 plays, 80 yards, following the Cousins interception by Barry Church. Prescott was 5 for 6 for 56 yards, including a 12-yarder to Cole Beasley on third-and-11 on the Washington 24, and an eight-yarder to Jason Witten on the next snap.
The play after that was the go-ahead touchdown, on an Alfred Morris four-yard run in front of the fans he had played for for four years.
The previous two touchdown drives Prescott engineered were 94 yards and 75 yards, and on the game’s first possession, he marched them from his 20 to the opposing 4 before settling for a field goal. It was hard to find times that the moments overwhelmed him — and easy to find times he embraced it, like on his touchdown scramble where he got a bunch of defenders to bite on a nasty pump-fake on the move before cutting toward the goal line.
Nothing rattled him, not the four sacks, not the two Ezekiel Elliott fumbles, one which Washington recovered, not the low hit that drew a flag that pushed the final drive further. Not even the blown onside kick just when the Cowboys had taken the lead in the third quarter and were getting into a groove.
And certainly not whatever Washington was doing on defense — although, to their very belated credit, they finally let Josh Norman follow Dez Bryant, the way he never did the week before against the Steelers’ Antonio Brown.
“He did an outstanding job in that situation,’’ Garrett said of the game-winning drive — then added, “but really, throughout the game. A number of different things game up throughout the game, and he just handles it with poise and composure. He gives us a chance to execute on ball plays, because the demeanor that he plays with is infectious throughout our team. Guys see that and respond to it.’’
“It’s been fun,’’ Prescott said. “I’ve got great coaches, an unbelievable coaching staff and great teammates, that pick me up every day when I come in. And I just focus on the moment, I focus on the day, I just try to live in the moment, and I have great people around me to do that.’’
Which brings it back to the owner, who couldn’t resist raising the stakes, but still rapturous about how Prescott was meeting them.
“He’s got a great supporting cast,’’ Jones said, “but he's using it.’’