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Sure, the Prescott- and Ezekiel Elliott-led Cowboys had already clinched the top spot in the NFC entering Monday night's tilt with the desperate Detroit Lions, but I needed to see more variety from the Dallas offense in order to feel comfortable with the idea that two rookies were guiding a Super Bowl favorite.
Not that there's anything wrong with having a conservative, run-first approach, but it's fair to wonder if an inability or unwillingness to swing for the fences could cost the Cowboys against primo opponents in January.
Before declaring that the Cowboys just might be good enough to defeat a flawed NFC field and make a run to Super Bowl LI, I wanted to see Prescott stretch the actual field. I wanted to see if he could keep opposing defenses even more honest for Elliott and the running game.
I wanted to see him make big throws in big spots.
Sure, he bounced back from an early-December slump by completing 32 of his 36 attempts in a Week 15 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but only one of his 32 completed passes that night traveled 20 or more yards.
Despite throwing hardly more than half as many passes Monday night, Prescott put together the best performance of his career in a commanding 42-21 victory over the hungry Lions. And that's because he proved to himself, his teammates, his future opponents and all of his doubters (yours truly included) that if needed, he can sling it.
Prescott's first completion of the game, which set the tone for the evening, was an 18-yard bullet to wide receiver Dez Bryant. It came on a second-and-15 play, with the 23-year-old scanning the field before delivering a perfect strike between two defenders in coverage. Seven dinks, dunks and handoffs later, he placidly made some pre-snap adjustments before throwing a 21-yard missile to Brice Butler in the slot, opening the scoring.
From that point forward, dude looked like a Pro Bowl-caliber veteran, and the Dallas offense—suddenly in touch with its deep side—looked more confident than it has all season.
With Prescott able to stretch out the Detroit defense, he and Elliott had runs of seven, 12 and 55 yards on the Cowboys' second possession, with Dallas taking a 14-7 lead on the 55-yarder.
It continued...
- With just over a minute remaining in the first half, Prescott again made a big-boy throw on third-and-long, hitting Bryant for a touchdown pass against super-tight coverage. The throw traveled 25 yards.
- He threw another deep ball to Bryant on Dallas' second play of the second half, drawing a pass interference penalty that led to the go-ahead touchdown.
- On the next possession, he hit Terrance Williams in stride 25 yards down the field.
- It was only fitting he put the icing on the cake in the fourth quarter with a post-audible 19-yard touchdown pass to Bryant, which again shattered a tight coverage window.
"This is very uncommon for any rookie," ESPN's Jon Gruden stated while enjoying the replays of that score, which for all intents and purposes ended the game by giving Dallas a three-score lead.
Prescott did throw an incomplete deep pass to Bryant later in the garbage-time portion of the fourth quarter, but that was the only time the Cowboys didn't gain huge yardage on a play in which he threw the ball 15 yards or farther.
We've known all year that Prescott possesses an un-rookie-like ability to avoid mistakes, is a master scrambler and can hit most of his short-to-intermediate throws. But with the fourth-round pick also posing a deep threat, there's almost no way of stopping a Dallas offense that features three Pro Bowl O-linemen and the league's leading rusher.
How far has Prescott come along in this respect? During the first four weeks of the year, he was just 1-of-7 on passes that traveled 20-plus yards, and this marked just the second time all year in which he completed three such passes in a game. It's the first time he's done so on fewer than five attempts.
During the first 13 games of his career, Prescott completed just 13 deep passes on 37 attempts, but he's 4-of-6 the last two weeks, and a seventh deep ball drew a pass interference penalty Monday.
I know, four official deep passes in one game doesn't a gunslinger make, but keep in mind he only threw 20 passes altogether against the Lions. That 20 percent of those throws traveled 20-plus yards is a big deal, because the kid entered Week 16 with a deep passing rate of 9.0 percent, which ranked 33rd among the 35 quarterbacks who had played in at least 25 percent of their teams' snaps.
The Dallas offense didn't need to make major changes, but even a modest uptick in successful deep passing plays could put the entire team over the top. Not only does it make life easier on Elliott and the defense, but it allows it to get the most out of Bryant, who not coincidentally had one of his best games of a down year on Monday.
In other words, the Cowboys get the most out of their talent on offense when Prescott is taking chances.
Prescott continues to be the league's third-highest-rated passer, and he's a deserving Pro Bowler. But a rookie quarterback has never led his team to a Super Bowl victory. For much of the year, the pessimist in me has kept that in mind, wondering if Prescott would wilt when inevitably asked to put the Cowboys on his shoulders against an elite opponent in January or February.
As good as Elliott and the line have been, and as promising as it is that the suddenly feisty and opportunistic Dallas defense has 10 takeaways in three weeks, the reality is the Cowboys will arrive at a moment when Prescott has to make a big throw in a big spot.
On Monday night, he proved he can do that.
The takeaway: Dak Prescott might have improved just enough during his astonishing rookie season that he has what it takes to keep making history in his rookie postseason.
Deep passing statistics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.
Follow @Brad_Gagnon
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