Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys had a chance to erase a 17-point deficit and upset the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in the closing minutes of Sunday Night Football.
The Cowboys, who trimmed the deficit to six points with 3:32 to play, began a potential game-winning drive at their own 25-yard line with 3:05 remaining. But on first down, Prescott nearly threw an interception into the arms of 49ers linebacker Fred Warner. And on second down, Prescott was rushed out of the pocket by 310-pound defensive lineman Maliek Collins and threw the ball away.
NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth was not impressed.
“I’ll tell you, Dak just doesn’t move like he used to. He really doesn’t,” Collinsworth said to play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico. “There have been times we’ve seen him, pre-injury, that he was able to take that ball and make some runs out of it.
“That’s not really a factor in his game anymore.”
It’s a fair criticism of Precott, as his lack of burst these days shows up in the rushing statistics. Over the first eight years of his career, Prescott averaged 3.6 rushing attempts for 16.5 yards per game. But through seven games this year, Prescott hasn’t rushed more than twice in a game and has failed to top 12 yards all year.
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Prescott didn’t bounce back from his miscues to start their potential game-winning drive. He misfired on a deep ball to KaVontae Turpin on third down and couldn’t connect with receiver Jalen Brooks on fourth down.
The Cowboys’ offense never saw the football again, as 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and company burned the rest of the clock out to secure a home win.
