HOUSTON – Cowboys QB Dak Prescott told the media after their Week 3 loss to the Ravens in Rio de Janeiro that he and the offense have "got to put the game away."
Seven days later against the Texans, Prescott recorded his 27th career game-winning drive, orchestrating an 11 play, 74-yard possession in a minute and 43 seconds to set up a 12-yard touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb that gave Dallas a 34-30 win over Houston.
"There's nothing like winning," Prescott said. "I want to say it fixes all the problems, but it doesn't. It makes you feel good at least for a day or so. But at this point, we got to turn the page and get ready for Thursday. We can't sit here and have some winning hangover so early in the season."
"It's no different than last week's loss, when I told you guys we got to turn the page and make sure we come out and perform like we want to in Houston. We didn't start that way, but we got it going in the second half on offense particularly. Did enough, and just shows the resilience of this team to win. So now it's about stacking these wins with great momentum and just belief in the team that we've created."
Earlier in the week, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the only way teams can learn how to finish games is simply by doing it.
Shown by the number of career game winning drives Prescott has had, he knows how to do it, which is what made last week's loss so difficult to digest, and Sunday's win a sigh of relief.
"I feel like I've known it," Prescott said. "I feel like that's what the disappointment was with last week. I know how and what we're capable of doing, and when we didn't do it last week, down in the red zone, plenty of time and opportunities and we don't get it done, we settle for a field goal, we put our defense in a terrible situation by our lack of execution. So today was just the epitome of the trust, the brotherhood, the practice, the details, everything that we put into this, the communication. And we just have to build off of it."
One thing Prescott and the Cowboys offense certainly built off of was CeeDee Lamb's strong start to the season. Lamb recorded a franchise high in receptions with 17 against the Texans, adding 189 receiving yards and what ended up being the game winning touchdown. For Prescott, who finished 32/45 for 335 yards and a touchdown, this is nothing new.
"CeeDee's been great," Prescott said. "Obviously today, but just throughout the whole season. Just his demeanor, his mindset, his mentality, communication throughout each and every play, and I think today was just a great example of that."
Dallas' fellow star receiver George Pickens only recorded two receptions, but combined for 75 yards and were crucial chunk plays when he did make the grabs. Where Pickens maybe showed up more was outside of the box score, taking away Texans defenders in order to open things up for Lamb.
"If you're going to play to George like that, and leave CeeDee one on one and give him those opportunities, we're going to go to the open guy," Prescott said. "CeeDee just does a great job of feeling the zone, beating his man, whatever it is, and getting open."
While Prescott was able to find Lamb a bunch, he also was pressured, hit a good bit and sacked three times. That was somewhat expected from a Texans defensive line that features Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, and it was ultimately a challenge that Prescott enjoyed.
"It was fun. That's what football is," Prescott said of dealing with the Texans pass rush. "I'm never going to shy away from that. Yea sure, I'll be a little sore, but glad to be just a little sore, especially when you get a win. My offensive line fights their ass off each and every day in practice, in the game, our communication, I love that group."
After the game, Prescott wore some bandaging around his throwing hand, but said that it was only because he was stepped on and was meant to prevent swelling, not anything that will be an issue going forward.
The Cowboys now prepare for another quick turnaround, as Dallas hosts the 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night at AT&T Stadium in search of their second straight win.
