ARLINGTON, Texas | After Dak Prescott’s season ended on a gruesome ankle injury, his running mate for all five of their seasons with the Dallas Cowboys had a hard time getting through the post-game interview.
Ezekiel Elliott sounded crushed, even after backup Andy Dalton led a drive to Greg Zuerlein’s second game-ending field goal of the season as the Cowboys rallied twice in a 37-34 victory over the winless New York Giants on Sunday.
“I can’t even think right right now,” Elliott, the two-time rushing champion, said to no question in particular as he continued trying to absorb the third-quarter injury to Prescott, a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback who was the unheralded fourth-round pick the same year Elliott went fourth overall.
“It’s hard to kind of put in words,” Elliott, who rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns, said in the middle of an answer about Dalton’s role in the rally. “I’m sorry. I’m just struggling a little bit right now.”
Prescott was going down in the arms of defensive back Logan Ryan at the end of a 9-yard run in the third quarter when the Dallas quarterback’s lower right leg got caught under Ryan and appeared to snap.
Prescott reached for the leg as he writhed in pain, and TV images showed his right foot bent at an awkward angle away from his leg. He was fighting back tears as he was carted off with a cast on the leg. Most of Prescott’s teammates rushed to greet him, as did several New York players, including Ryan.
The team said Prescott had a fracture dislocation of the right ankle and was taken to a hospital, where surgery was planned later in the day. Prescott started the first 69 games of his career, from the beginning of his rookie season.
“I feel terrible for him,” first-year coach Mike McCarthy said. “He was having a tremendous year in the short time working with him. He’s made such an impression on me and he’s clearly the leader of this football team. I have no doubt that he’ll bounce back from this and this will be all part of his great story.”
Michael Gallup made two spectacular sideline catches on the final drive. The first was a toe-dragging 19-yarder and the second an over-the-shoulder catch to the New York 16 with Dion Lewis running stride for stride and one foot barely staying inbounds.
Both catches help up on review, the latter after the Cowboys had run the clock down to 3 seconds before a timeout to set up Zuerlein’s 34-yarder to drop the Giants to 0-5. Both wins for the NFC East-leading Cowboys (2-3) have come on game-ending kicks by Zuerlein, and after rallies from deficits of at least two touchdowns.
It was the first game at the home of the Cowboys for former coach Jason Garrett, the Giants’ offensive coordinator who was replaced by McCarthy in Dallas after the Cowboys missed the playoffs amid high expectations last season.
Four years ago, Garrett chose to keep Prescott, then a rookie leading a franchise-best 11-game winning streak, as the starter over Tony Romo when Romo was healthy again. Prescott, who replaced an injured Romo in the preseason, has started every game of his career.
Garrett’s offense stopped a two-game streak without a touchdown by getting in the end zone on New York’s first possession on a 3-yard reverse to receiver Evan Engram.
The Giants led 17-3 in the second quarter — the fourth straight game with a double-digit deficit for the Cowboys — before the Cowboys went in front 24-20 with 16 seconds left in the first half on Prescott’s first career touchdown catch. The 11-yarder was from receiver Cedrick Wilson, who took a reverse pitch from Elliott.
Prescott had a huge smile when greeted by right guard Zack Martin after becoming the first Dallas QB with a touchdown catch since Danny White had his second in 1985. A mere 30 minutes later, Prescott’s season was over.
“I’ve got a sick taste in my stomach for it, because he was playing hell of a game, it was a hell of a battle between us,” Ryan said. “Nothing ill will on my part. I know he’s going to come back stronger.”
Dalton was Cincinnati’s starter for nine seasons before the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow No. 1 overall last spring and Dalton signed a one-year deal to be Prescott’s backup.
Dalton and rookie center Tyler Biadasz fumbled an exchange on Dalton’s first full series, setting up Devonta Freeman’s 4-yard scoring run and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas’ 2-point conversion catch for a 34-31 lead for the Giants (0-5).
Three of Graham Gano’s four field goals were from at least 50 yards for the Giants, from 55, 50 and 54.
RAIDERS 40, CHIEFS 32
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Derek Carr threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, outplaying Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes along the way, and the Las Vegas Raiders nearly shut out the potent Kansas City offense in the second half to end the Chiefs’ franchise-record 13-game winning streak.
Josh Jacobs scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, Daniel Carlson added a field goal a few minutes later, and Mahomes was intercepted on fourth down to set up another touchdown by Jacobs that make it 40-24 with 5:26 left.
Mahomes led the Chiefs quickly downfield, hitting Travis Kelce for a touchdown and Darrel Williams for the 2-point try to make it a one-possession game.
But after the Raiders (3-2) recovered the squib quick, Jacobs rumbled for a first down as the Chiefs (4-1) used up their timeouts, and Carr sneaked for a first down on fourth-and-1 near midfield with 2 minutes left to allow Las Vegas to end its five-game skid against Kansas City.
The Chiefs had won seven in a row over their longtime rival at Arrowhead Stadium, where Carr had been especially bad in losing each of his six starts. But he was simply spectacular with a relatively quiet 17,000 fans in the building, helping to guide the Raiders to their first win in Kansas City since Oct. 28, 2012.
Mahomes spent the entire game trying to escape the Las Vegas pass rush, which manhandled the Chiefs offensive line, and finished with 340 yards passing and two touchdowns along with an interception. Kelce had 108 yards receiving.
BROWNS 32, COLTS 23
CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield passed for a season-high 247 yards and two touchdowns against the NFL’s No. 1 defense, Myles Garrett forced a crucial safety in the fourth quarter and Cleveland held on for a win over Indianapolis.
Cleveland improved to 4-1 for the first time since 1994.
Mayfield made sure the Browns (4-1) kept the momentum going in their first game without Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb, who sprained his knee last week. Mayfield, though, appeared to hurt his right hand in the fourth quarter.
STEELERS 38, EAGLES 29
PITTSBURGH — Rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool scored four touchdowns, including the clincher with 2:59 remaining, and Pittsburgh remained unbeaten with a win over Philadelphia.
Claypool, a second-round pick from Notre Dame, raced down the slot, hauled in a dart from Ben Roethlisberger and went the rest of the 35 yards to the end zone as the Steelers improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1979.
A native of Abbottsford, British Columbia, Canada, Claypool finished with seven receptions for 110 yards and three scores and added a 2-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep. Claypool became the first Canadian-born NFL player with three receiving TDs in a game since Joe Rooney did it for the Duluth Eskimos on Oct. 23, 1927.
Carson Wentz threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns but was also picked off twice, both times by Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson. Miles Sanders ran for 80 yards and two scores in his return to his hometown. Travis Fulgham caught 10 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown to give Philadelphia’s injury-ravaged receiving group a needed boost, but the Eagles (1-3-1) couldn’t pull off a second straight road win.
DOLPHINS 43, 49ERS 17
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns and Miami sent defending NFC champion San Francisco to its third straight home loss to open the season.
Fitzpatrick connected on a 3-yard TD pass to Adam Shaheen on the opening drive of the game for the Dolphins (2-3) and didn’t let up, quieting talk for at least another week that rookie Tua Tagovailoa should take over as starter.
TEXANS 30, JAGUARS 14
HOUSTON — Deshaun Watson threw for a season-high 359 yards and three touchdowns and Houston got its first win of the season with a victory over Jacksonville in the wake of coach Bill O’Brien’s firing.
O’Brien, who was also the general manager, was let go on Monday after the Texans fell to 0-4 last weekend. Romeo Crennel was named interim coach and at 73 he become the oldest coach in NFL history, passing Hall of Famer George Halas, who was 72 in his last game with the Bears in 1967.
PANTHERS 23, FALCONS 16
ATLANTA — Teddy Bridgewater threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, Juston Burris made a huge interception in the end zone and Carolina held on for a victory over winless Atlanta, which fired coach Dan Quinn later Sunday.
The Falcons dropped to 0-5 for the first time since 1997.
Carolina (3-2) built a 20-7 halftime lead behind Bridgewater’s touchdown passes of 57 yards to D.J. Moore and 3 yards to Mike Davis, drawing boos that could be heard even from a sparse, socially distanced crowd of 6,656 at 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
RAVENS 27, BENGALS 3
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens sacked Joe Burrow seven times, forced the Bengals rookie into a pair of turnovers and effectively stuffed Cincinnati’s running game in a meticulous victory Sunday.
Baltimore stout defensive performance was punctuated by Patrick Queen’s 52-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter. It was the first NFL touchdown for Queen, who played with Burrow last year for national champion LSU.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson wasn’t particularly sharp, but it didn’t really matter. Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, went 19 for 37 for 180 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.
Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown caught touchdown passes for Baltimore, which matched the best start in franchise history. The previous time the Ravens (4-1) won four of their first five was 2012, when they ended up winning the Super Bowl.
CARDINALS 30, JETS 10
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Kyler Murray ran for a touchdown and threw another to DeAndre Hopkins as the Cardinals snapped a two-game losing streak with a victory over the Jets, further putting coach Adam Gase’s future in jeopardy after an 0-5 start.
Murray had a 2-yard TD run and hit Hopkins on a 37-yard strike on a day the Cardinals (3-2) had 496 yards in total offense. Chase Edmonds scored on 29-yard run, Kenyan Drake tallied from a yard out and Zane Gonzalez kicked a 47-yard field goal. Arizona scored touchdowns on drives of 96, 89, 75 and 70 yards.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.