3 losers (and 2 winners) in Cowboys Week 5 blowout loss to 49ers
• KaVontae Turpin did what he could to help the Cowboys
• Dak Prescott continues to struggle against elite teams
By Randy Gurzi
Cowboys Dud: Dak Prescott, Quarterback
Leading up to this game, the focus was on Dak Prescott, who has struggled mightily against the 49ers over the past two seasons.
San Francisco ended the season for Dallas in each of the past two postseasons and in those losses, Prescott has been unable to step up when needed.
That's why he and the rest of the team have spoken about this game, saying how important it is. We had to wait until Sunday night to see how they responded to the pressure they were feeling — and somewhat putting on themselves — and it was a major disappointment. Especially from Prescott.
The veteran quarterback looked uncomfortable from the start and led them to two straight three-and-outs that included a total of two yards of offense.
Dallas had two more punts after this and for the first time since Nov. of 2017, an NFL team went without a first down on their four first drives of the game. Prescott was just 3-of-6 in the first half for a total of 15 yards and was sacked twice — each of those coming on third down.
Prescott continually was given a chance to get back into it and failed each time — just as he did after Jourdan Lewis forced an incompletion on third-and-two with around a minute to play. The Cowboys got to work from their own 25-yard line and on the first play, Prescott dropped back to pass and fired a deep pass to Brandin Cooks, who had a step on his defender.
Cooks hauled it in but was out of bounds due to an inaccurate pass from No. 4 that led the veteran wideout to the sideline. He was then sacked again on the following play, sending his team to the intermission with just 85 yards passing and a 14-point deficit.
In the second half, he continued to struggle even throwing the ball up for grabs once the game was out of reach and he began to press.
Prescott is a talented player but the failures against elite teams is an issue and at some point, he needs to overcome it — not just get snappy when asked about it.
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