Prescott shakes off injury as Cowboys rout Redskins

[December 01, 2017]  (The Sports Xchange) - Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott shook off a first-half hand injury as he and running back Alfred Morris powered the Cowboys to a 38-14 victory over the Washington Redskins at AT&T Stadium on Thursday.

Prescott passed for 102 yards and two touchdowns, including a 13-yard scoring pass to Dez Bryant early in the fourth quarter that gave Dallas a 17-point advantage.

Morris rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown, all but 38 yards coming in the second half.

He successfully moved the chains for Dallas (6-6), which had lacked a consistent running game since Ezekiel Elliott began serving a six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal-conduct policy four games ago.

Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 26-of-37 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns. However, he was intercepted twice and fumbled once, part of the Redskins (5-7) losing the turnover battle, 4-0.

Morris ran one yard for a touchdown with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter, sealing the win for Dallas. Cowboys running back Rod Smith added a one-yard scoring run with 2:37 left.

Prescott went to the locker room during the second quarter to have a hand injury examined, but he returned to the game by the end of the first half.

The Cowboys scored the game's first 17 points and held a 17-7 lead at halftime.

The Dallas defense and special teams created a pair of turnovers in the first quarter, but the Cowboys' offense failed to take advantage of either one.

The Cowboys finally gained their initial first down on the final play of the first quarter. Prescott scrambled away from pressure and then ran 13 yards to convert a third-and-five from the Dallas 46.

 

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) runs the ball in the second quarter against Washington Redskins linebacker Preston Smith (94) at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Prescott then capped the 11-play, 59-yard scoring march when he hit tight end Jason Witten with an eight-yard touchdown pass to put Dallas 7-0 up with 10:43 left in the second quarter.

Dallas eventually converted a turnover into points when DeMarcus Lawrence sacked Cousins, separating the Washington quarterback from the ball. Maliek Collins recovered for the Cowboys at the Redskins 19-yard line.

Dallas' third takeaway of the first half set up a Dan Bailey field goal from 24 yards that put the Cowboys ahead 10-0.

Ryan Switzer put the exclamation point on an eventful first half for the Dallas special teams units when he returned a punt 83 yards for a score.

Switzer's touchdown put the Cowboys in front 17-0 with 3:46 left in the second quarter.

Washington answered before halftime as Cousins led a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Cousins hit wide receiver Ryan Grant with a 20-yard pass for the score with just over a minutes remaining before halftime.

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