Dak Prescott rallied the Dallas Cowboys to an NFL playoff victory over Seattle on Saturday, while Andrew Luck powered the Indianapolis Colts into the second round with a victory at Houston.
Prescott threw for 226 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score as the Cowboys edged visiting Seattle 24-22, while Luck had two touchdown passes in the Colts’ 21-7 triumph over the Texans.
Ezekiel Elliott ran for 137 yards and a touchdown for Dallas as the Cowboys advanced to a second-round National Football Conference playoff game next weekend against either top seed New Orleans, or the second-seeded Los Angeles Rams.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Dallas needed two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and the best rushing day against the Seahawks by any club this season to subdue Seattle.
In the American Football Conference playoff opener, Luck completed 19 of 32 passes for 222 yards, while Marlon Mack ran 24 times for 148 yards and a touchdown.
Indy’s defensive unit snuffed out a late rally bid by the Texans and the Colts advanced to a second-round game on Saturday next week at the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs.
Prescott’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup with 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave Dallas a 10-6 halftime lead.
Brett Maher kicked a 39-yard field goal for Dallas and Sebastian Janikowski answered for Seattle from 27 and 42 yards, but hurt his left leg on a 57-yard miss to end the first half, forcing the Seahawks to chase touchdowns and two-point conversions in the second half.
Seattle seized the lead on Russell Wilson’s four-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter and Mike Davis ran in a two-point conversion.
Dallas reclaimed the lead 17-14 on Elliott’s one-yard touchdown plunge with 12 minutes, 28 seconds remaining and Prescott scored on a one-yard run with 2:08 remaining for a 24-14 Cowboys edge.
Wilson connected with J.D. McKissic on a seven-yard touchdown pass with 78 seconds remaining and a two-point run put Seattle within the final margin, but Dallas recovered a poor onside kick attempt and ran out the clock.
At Houston, Luck flipped a six-yard touchdown toss to Eric Ebron and an 18-yard touchdown pass to Dontrelle Inman, while Mack scored on a two-yard run as the Colts leaped ahead 21-0 at halftime.
Houston finally cracked the Colts’ defense with 10:57 remaining in the fourth quarter as Watson made a six-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keke Coutee.
However, the Texans turned over the ball on fourth down on the Colts 24-yard line on their next drive and Indianapolis secured a 10th victory in 11 games.
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