So much for notion that Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys might not be up to the challenge of beating Tom Brady.
Prescott played his best game in weeks, throwing for four touchdowns and running for another to answer critics of “America’s Team” with a 31-14 rout of Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC wild-card playoff game on Monday night.
“It just shows he’s resilient,” Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons said. “The light’s different on Dak. I think the criticism is unfair and unjust sometimes, but the way he handles it, the way he comes back every time and shows who he truly is, it’s a credit to the work he puts in. It makes us keep believing every time.”
Photo: Kim Klement-USA Today
Prescott completed 25 of 33 passes for 305 yards and played turnover-free ball for the first time in eight games as the Cowboys (13-5) dominated the listless Bucs (8-10) in what could turn out to be Brady’s last game in a Tampa Bay uniform.
“Not the way we wanted to end it,” Brady said. “Kind of typical of the way we played all season.”
Dallas beat Brady for the first time in the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s career and won in the post-season on the road for the first time in 30 years to earn a trip to face the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional round on Sunday.
“You watched this team that had all the reasons in the world to have criticism — you can call it doubt, you can call it whatever you want — and they came back, and they’re not the same team that came to town,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “They’re a better team having beaten Tampa and beaten a great player at quarterback.”
The Cowboys had dropped eight straight playoff games away from home since winning the NFC championship game in San Francisco on Jan. 17, 1993.
They were also coming off a poor performance in a lopsided regular season-ending loss to the Washington Commanders.
“Didn’t listen,” Prescott said about all the talk about the Cowboys not being ready for the playoffs.
“Simply just didn’t listen to anybody else’s opinions, anybody else’s thoughts. Made sure I was conscious of what I put in my own head,” he said. “Got a great supporting cast in my team, people that believe in me. That’s all that really matters to me, and just stay focused on what I can do.”
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