FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott says interceptions are on his mind in film study when the picks pile up the way they have the past three games for the star quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.
The runner-up in NFL MVP voting from last season has two interceptions in each of the three games, a first in his nine seasons.
At the same time, Prescott is the most proven path out of the hole the Cowboys (3-4) are in as the defending NFC East champions — playoff qualifiers the past three years — take their second two-game skid of the season into NFC South-leading Atlanta (5-3) on Sunday.
“You can't dwell on it,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. “We trust Dak. Dak's going to make way more good decisions than bad decisions. You've got to go play the game.”
With eight interceptions and a passer rating of 84.5, Prescott is on pace for career worsts in both categories.
A year ago, he led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes against nine interceptions while throwing for 4,516 yards with his best-ever rating (105.9).
Prescott's second interception in last weekend's 30-24 loss to San Francisco triggered a lopsided third quarter that cost Dallas the game.
The blame for the pick, a leaping grab by Deommodore Lenoir with All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb unable to backtrack and try to play defense, fell on the quarterback.
At that point, Prescott had as many interceptions as touchdowns this season, before two fourth-quarter TD tosses to Lamb.
“I’ve got to be better. Simple as that,” Prescott said Thursday. “But you’re never going to knock my confidence. The majority of it is decision, so I go back and I guess a couple years ago, risk vs. reward. That’s something just watching the film this week, it’s just heavy on my mind.”
The “couple years ago” reference was 2022, when Prescott tied for the NFL lead with 15 interceptions despite missing five games with a broken thumb.
The Cowboys have a young offensive line and the NFL's worst rushing offense, not to mention a defense that's missing its top two pass rushers and therefore isn't pressuring the QB. Dallas also has had trouble stopping the run.
Add it all up, and plenty falls on Prescott to try to make winning plays. He did it with a fourth-quarter drive to beat Pittsburgh in Dallas' most recent victory, then threw four consecutive incompletions with the same chance in San Francisco three weeks later.
“This system’s built on making the quarterback successful,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “Obviously the starting point of making a quarterback successful is running the football. So we can start right there. If anything, I would guard against asking him to feel like he has to do more than he’s already doing.”
Two years ago, Prescott threw at least one interception in 10 of his 12 regular-season games, then started the playoffs with one of the best performances of his career in a 31-14 wild-card victory at Tampa Bay, sending Tom Brady into retirement.
The Cowboys were 3-2 in the games in which Prescott threw two picks in 2022. They're 1-2 on this three-game run of multiple interceptions, with enough personnel issues that will make a rally to playoff contention difficult.
“We always got next week, so dwelling on the past is not our job,” said Lamb, who finally had his first 100-yard game of the season against the Niners after having eight of them last season. “As for him these past couple of weeks, he knows, he’s aware.
“For us, we got to get open, create lanes, create avenues for him to throw in and with that comes great route-running and details in and out of the offense,” Lamb said.
Prescott's longest losing streak is three games, which has happened three times. The first was in 2017, the other two in 2019. Those are the only two seasons the Cowboys missed the playoffs when Prescott was healthy from start to finish.
The visit to the Falcons is the first of four consecutive games against teams currently with winning records, three of them division leaders. And Dallas is already two games back in the loss column in the NFC East.
“Yeah,” Prescott said when asked if the Atlanta game was a must win. “To me, every game is. But obviously, 3-4, as I’ve said, lot of season left, but the first start to be able to say that confidently is getting back even.”
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Schuyler Dixon, The Associated Press
