There might not be many Tony Romo questions this week.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott bounced back from a subpar effort in last week’s loss to the Giants, to get a few people off his back and the Cowboys back in the win column with a 26-20 victory over the Buccaneers.
Prescott was an immaculate 32-of-36 passing for 279 yards and also ran for a touchdown, helping the Cowboys snap a one-game losing streak.
The contrast with Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston was striking.
Prescott can’t make plays downfield the same way Winston can with his superior arm strength, but he doesn’t make the big mistakes either.
Winston lost a fumble and threw three interceptions, which is one fewer pick than Prescott has thrown all year.
And with the way the Cowboys are built at the moment, that’s all Prescott needs to do. When a team can run and pass protect as well as the Cowboys can, the premium has to be on not making mistakes. If he can avoid that, he’ll hang onto his job well beyond this year.
Here are five more things we learned during Sunday Night Football:
1. Officials reflexively, and by the letter of the law I suppose correctly, threw a flag on Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott for celebrating a touchdown by jumping into the giant Salvation Army kettle in the end zone.
But at a certain point, common sense needs to reign, and the league needs to relax a bit on celebrations. For one thing, they’re a lot of fun, and fun is generally good for business. Particularly the entertainment business.
And if some snow angels can be penalties while others aren’t, the consistency of application is a real issue for the league. If Elliott gets fined for his celebration, I’m sure there will be plenty of people who are happy to help him. And if you wanted to drop something in the kettle regardless, you can do so here. After he went for 159 yards and a touchdown, it’s hard to overshadow what he did on the field, but that celebration was a classic.
Also, if the league fines Elliott for this, there are some real Grinches at 345 Park Avenue whose hearts have not grown three sizes today.
2. The Cowboys aren’t afraid to put cornerback Brandon Carr on anyone.
Granted, they give him help sometimes, but his ability to match up one-on-one with star wideouts has been key for a defense that continues to overachieve.
He was matched up on Odell Beckham Jr. last week (didn’t go so well) and drew Mike Evans Sunday (better). Evans was held to four catches for 59 yards, and at least didn’t take over the game.
3. The Buccaneers defense has turned things around this season, thanks to playmakers at every level.
None of them made more plays Sunday than linebacker Kwon Alexander.
The press box count gave Alexander 21 tackles, and a forced fumble. When coaches review that, it’ll probably be like 75.
Alexander’s an extremely fast closer, whose ability complements other players around him nicely. He makes mistakes at times, but he’s been an incredible value for a fourth-round pick.
4. If the Buccaneers looked surprised when Alexander forced a Jason Witten fumble in the fourth quarter, it’s with good reason.
It was the second fumble by the veteran tight end since 2011, and just the seventh of his career.
The fact he has good hands isn’t news, but when you think of his amazing longevity, and the number of passes he catches, it’s amazing how sure-handed he has been.
5. Either Ravens kicker Justin Tucker or Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey needs to go on a streak of some sort. Because this is quickly turning into too much math. I was told there would be no math.
Bailey entered the day as the NFL’s most accurate kicker of all time, having hit 165-of-183 (90.164 percent). Tucker was second at 161-of-180 (89.444).
But after Bailey missed a pair in the first half and Tucker hit his two attempts Sunday, the Ravens kicker had a 89.560-89.247 lead at halftime. Bailey’s fourth-quarter game-tier pushed his percentage to 89.305, and his next hit gave the Cowboys a 23-20 lead and pushed him to 89.362 percent. The fourth one made it 89.418 for Bailey, meaning this could go back and forth for some time.
Dang it.
