Dak's Back! Vintage QB Performance Leads Dallas Cowboys Over Los Angeles Chargers - Top 10 Whitty Observations

Shaking off a horrendous performance last week in San Francisco, Dak Prescott turned back the clock and eventually turned back the Los Angeles Chargers, 20-17.

A touchdown run. Extending plays with his legs. An ad-libbed 60-yard completion to Tony Pollard. A gorgeous back-pedaling touchdown toss. A crucial third-down rocket.

In other words, Dak Prescott was everything that he wasn't a week ago. In a pulsating 20-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, he threw for 272 yards, ran for 40 and didn't commit a turnover.

Not sure if Dak validated owner Jerry Jones' proclamation last week that he can lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl. But at least for a week he quieted his critics.

Said Prescott of his vintage performance, "Resilient. Something we can build off of."

The Cowboys improved to 10-1 following a loss since 2021, best in the NFL.

10. DAK ATTACK - Some critics - um, guilty - this week highlighted Prescott's drastic decline. They claimed he had deteriorated into only a "distributor" rather than a "playmaker," these days lacking the athleticism to scare defenses with his legs. But on a 4th-and-1 in the first quarter Dak ran a textbook option read for an 18-yard touchdown scamper after a nifty fake to Pollard. On Dallas next possession he twice made nimble moves to escape sacks, once running for a first down. And that was just the start of a retro Dak night in L.A.

9. LITTLE LEON LETT - Remember way back when this Summer when everyone was abuzz about second-year receiver Jalen Tolbert's improvement as a receiver? He's got only seven catches and has yet to score a touchdown, but he did make an impact "play" against the Chargers. 

Leading 17-10 midway through the fourth quarter, Dallas forced a punt. But Tolbert was shoved into return man KaVontae Turpin and fell down as the ball caromed away. Tolbert got up, however, thinking the ball had touched Turpin for a fumble. Channeling Leon Lett's infamous play in the snow from 1993, he chased down essentially a dead ball and dove in an attempt to recover what he thought was a fumble. Instead, he turned it into a fumble which the Chargers recovered at Dallas' 20. Four plays later it was a tie game at 17-17. 

For my money, that's a penalty on the Chargers for intentionally interfering with a punt returner.

8. DOLLYWOOD OVER HOLLYWOOD - Let's be honest, this game wasn't particularly well-played with a combined 20 penalties or - with mind-boggling decisions to pass up short field goals for fourth-down gambles - well-coached.

At one point in the third quarter we found ourselves counting the days until Dolly Parton is the halftime entertainment at Thanksgiving. Answer: 38 days.

7. WASTED ENERGY - The Cowboys seemed ready to fight, as in pre-game warmups they were involved in a scuffle. The Chargers were in the way of their entrance to the field, and a fight ensued highlighted by edge-rusher Dante Fowler delivering a punch that knocked off the helmet of L.A. running back Austin Ekeler. 

The intensity, however, did not carry over as eight plays into the game the Chargers jumped to a 7-0. After Tyron Smith allowed a sack to Khalil Mack, L.A. easily drove for an opening score when Justin Herbert hit Keenan Allen for a 1-yard touchdown pass.

6. WONDERFUL WEEKEND - Eagles lost. 49ers lost. Cowboys - whew - won. And just like that a season careening toward the ditch after a humiliating loss is back on track.

Dak Prescott revived his 30-year-old legs in several runs and athletic moves against the Chargers / Getty

5. DOWNHILL DUMBNESS - We love Troy Aikman - and he's certainly not alone among NFL analysts in this troubling trend - but unless we've drastically been misinformed there is no "downhill" on a football field. As good as Cowboys' hybrid linebacker Markquese Bell was (he's what the Cowboys thought they were getting when they drafted Jabril Cox), he was not, as Aikman constantly said, playing "downhill." If there is a "downhill," why don't analysts ever refer to an opposing player having to run "uphill"?

4. RING OF HONOR, REVISITED? - Jones shared a pre-game hug and lengthy conversation with ol' pal Jimmy Johnson. Did the two talk about Johnson's lengthy delay into entering the Cowboys' Ring of Honor, or was it just a chitchat about current events including last week's solar eclipse Ring of Fire?

meeting of the minds 💭 pic.twitter.com/Nm5LLISHDs

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) October 17, 2023

3. BASEBALL FEVER - Texas Rangers on the road this October: 6-0; Cowboys on the road this October: 1-1.

2. COOKIN' - Better late than never, Brandin Cooks arrived as Cowboy. The receiver caught a gorgeous Prescott pass for a 2-yard touchdown and then kept alive Dallas' late field-goal drive with a leaping 11-yard grab in tight coverage on 3rd-and-9.

1. CRUNCH-TIME HEROES - The Cowboys count on big plays in huge moments from Micah Parsons (sack), Stephon Gilmore (interception) and even Brandon Aubrey (game-winning 39-yard field goal). But it was backup linebacker Damone Clark who stepped into the pocket and pressured Herbert into the late, low throw that Gilmore scooped to end the game.

Said Micah, aware of that 10-1 bounce-back mark: “The win was good. That’s our record: Prove the naysayers wrong.”

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