Cowboys Country

Dak Prescott's Cowboys Following Super Bowl Blueprint? Top 10 Notebook

Cowboys QB Prescott threw for four touchdowns and ran for another while Dallas' defense smothered Tom Brady in what might have been his final game in the NFL.

Richie Whitt

In this story:

Is there a Super Bowl blueprint to be followed?

A deep dive into the Dallas Cowboys' blowout the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a 31-14 decision that got the monkey off the Cowboys' back. ... and, by finally beating Tom Brady, getting the GOAT out of their head.

Our Top 10 Takes notebook ...

10. When It (Finally) Rains, It Pours - The Cowboys ended a 30-year drought by winning a road playoff game for the first time since the 1992 NFC Championship Game in San Francisco. Four consecutive touchdown drives bridging the second and third quarters did the trick as they built a 24-0 lead and cruised to a shockingly easy victory. 

Last week, to accentuate the irrelevant history of Dallas' eight-game road playoff losing streak, head coach Mike McCarthy brought out baby photos. And on Monday night at Raymond James Stadium, his players brought out big-boy football.

9. Burying The Boogeyman - Cowboys vs. Brady in the regular season: 0-7. Cowboys vs. Brady in the playoffs: 1-0.

8. Dominant Dak - After watching Dak Prescott's first three passes hit the ground, we thought he might never make a completion. By the end of the first half, it seemed like he would never miss. After a dubious 0-of-3 start, Prescott recovered to hit 15 of his next 17 for 189 yards and two touchdowns - with another rushing score - as Dallas dominated the first half. 

At one point Dak completed 11 passes in a row for a Cowboys' playoff record. He set an NFL quarterback record with a rushing touchdown in a fourth consecutive playoff game. 

And while Prescott was dazzling, Brady was dreadful. 

He uncharacteristically threw into quadruple coverage. He inexplicably tossed a Red-Zone - end-zone - interception for the first time in three years. He embarrassingly was shut out in the first half of playoff game for the first time in more than 20 years. 

Despite kicker Brett Maher's bizarre PAT misses, the Cowboys' 18-0 halftime lead was their second-biggest in franchise playoff history behind only 21-0 on the Los Angeles Rams in the 1975 NFC Championship Game. Prescott became the first Cowboys quarterback to throw for 300+ yards and four touchdowns in a playoff game.

7. Yikes ... Yips! - If Maher was a golfer he'd throw his clubs in the closet and forget the game for a couple months. Because in becoming the only NFL kicker since 1932 to miss four extra points in a game, his struggles are way beyond physical and deep into the psychological. 

In other words, Maher has the yips. 

When he missed his lone attempt last week against Washington we thought little of it. He made 50 of 53 during the regular season. No biggie. But against Tampa he missed right, missed right again, duck-hooked the next one left and then had the fourth kiss the top of the right upright. That's five consecutive extra-point misses. So shaky was Maher that in the fourth quarter McCarthy bypassed what would've been a 35-yard field goal and instead went for it on 4th and 4 with a 24-6 lead. 

The play resulted in Prescott's fourth touchdown pass to a wide open CeeDee Lamb. In what was one of the Cowboys' most important plays of the night going forward, Maher hit the extra point right down the middle.

6. Bludgeoning Brady - Dan Quinn's defense harassed Brady into looking every bit of 45 years old. 

The Cowboys only sacked him twice in an almost unfathomable 66 drop-backs and ultimately surrendered 351 passing yards, but they didn't allow him to get comfortable in the pocket. And when he did complete passes, the Cowboys for the most part - even newly inserted Israel Mukuamu and Xavier Rhodes - kept the Bucs' receivers in front of them. Dallas played a clean game with only two penalties and no turnovers (although Noah Brown's botch of a late onside kick extended the inevitable). 

Most remarkably, they made Brady looked mostly mortal. 

If this was the last game of Brady's Hall-of-Fame career, it was a whimper.

5. Better Late Than Never - After a horrendous first two series that netted minus-5 yards, the Cowboys got untracked with a 15-yard completion to Michael Gallup, a roughing-the-passer penalty on Tampa Bay and, finally, a Prescott 22-yard scoring strike down the seam to tight end Dalton Schultz. 

It was Dallas' first touchdown on 12 possessions against the Bucs this season and re-routed an ugly trend that saw it go three-and-out on 14 of 17 drives going back to the regular-season finale against Washington.

4. Home Sweet ... Home? - Too bad Super Bowl LVII won't be played in Tampa because apparently Prescott feels quite comfortable there. 

Including the 2021 season-opener, Prescott in Raymond James Stadium is 67 of 91 (74 percent) for 708 yards and seven touchdowns. Alas, next Sunday at 5:30 p.m. he'll be in a place he's also pretty fond of - San Francisco's Levi's Stadium. Prescott is 2-0 there, with wins over the Niners in 2016 (24-17) and 2017 (40-10).

3. Creative Kellen - It didn't always work, but give offensive coordinator Kellen Moore credit for getting fancy in an attempt to jump-start what had been a lethargic offense. Shifts along the offensive line, inserting soon-to-be-41-year-old Jason Peters and moving rookie Tyler Smith. Using Connor McGovern as a fullback. Option plays in the Red Zone. And, to give Dallas a 12-0 lead, a naked bootleg on which Prescott waltzed into the end zone on fourth down. 

Moore called the play. But big props to Mike McCarthy props for making the gutsy decision.

2. Similar Strategy? - A year ago the Los Angeles Rams lost their regular-season finale to finish 12-5. Their quarterback, Matthew Stafford, led the NFL in interceptions. They won a playoff game at Tampa. They went on to win the Super Bowl. Are the Cowboys following that same blueprint? 

After Monday night they've duplicated everything except the final step.

1. Worth The Wait - 1993: "How 'Bout Them Cowboys?!"; 2023: "'Bout Damn Time, Cowboys!"

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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