Dak Prescott — Week 2: Twenty-Six of Thirty-One, Four Scores
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Prescott completed 26 of 31 throws for 279 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, took two sacks, and ran four times for 26 yards. After going 0 for 8 on throws labeled deep in Week 1 he completed four of five, all four to CeeDee Lamb for 120 yards, and an end-zone interception in the first quarter was nullified by a Washington offside, in a 37–20 win over the Commanders.
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Nothing to nothing, 12 40 left in the first quarter, first and 10 at the Washington 39. Dak Prescott threw deep middle to CeeDee Lamb, 23 yards to the 16. +1.5 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 4.4 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. It was also the first pass labeled deep in the play-by-play that Prescott has completed this season: eight attempts and none caught in Week 1, and one more incompletion, to George Pickens, two snaps before this one. He finished four of five on those throws, all four to Lamb, for a hundred 20 yards: 23, 38, 35, and the 24-yard touchdown with three 13 left that, with the extra point, made it 37 to 20.
The line: 26 completions on 31 throws, 279 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, two sacks for 13 yards, +15.1 expected points on 33 pass plays. 15 of 19 for a hundred 55 before halftime; 11 of 12 for a hundred 24 after. The touchdowns: three yards to Lamb on second and goal with 10 oh four left in the first; 10 to Jake Ferguson on first and 10 with nine 59 left in the second; 12 to Ferguson on second and nine with six 37 left in the third, two snaps after a Washington fumble; and the 24 to Lamb. The most valuable throw by win probability was none of them: third and eight at the Dallas 38, 11 26 left in the third, up 17 to 13, short right to Ferguson for 14, 6.8 points, the largest gain on any Dallas pass or run. What went wrong was small. An interception in the end zone on third and 10 from the Washington 11, a deep ball for Ryan Flournoy with five 52 left in the first, was nullified by a defensive offside. The two sacks, nine yards on first and 10 in the second quarter and four on third and three at the Washington 22 in the third, cost 3.7 expected points between them, and the second was followed by a 44-yard field goal. He ran four times for 26 yards and two first downs: three scrambles for 23, the first an 11-yarder to the Washington three ahead of the opening touchdown, and three yards up the middle on third and one.
The ball went nine times to Lamb, eight to Pickens, six to Flournoy, and four each to Javonte Williams and Ferguson. On third down he had nine pass plays: eight throws, six completions, five conversions and a sack, and Dallas converted seven of 11. 20 pass plays and six designed runs before halftime, 13 12 after.
Back in June the preview leaned underpriced on Prescott — the eighth quarterback off the board at pick 72 after a top-six finish on top-three accuracy with two lead receivers — and named two things to watch: the pass volume if the rebuilt Dallas defense held up, and the Lamb-and-Pickens split. Week 1 was 34 throws in a loss and nothing caught deep. Sunday was 31 throws in a 17-point win, with the run-pass mix tilting only after halftime, and the split was nine targets to eight with a hundred 53 yards to 40. Last week's episode led with the deep ball that never landed; this week it landed four times. Neither week is the true rate. Dallas plays the Ravens on Sunday the 20-seventh at Maracana Stadium, a neutral site where the Cowboys are the listed home team.
_Data via nflverse._
When Dak Prescott's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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