Dak Prescott has no interest in reliving one of his worst days as the Cowboys’ quarterback.
So he has little to say about the 27-7 loss to Atlanta last year that began his free fall from one of the NFL’s bright young stars to a dude seemingly half the fan base thinks can’t play.
Atlanta sacked him eight times - six by Adrian Clayborn - and he fumbled twice in the loss.
He was a picture of frustration and pain in the fourth quarter, so it’s easy to see why Prescott chooses to focus on the present instead of the past.
But we can’t ignore the Falcons’ game because it represents a clear delineation in his career.
In his first 24 starts, Prescott passed for 228.5 a game with 39 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He averaged 7.6 per attempt with a passer rating of 102.4.
Starting with the Falcons’ game, Prescott averaged 194.9 yards passing over the next 15 games with 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He averaged 6.7 per attempt with a passer rating of 80.3.
Now, we’re in the midst of the Amari Cooper chapter of Prescott’s career.
The other reason Prescott probably doesn’t want to talk about the game is three of the key principles In that game won’t be playing. Adrian Clayborn is in New England, tackle Chaz Green, who allowed four sacks, is a backup in New Orleans and Byron Bell starts at left guard in Green Bay.
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Ezekiel Elliott didn’t play because it marked the first game he missed because of the NFL suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy and Tyron Smith was hurt.
The roster has 27 new players who didn’t deal with the embarrassment of Atlanta or the offensive futility in losses to Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Chargers that followed, so it doesn’t make much sense for Prescott to dwell on it.
“Last year we lost and it kind of derailed us,'' Prescott said. "This year we're catching our stride.
“We're feeling good about the direction we're going in and we've got to continue to do that and improve on that.''
Besides, these circumstances are so much different than a year ago. Last year, Dallas had won three straight, the offense was in the midst of a five-game surge and optimism reigned, although everyone knew Elliott was going to serve his suspension at some point.
The Cowboys enter Sunday’s game with their best feeling of the year and an opportunity to start their playoff push in earnest.
Offensive line coach Paul Alexander has been fired and replaced by Marc Colombo and Hudson Houck, so the offensive line feels good about what it’s doing.
The receivers have stabilized with addition of Amari Cooper. Cole Beasley and Michael Gallup and Cooper were on the field for 160 of 190 snaps against Philadelphia.
Elliott ran for 151 yards and scored two touchdowns against Philadelphia last week and Prescott passed for a season-high 273 yards and a touchdown.
They had six plays of 20 yards or more and gashed Philadelphia’s defense for 410 yards and 23 first downs.
Prescott led three touchdown drives of 75 yards or more; Dallas had eight total in the first eight games.
"I can definitely say in the passing game we're starting to get a good feel of what guys are good at,'' Prescott said. "They're starting to run well and I'm starting to give them great passes.
“It's all coming together after a long time of trying to figure it out or thinking we had it. We're hitting our stride.''
It couldn’t come at a better time.
The Cowboys trail Washington by two games in the NFC East, but a win over Atlanta combined with a Washington loss to Houston on Sunday means Dallas would be playing for first place on Thanksgiving Day.
