Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is on fire in his return to the NFL after his season-ending ankle injury in 2020. Going up against the Carolina Panthers, the number one ranked defense through the first four weeks of the season, Prescott led the Cowboys to a 36-28 victory, to go 3-1 on the season. This Cowboys win gave quarterback Sam Darnold his first loss as a Panther (3-1).
Darnold was doing whatever he wanted against the Cowboys in the early going, running for both of the Panthers touchdowns in the first half of the game. He became the first signal caller in NFL history to have five rushing touchdowns in the first four games of the year.
Even without their star running back Christian McCaffrey on the field, the Cowboys could not stop the Panthers running game in the first half. Dallas had a tough time stopping backup running back Chuba Hubbard. He had 13 rushing attempts for 57 yards in his first career start.
One standout for Dallas in the first half was defensive end Randy Gregory, who finished the game with two sacks. One of the sacks occurred with less than two minutes until halftime, stalling a possible scoring drive by Darnold.
The Panthers were struggling against Dallas’ high-powered offense. Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott combined for 76 rushing yards and a touchdown in the first quarter alone, before Prescott added a passing touchdown to tight end Blake Jarwin, to take a 13-7 lead, after a failed, two point conversion.
Darnold would answer right back with a touchdown of his own, one of the two that was previously mentioned. The game took a turn for the worse and fast for the Panthers in the third quarter.
The Cowboys defense ramped up the pressure on Darnold. Cornerback Trevon Diggs had two interceptions and set a franchise record becoming the first Dallas player with a pick in each of the first four contest since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger. This gives him an NFL-leading five interceptions.
When Diggs won a hand fight with Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore for his second pick of the day, he gave Dallas, who is this year’s NFL leader in forced turnovers, multiple takeaways in eight-straight games, dating back to last season. This is the longest streak in the league.
Dallas got home on Darnold five times, including two from Randy Gregory, while the Cowboys were able to keep Prescott clean against a defense that came into the game with a league leading 14 sacks.
Three of the touchdowns for the Cowboys came in the third quarter to erase a 14-13 Panthers lead. Prescott finished 14 of 22 for 188 yards. His scoring tosses were 18 yards to Blake Jarwin, 35 to Amari Cooper, 6 to Dalton Schultz and 23 to Cedrick Wilson, the last set up by Diggs’ first pick.
Darnold was 26 of 39 passing for 301 yards, with 2 fourth -quarter touchdowns of 6 and 8 yards respectively to Moore, who had eight receptions for 113 yards.
The Panthers take on another NFC East opponent, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles at home next Sunday.
