October 11th, 2020 is a day that Dallas Cowboys fans won’t soon forget. The highlight of that fateful day is not Dallas beating the New York Giants 34-37 courtesy of a game-winning field goal with three seconds to go. It’s not about the fact that Dallas nearly got beat by a terrible Giants team. It’s rather about what happened to Dak Prescott. A heartbreaking day to be exact.
Prescott suffered the injury on a scrambling play. At first, it seemed as if he was only suffering a calf cramp. However, once the viewers got a clear sight of his foot, it became clear Prescott was gravely hurt. Even the reaction of Tony Romo and Jim Nantz who were doing play-by-play for the game tell the story. The comfort Prescott was receiving was quite overwhelming. Jason Garrett, the former head coach of the Cowboys and current Giants offensive coordinator was on the scene comforting his former quarterback. While Prescott was being attended to by the trainers and medical staff, the entire stadium was quiet.
The official injury diagnosis is a compound fracture and dislocation in his right ankle. He was immediately taken to the hospital to undergo surgery that very same evening. The surgery was successful and as a result, Prescott will miss 4 to 6 months.
Prescott’s future remains uncertain for now, however, Stephen Jones, the Cowboys executive vice president has assured that Prescott’s injury won’t affect or change any plans regarding him in the near future. For now, it’s up to veteran quarterback Andy Dalton to take the charge.
Can Dalton Make A Difference?
Dalton, 32, has been in the league for a decade now. He’s a second-round draft pick from the 2011 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals out of Texas Christian University. Dalton holds the record for most wins at TCU and is the only quarterback in Bengals history to lead the team to five consecutive playoff appearances.
Dalton’s arrival to the team was back in May. The Cowboys felt that Dalton’s veteran leadership and expertise could be a huge help for Prescott. Bringing in Dalton was a good move by Dallas because it’s smart to have a veteran quarterback with a decent resume in reserve. Obviously, Prescott’s season-ending injury makes the move a much-needed one.
Dalton’s successful bid of leading the Cowboys to victory after Prescott’s injury speaks for itself. As soon as he took over, Ezekiel Elliott would score on a running play. After Dalton fumbled the snap on a play, the Giants recovered and scored seven points to regain the lead. However, with less than a minute to go, with a tie game, Dalton was able to connect with Michael Gallup on two big clutch plays to bring the Cowboys into field goal range and the rest is history.
Finishing 9-for-11 for 111 yards, averaging ten yards per pass is respectable. Dalton proved he’s more than able to do great things for the Cowboys. Dalton has plenty of weapons at his disposal. Unfortunately, the depleted offensive line is a cause for concern, as well as the Cowboys defense, but Dalton has a useful arsenal available to him. So yes, Dalton is perfectly capable of making a difference for this team.
This was quite the throw-and-catch from Andy Dalton to Michael Gallup to win the game. pic.twitter.com/MQoHkLW3a7
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) October 12, 2020
Even with Prescott out for the year, the Cowboys can still make the playoffs, considering that the NFC East is a very unconvincing division. Eleven games are remaining and Dallas needs to make every game count. In other words, they have to win, no matter how difficult the circumstances are.
Dallas’s next opponents will be Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys defense will have their work cut out for them. However, the question is whether or not, Dalton will be able to continue to lead the team to victory. After a full week of practice, he should be ready to go.
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