LANDOVER, Md. – It's one thing to play quarterback for four hours in a constant downpour. Asked to describe that challenge afterward, Dak Prescott was almost at a loss for words.
"I mean, I don't know if I can explain it," he said. "I guess, next rainy day go outside and take a ball and see what you can do with it. Good luck with it."
It was an afternoon that started out promising enough for the Cowboys' victorious quarterback. In the early going, before the heavy rain began to fall, Prescott started his day going 9-of-10 for 105 yards.
The Cowboys moved the ball with seeming ease, zipping 75 yards for a touchdown on their second possession and 14 plays for 44 yards on their third.
"It felt great that first drive, early in the game, throwing the ball," Prescott said. "In the pregame I was hoping it kind of stayed that way for the rest of the game so I could continue to stay hot. But it changed quick, and when it does you've got to adapt."
The weather didn't hold, to say the least. The Cowboys came out of halftime to much heavier rainfall, and it stayed that way through the rest of a soggy divisional slugfest.
Given the slick conditions and their second half lead, the Cowboys didn't show a ton of interest in airing the ball out, and they certainly didn't have to. While Ezekiel Elliott rumbled for 150 yards on the day, Prescott completed just 5-of-12 passes for 38 yards after halftime.
"The ball gets slippery, the ball gets heavy," Prescott said. "The refs tell you they're doing the best they can. But the balls feel a lot heavier, and they know it as well as anybody. It's tough, but you've got to fight through it. It's football."
To his credit, though, most of Prescott's second half completions seemed to come at the most crucial moments. Three of them helped convert crucial third downs -- a four-yard pass to Cole Beasley on 3rd-and-3 and a seven-yard pass to Ryan Switzer on 3rd-and-6 helped move the chains on eventual scoring drives.
Later, in the game's final moments, his five-yard completion to Dez Bryant on 3rd-and-4 helped the Cowboys bleed the fourth quarter clock down to 1:05 before punting the ball away.[embeddedad0]
Even if it was only a handful of plays, it was enough to get out of the monsoon with a win. The Cowboys ran for 169 yards as a team, they forced three turnovers and they limited the miscues as best they could.
Given the circumstances, it was a performance Prescott will readily accept.
"It just showed that we're going to play the best we can in whatever conditions," he said. "Today offered a lot of run, and our offensive line accepted the challenge. The running backs, the receivers blocking – everybody accepted that challenge."
