Would he play well? Would the Dallas Cowboys offense play better? Would they beat a weaker Detroit Lions team?
The game was not perfect, but the Cowboys won.
Prescott wasn’t bad, completing 76 percent of his passes for 207 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for an impressive 113.2 passer rating. Noah Brown and Dalton Schultz, who continues to battle through an injured knee, topped the team with five catches apiece, while CeeDee Lamb posted 75 receiving yards.
On the ground, Tony Pollard picked up 83 rushing yards on 12 carries. Ezekiel Elliott added 57 yards and two touchdowns, his first multi-score game this season. Dallas totaled 330 yards of offense.
The Cowboys did not give up any points while allowing 10 or fewer points for the third time this season. The unit got five takeaways on the day, two interceptions and three fumble recoveries, all of which came in the second half.
The Dallas offense began slowly, not scoring on their first two possessions. The Lions, on the other hand, scored a field goal on their second possession.
At the start of the second frame, Prescott and his teammates started moving forward. The quarterback had completions of 15 and 11 yards to Schultz, with a nice 24-yard completion to Lamb in between. The Cowboys were able to get to the Detroit 3-yard line and thought about going for it on fourth-and-2, but then called a timeout and settled for a 22-yard field goal.
The Detroit Lions were able to move the ball into field-goal range despite one of their star players, Amon-Ra St. Brown, leaving the game due to a concussion. The team was helped by a questionable roughing the passer penalty, which tacked on 15 yards to an already 9-yard completion for Goff. However, the Dallas defense was able to put on the brakes and Detroit ended up getting a 53-yard field goal from Michael Badgley to go back on top.
The Cowboys were trying to score before the half, but they fumbled the ball and the Lions got it back.
Everyone held their breath during the drive when Elliott took a hard hit to his right knee, appearing to hyperextend it. But he did come back out for the second half.
Trevon Diggs earned his third interception of the season, giving Dallas possession at its own 18-yard line. The Cowboys only needed seven plays to reach pay dirt. Elliott hurdled a defender on a nifty 18-yard run with Pollard then breaking off a 28-yarder up the middle. But it was Elliott who got the honors in the end, plunging in from 1-yard out to give Dallas a lead it would never relinquish, 10-6.
The Cowboys were in a tough spot when the Lions drove 79 yards to the Dallas 1-yard line. But on the next play, running back Jamaal Williams had the ball knocked loose by defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, and linebacker Anthony Barr fell on it. This gave the Cowboys the ball back.
The Dallas defense got the ball back shortly after that. The Cowboy offense had to punt after that, but they got the ball back when cornerback Jourdan Lewis caught the ball in front of a Goff offering. Lewis was injured on the play and had to be helped off the field.
This time, the Cowboys were able to take advantage of the turnover. They ate up 5:39 of clock over 11 plays and 54 yards. Prescott connected with Lamb for 15 yards, twice with Brown for a combined 25, and then once more with Schultz for another 7 to reach the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Elliott was in the end zone again.
The Lions had hoped to come back, but their hopes were quickly dashed when, on the second play of their next series, rookies Sam Williams sacked Goff and knocked the ball loose, then recovered it. Pollard ran up the middle for 25 yards, and the eventual touchdown came on a 2-yard pass from Prescott to tight end Peyton Hendershot, the rookie’s first career score.
The Cowboys won the game because the Lions strip-sacked Goff and Dorance Armstrong got the recovery.
Cooper Rush and the other players on offense tried to come back, but they couldn’t win in the end. They lost to the Eagles, who are their rivals, by a score of 26 to 17.
The Cowboys lost their season opener to the Buccaneers 19-3. This was made worse when Dak Prescott left the game with an injury to his hand.
Elvira Olson is a news reporter for the ABC News affiliate in Los Angeles. She has more than 20 years of experience in journalism and has won numerous awards for her work, including an Emmy.