Dak Prescott’s latest signature moment looks to keep Tony Romo in full backup mode

By Eric Adelson for Yahoo Sports.

PITTSBURGH – The game had everything.

It had not one climactic play, but several, each one more unlikely than the one before. It had Dez Bryant catching a clutch touchdown, emotional after the death of his father only hours before the game. It had Ben Roethlisberger with a fake spike in the last minute, lobbing a perfect throw to Antonio Brown in the end zone for what looked like a game-winning play. It had Ezekiel Elliott bursting into the end zone with only a few seconds left, holding out the ball as if he stole it, with Dak Prescott sprinting behind him like a little brother.

In that moment, when Dallas scored last, there was a distant, shocked roar of visiting fans celebrating as home Steelers fans stared. There was the stunned look of players on the Steelers defense, some crouching and some bent over at the waist and some just standing still. The moment hadn’t yet processed for them.

But on the other sideline, and in the stands, and at home, what had happened is clearer: The Cowboys are a monster. And Prescott, again, isn’t showing signs he’ll surrender the job to Tony Romo. Even team owner Jerry Jones said as much after Sunday’s Cowboy triumph.

In the locker room after the 35-30 victory lifted the team to 8-1, there was wide-eyed assurance in all of them. Elliott’s eyebrows popped when he said how physical it was, enunciating “phy-si-cal.” Jones strode over to center Travis Frederick first, grabbing his shoulder and praising him for bowling over the Steelers to set Elliott free for the game-clincher. Romo, who had amateur lip readers scrambling on social media to figure out what praise he had for Prescott, came out of the shower area in mid-laugh. On the other side of the room, offensive linemen spoke quietly, nodding at each other, finishing each other’s thoughts.

“The spirit of the entire team,” Jones marveled, “as a matter of business, on that last drive.”

This is not a supercilious “How Bout Them Cowboys!” bluster. This is a team that runs downfield hard on offense and defense, and that’s it. They are going to wear teams down with blocking, they are going to hit teams with a rookie running back who accelerates after impact. They are going to give play-actions and screens. And that’s it. There is no gun-slinging here. There is just lots of gunpowder.

Elliott’s brilliance is obvious. There is still a shadow over him from domestic violence accusations that have launched an NFL investigation, but on the field there’s no uncertainty. He turns first-and-10 into second-and-5 and then third-and-short. Or he simply steamrolls into the secondary.

What’s mystifying is Prescott, who has gone from stand-in for Romo in the preseason to all-but-wrestling the starting job away from the Cowboys icon permanently. After the game, Jones said Prescott has “obliterated” any concerns about whether he needs to come off the field as long as he keeps playing this way.

“He is performing at a level that’s inordinate,” Jones said. The Cowboys owner would go on to say that Romo will be active next week against the Baltimore Ravens as Prescott’s backup, a move that has Romo’s blessing. “Tony would make the same decision,” Jones told The Dallas Morning News.