Dak Prescott followed his excellent Cowboys debut with an even better encore

In the first week of the preseason, the breakout NFL star was a rookie quarterback, but it wasn’t No. 1 pick Jared Goff. It wasn’t No. 2 pick Carson Wentz, either. Dak Prescott, drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round, was electric in his NFL debut.

In fact, he was nearly perfect, completing 10 of 12 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams. He finished the night with an impressive 154.5 quarterback rating.

So it’d be understandable if he couldn’t match that performance in the Cowboys’ second preseason game against the Miami Dolphins. And he didn’t match it -- he surpassed it.

Prescott entered the game in the third series and immediately got to work. First he found Dez Bryant for a 28-yard touchdown:

On the next drive, he used his legs to scramble for a 20-yard score.

But perhaps his prettiest play of the night was this 58-yard bomb to Brice Butler.

Prescott led the Cowboys on six scoring drives, helping turn a 7-0 lead into a 41-14 rout. His final stat line was eye-popping: 12-of-15 passing, 199 yards and two touchdowns. Oh, and add in another 28 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. His QB passer rating was a perfect 158.3.

Yes, it’s still only the preseason and he hasn’t faced a defense as intimidating as the Denver Broncos’. But it has to be reassuring to the Cowboys that the game hasn’t seemed too overwhelming for him.

A few weeks ago, the Cowboys lost backup quarterback Kellen Moore, and were scrambling for a replacement. After all, their season fell apart when Tony Romo went down last year. But the options weren’t exactly palatable, like trading for journeyman Josh McCown or signing Nick Foles, who flopped with the Rams. Yet it almost felt like the Cowboys lost out when Foles ended up landing with the Kansas City Chiefs.

As it turns out, they had their No. 2 all along, and maybe even their quarterback of the future.

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