Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott: Would swap historic numbers for wins

ARLINGTON, Texas -- In his past two games, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has 974 passing yards, the most over a two-game span in NFL history.

The Cowboys lost both games, including Sunday to the Cleveland Browns, 49-38, at AT&T Stadium to fall to a disappointing 1-3 on the season.

"Not at all," said Prescott, when asked if the passing record mattered to him. "I'd give all those yards back for a different record. I care about one stat and that's to win, so when we don't do that no other stats matter."

In his past three games, Prescott, who is playing on the $31.4 million franchise tag, has thrown for 1,424 yards, the most over a three-game span in NFL history. At least the Cowboys were able to pull off an improbable 40-39 win against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 when Prescott became the first quarterback in league history to throw for at least 450 yards and rush for three scores in the same game.

In the Cowboys' loss to the Browns, Prescott had career highs in yards (502) and attempts (58), and his 41 completions were the second most he has had in a game. He had at least four touchdown passes in a game for the fourth time, tying him with Troy Aikman for fourth most in team history. Prescott's 502 yards passing are the second most by a Dallas quarterback. In a 51-48 loss to the Denver Broncos in 2013, Tony Romo threw for 506 yards.

What bothered Prescott most Sunday was turnovers. On back-to-back possessions, Prescott and running back  Ezekiel Elliott lost fumbles that the Browns turned into 14 points. In their Week 3 loss at the Seattle Seahawks, Prescott had an interception and a fumble that were turned into 14 points in a 38-31 loss.

"We just can't do that," Prescott said. "Simple as that. We've got back-to-back possessions, turn the ball over and put our defense in a compromising situation. That's unacceptable. That's not complementary football. It'll hurt you. You get down in the game and forced to play outside the way we want to play."

But Prescott almost led the Cowboys to the second-biggest comeback in NFL history. Down 41-14 in the third quarter, the Cowboys closed to 41-38 after Prescott's second touchdown pass of the game to rookie CeeDee Lamb and a 2-point conversion by Amari Cooper with 3 minutes, 42 seconds to play.

In the fourth quarter, Prescott completed 21 of 30 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns, but he was intercepted with 1:36 to play on a pass to Cooper.

"I overthought the play," Cooper said. "I was supposed to run a quick slant and catch the ball ... It just looked like it wasn't there, so I tried to race to the second window and the ball was thrown. But that's not what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to take one step and look for the ball."

Coach Mike McCarthy had praise for Prescott for getting the Cowboys into contention.

"Dak is exactly what you're looking for," McCarthy said. "He's wired the right way in his ability to keep playing through adversity. He never blinks. But obviously, the turnovers, you take a look at why they happen, how they happen. It's like anything in this game. The negatives are not just one thing or on one person. I thought Dak stood tall and led us back to giving us a chance to be in the game there at the end."