Team Notes week 15 2022

According to ESPN.com's Todd Archer, Dak Prescott had to say the number twice, as if the quarterback didn't believe it or was disgusted by it.

"Nine?" he said. "Niiiiiine?"

Yes, nine.

Nine interceptions in eight starts.

Prescott saved the Cowboys on Sunday with a 98-yard drive in the final minutes to beat the Houston Texans 27-23. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 79 yards on the drive before Ezekiel Elliott's game-winning rushing touchdown with 41 seconds to play.

The only incompletion was a drop by Michael Gallup after he took a big hit in the end zone.

But what about the first 57 minutes of the game?

Prescott had two more passes intercepted, giving him nine on the season.

He has more in eight starts this season than he had in 16 starts in 2016 (four) and 2018 (eight). He had 10 passes picked off in 16 starts last season.

"Yeah, I'm damn sure not a fan of that," Prescott said. "I think y'all guys know that. It's frustrating. It's very, very frustrating."

As Archer explained, each interception has its own story, and certainly not all are on Prescott. Some have been miscommunications with his pass-catchers, especially down the middle of the field. Some have come at inopportune times. Some have come from protection breakdowns. And some have come from Prescott's decision-making.

He took the blame for the first one against Houston, looking for receiver Noah Brown with a Texans defender running underneath the throw, leading to a tipped ball that Tremon Smith picked off. It was Prescott's eighth first-half interception of the season, tying him with Indianapolis' Matt Ryan for the most in the first halves.

And remember, Prescott missed five games with a broken thumb.

"Tried to fit it into too tight of a window," Prescott said. "I don't even know if Noah even saw it, you know what I mean? Tried to get a hand on the ball, pops up in the air."

On the second one, Texans pass-rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo hit Prescott's hand as he looked to dump the ball wide to tight end Dalton Schultz.

It was his first second-half interception of the season, but the Cowboys' defense gave Prescott a chance to win the game with a goal-line stand after the turnover. Maybe it was a coincidence, but the Cowboys replaced Josh Ball at right tackle with Jason Peters after that play.

Head coach Mike McCarthy said the Texans played a different type of zone coverage than they had normally shown.

That led to more bodies in different avenues who Prescott had to throw over or around. The result was 11 tipped passes and the two interceptions. And McCarthy expects more of that type of coverage.

"If I was the Jacksonville defensive coordinator, I'd play a vision defense based off the last two weeks," McCarthy said of their Week 15 tilt with the Jacksonville Jaguars. "That's how my mind works and that's why we'll look at it. We'll just make sure we're clean in what we do. We don't need to change plays. We just got to be cleaner about doing things."

When he coached the Green Bay Packers, McCarthy dealt with Brett Favre's gunslinger ways, but he also mentored Aaron Rodgers, who had only two seasons in which he threw more than eight interceptions under McCarthy -- both in his first three years as the starter.

"When you're in the NFL, you don't throw to open receivers, you throw them open," McCarthy said last week. "And you're not going to get there by not being aggressive. Particularly as you get into the tougher defenses. ... That's why the breaking points of your routes and angles have to be more precise. And [Prescott] has to throw with aggressiveness. I think anticipation, awareness, all those things are tied together. You have to have that because these situations we are going to be in, they're only going to get tougher. They are not going to get easier. This is part of that growth."

The growth needs to become evident with four regular-season games remaining -- three against teams currently in the playoffs.

Prescott has interceptions in five of his past six games, his most since he had six in Weeks 2-5 of the 2019 season.

"We've got to find a way -- I've got to find a way -- to take better care of the ball," Prescott said. "Yeah, damn right it's frustrating. That's not something that I've ever been OK with and never will be OK with. So, but I'm not going to not be aggressive. As I've said. I've worked too hard. This team has worked too hard, created too great of a chemistry for me to, yeah, to not be aggressive and not try to make the throws that I know I can make. But damn sure got to be smarter and just weigh the risk versus the reward in a split second. That's just my preparation.

"That's something that I promise I'll clean up."

Meanwhile, Prescott said Sunday's close win would be more beneficial in the long run than a blowout.

"This will serve us more than I think the Minnesota game or even the way that we finished last game when it comes down to it because we're going to play some tough games as we get going," he said. "You got to play games like [this], one-score games here in the back end against our division or whether it be the playoffs. Just for us to have that confidence and trust in one another and continue to tighten our bond is something that we're going to need."

It's all well and good to spin positive, but against most any other team, the Cowboys would have taken an L. Dallas (10-3) knows it can't play like it did Sunday to have any chance at succeeding in the postseason. And now, they're running out of time to catch NFL-leading Philadelphia in the NFC East.

They're two games back with four to go. The Eagles won the first meeting. The rematch is in two weeks, on Christmas Eve.

Other notes of interest. ... It took 11 months, but T.Y. Hilton is back in the NFL for a chance to pursue a title.

The veteran receiver has joined the Cowboys.

Hilton visited the team on Monday and liked what he saw enough to join the Cowboys with just one month left in the regular season.

"Great addition," said McCarthy, who added Hilton has a chance to play this Sunday versus the Jaguars. "We'll get him out there Wednesday and get him acclimated. ... He had a workout. Everything passed with flying colors. The timing is right. He's ready to go."

The 33-year-old receiver last played in 2021 with the Colts, the only team he'd known until signing with Dallas.

After starting last season on injured reserve, Hilton returned in mid-October, catching 23 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games.

Hilton patiently waited for another opportunity as a free agent, remaining without a team until the final month of the 2022 regular season. He joins a Dallas team that has been interested in adding a receiver for most of 2022, exploring trade options before the deadline and recently engaging in a drawn-out courtship with Odell Beckham Jr.

With just four weeks left to get a new receiver up to speed, it appears the Cowboys have moved on from Beckham in favor of Hilton, a receiver who is ready to go now. He'll enter a receivers room headlined by CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup, with Noah Brown, Jalen Tolbert, James Washington and returner KaVontae Turpin also on the roster.

Hilton is past his peak performance, but brings with him plenty of winning experience from his time spent in Indianapolis. We'll see if the four-time Pro Bowler can make a quick impact for the NFL's 10th-ranked offense.

Meanwhile, LateRound.com's JJ Zachariason points out that CeeDee Lamb failed to score 10 PPR points Sunday for just the third time this year. His 8 points were his second-lowest of the season. His 15.4 percent target share was a season low.

Schultz had a drop on a hard hit at the goal line to force Dallas to settle for a field goal late in the first half, but he had three catches for 52 yards on the winning drive to give him a season-high 87 yards for the game. Beyond that, Schultz had a 26 percent target share. As Zachariason notes, that's back to back games with a 20 percent target share.

Also according to Zachariason, Tony Pollard played six more snaps than Elliott.

Last week, Elliott led Pollard by 10 snaps, but Pollard has led Zeke in snaps in three of four games since Elliott returned from injury.

Still, both were top-10 fantasy producers at their position Sunday. ...

According to Associated Press sports writer Schuyler Dixon, kicker Brett Maher is quietly putting together possibly his best season after coming to training camp late when a kicking competition fizzled. He's 21 of 24, with two of the misses from at least 50 yards.

His 53-yarder early in the fourth quarter kept the Cowboys within three with a potential upset looming, and took some of the pressure off the final drive by not making a TD mandatory.

Kick returner KaVontae Turpin fumbled a punt when it appeared Dallas would take control of the game early. Then he let a punt bounce that he should have caught around the Dallas 7-yard line, pinning the Cowboys at their 1. Prescott's interception came soon after before a defensive stop and the winning TD drive. ...

On the injury front. ... Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said that the team feared a serious injury for right tackle Terence Steele after he left their win over the Texans and word on Monday is that Steele will miss the rest of the season.

According to multiple reports, tests showed that Steele suffered a torn ACL during Sunday's game.

The Cowboys initially turned to Josh Ball against the Texans, but veteran Jason Peters took over after Ball struggled with the Houston pass rush. He provided better protection during Dallas' game-winning touchdown drive.

Tackle Tyron Smith returned to practice with the Cowboys last week. The team's plan has been to put him back at left tackle with rookie Tyler Smith moving inside to left guard, but it's unclear if he'll be activated this week.

Well, Jerry Jones seems to think it's clear.

"As I see it right now, he'll be playing Sunday," Jones said, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.

DE Dorance Armstrong was in a walking boot after the Houston game, and CB Trevon Diggs had to be treated for a thumb injury but returned. S Jayron Kearse injured a knee during warmups but played.

You can access complete stats for the Cowboys Week 14 game via our exclusive Fantasy BoxScore.

DEPTH CHART
QBs: Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, Trey Lance
RBs: Tony Pollard, Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Hunter Luepke
WRs: CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Michael Gallup, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks
TEs: Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker, Peyton Hendershot