Dak Prescott summed up the Raiders win in just three words, and the reaction will shock you.qq
The Dallas Cowboys delivered a dominant 33-16 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night at Allegiant Stadium, improving their record amid a challenging season. Quarterback Dak Prescott was at the heart of the performance, completing 25 of 33 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns. In the post-game press conference, Prescott opened up about the emotional week leading up to the game, marked by the tragic loss of teammate Marshawn Kneeland, as well as his thoughts on the team’s play, key players, and the path forward. Here’s a complete breakdown of everything Prescott said to the media, organized by topic.
On His Thoughts on the Last Few Days
“Obviously, a tough, hard, 12 days, and through the bye week those days, as I mentioned earlier in the week, those first few days, right, not being with the guys was harder than anything. But the last six, seven, being together, working together, having conversations, healing, shining a light on who Marshawn [Kneeland] was. Then, obviously coming out here tonight, and playing with the style that he played with, the intensity, the efforts, finish, and super proud of the guys. Whirlwind of a week. Great one to cap off with a win right here, put a cap on it. We’re going to continue to move forward, shining light on Marshawn and his and carrying his legacy, and we need to play like this every week, moving forward, and he’ll always be with us.”
On CeeDee Lamb’s and George Pickens’ Play in the Game
“Huge. I mean getting those guys the ball, watching them run after catch, being who they are, two elite guys that complement each other, that build off of each other’s energy. One guy makes a play, the other one wants to make a play. Tonight was fun, just as I’ve always said. I’m just trying to get the ball out of my hands to these guys, be like a point guard and let them go do what they do best, and tonight was a good example of that.”
On the Energy Between Him and Pickens
“He’s a wonderful, kind guy. Special individual, elite, has a great feel for the game, loves the game, plays the game like a kid. When you watch him play, the energy, the celebrations, that’s contagious. Luckily, we got a kicker who can make it. I know Schott [head coach Brian Schottenheimer] is probably not happy about it, but when you get a kicker that can bail you out, it’s one thing, but the discipline, there is a part of that that we’ve all got to tighten up. And GP [Pickens] knows that, obviously he responded to it, responded to the discipline by the way that he came out, and the intensity he played with and the effort he had. But he’s a special individual, and you said there’s a balance to it.”
On If the Duo “Opens Things Up” for a Quarterback
“Yeah, no doubt about it. I think they open up things for each other. You get both of those guys and they’re out wide, what coverage are you going to play? When you’re single-high, you’ve got to learn one way or another. You’ve got to pick a receiver to help, so that’s why I say they’re complementary to one another.”
On His Emotions Coming Into the Game
“Electric, honestly, especially afterwards. Before the game, business as normal, to be honest. And I give the guys a lot of credit for that. I give the coaches credit, I give the whole organization credit for the resources and discussing these emotions and these feelings throughout the week before they’ve happened. Guys all had a plan, they stuck to their process of pregame, and it showed in the execution during the game. And then after it was a celebration. It’s been a tough week, and to be able to celebrate and smile for a moment, and to know that you went out there and you, like Schotty said, made Marshawn proud and honored him the right way. But this is one week, we want to continue to do that.”
On How They Will Keep Honoring Kneeland With Their Schedule of Playing Three Games in 12 Days
“Yeah, nice, tough road. And as you just said, Schotty said, the honoring doesn’t stop. And honestly, when the season’s over, the honoring won’t stop. So, it’s about intensifying everything that we do to carry the legacy of Marshawn, and then over these next three games with the opponents coming in and us wanting to get to where we want to go, everything’s just got to heighten, right? The discipline, the focus, the intensity, the aggressiveness, and that’s at practice, and that’ll just carry over into the game. I’ve always said the game’s a celebration of the work that you put in throughout the week. So, we’re looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to it.”
On How He Evaluates His Game
“Solid. Put the ball in harm’s way once, maybe even twice. Receivers did a good job of knocking it down. Other than that, I was just trying to be a point guard and distribute the ball, get the ball to these guys, let them go do work, and I had a great red zone plan. All but the last two right possessions we scored in the red zone. So, just stick to my reads, sticking to the process of practice and the game plan and allowing these guys to be special, like they are.”
On Defensive Tackle Quinnen Williams
“I don’t know if there’s words for him. Special individual. From the moment he walked into the building, I’ve got a match in putting the time in taking care of the body. That’s somebody that challenges me and just being a professional and inspires me in everything that he’s doing. The conversations that we’ve had, discussing what he expects out of an offense and the way that he plays, and vice versa. Super impressed with him. Obviously, I’ve known he’s been a dude from playing against him and watching it, but to have him as a teammate now, we’re very, very fortunate. And he’s going to continue to be the man that he is, and he’s raising everybody’s focus intensity. You saw it tonight, and he’s a leader.”
On What Helped on the Red Zone Efficiency
“Just the focus update right through the bye week, and having a good plan of understanding what these guys want to do, and how they were going to attack, how we were going to tackle. And I was efficient down there right, and getting into the guys. And they ran good routes. They were speed, they were getting to their spots on time. And when we do that, that should be the result. And obviously, we should have had another one right there at the end, and we’re not complacent with the 3-for-5 or whatever it is. We want to go 5-for-5, and we’re just trying to build, and we’ve got to with the road we have left.”
On Seeing Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and Cornerback Shavon Revel Back on the Field
“Special. Overshown is my favorite player. I told him that. His locker is right by mine. I knew he was going to go out and have a great game. It’s just that’s because of the way that he approaches the business each and every day with the same attitude. A hell of a leader, special player. That’s no surprise. He’s really my favorite player. And then Revel is a super excited young player. I had a couple of times of rehabbing with him, but to just see him over these last couple of weeks at practice, watching the way he runs, watch him turn get in out of cuts. He can run, and he’s going to be a great player for us.”
On What “Opened Up” on the Field to Let Him Be the Point Guard
“We knew we were going to play a team with a lot of spot drop, so it was important for our guys to run, be fast, be at their spots on time, in the right depths. And credit to our receivers and obviously the guys up front giving me a few seconds, and those guys being detailed on where they need to be. And if we can continue to do that, like I said, that’s what we can expect of ourselves.”
On How the Defense’s Energy Helped the Offense
“Contagious. That’s what complementary football is about. Going out there, first drive three-and-out, second drive we fumble right there in their own red zone, and for our defense to come out and make a stop and hold them to a field goal, I think that’s where we all took off, right there, seeing the confidence that that gave just the whole group of, ‘Worry about yourself, focus on your job, and we can play complementary football now.’ And tonight was a good example of that.”
On How Special the Touchdown from Ryan Flournoy Was Given His Relationship With Kneeland
“It was awesome, special. Honestly I didn’t even think about their relationship and how special this was for him. But that’s just a reward for a guy [like Flournoy] who does everything right. Whatever you ask him to do, run, block, break the huddle, and CeeDee says, ‘No, I want that route,’ he goes and plays the other position and does it with such a great attitude, with such grace. One of the best teammates I’ve been around; keeps a positive attitude, stays focused and cares a lot about his teammates, cares a lot about his teammates, and gives it his all each and every day. He’s going to be a big part in carrying that legacy. Marshawn’s legacy, and I know he’s proud and honored to do that, and special for him to get a touchdown.”
On How Much He Can Take From a Win Like This
“I hope we can take everything out of it honestly. You know, it’s the NFL, and let’s not look at these records and understand that this is an NFL team, and this is more about us. We go in each and every game saying, ‘It’s about us.’ And tonight’s an example of that, it was a dominating win. Sure, I understand that they’re struggling, right? But if we play that way, I don’t care who it is, the score might not be that big, margin might not be that way, but there’s no reason that we can’t be confident and feel like we’re going to come out on top if we can play with that same intensity and effort and complement.”
On What It Meant to See All the Support for Kneeland
“Yeah, that’s special. Special is one of these moments you realize that this is just a game, and life is what’s important. Our connections, our relationships, what we say to each other, how we can lift each other up, how we can be a helping hand, how we can be a true neighbor, a true brother, a true sister, and love one another. One love like Marshawn lived by, that’s awesome. Didn’t realize the Raiders were doing that. Obviously, I know the crowd was, I saw a bunch of the signs, and that’s what it’s about. That’s what makes life beautiful. And hopefully we’d all continue to look at our neighbors, look at ourselves, and ask, how can we be better? How can we help better them? And just a moment, like I said, to understand that it’s much bigger than this game, it’s about life.”
On the Meaning Behind the “One Love” on His Wristband
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve had ‘ask for help’ on there for majority of the games, since I’ve been writing on it, and sometimes change up, right, the message, and it was just the right message tonight, not only in honor of Marshawn, but as I was just iterating it’s one love, like we get one life, right? We all do, and we are responsible of being the best neighbor to the person next to us and giving them everything that they need in life that we’re capable of giving. And so, yeah, to just show the world one love, and just to try to go out there and play focused and allow my play and my focus and my relationship with my teammates to hopefully be an example of that.”
On How This Win Can Help Propel Them on a Winning Streak
“Yeah, why not? And I know I’ve been saying that, I’ll probably keep saying that, why not. And it’s more about we’re in control, right? We’re in control, and life’s going to throw things at us, and it threw us a hell of a curveball this past week. And how are we going to respond? That’s what I was telling the team, right? To have a testimony we’ve got to go through a test. And this is a big test to our brotherhood and who we are, and to this organization, to us individually. Let’s have pride and let’s honor our brother. And if we can continue to do that, move forward carrying that light and play the way that we did tonight, why not?”
On the Tribute Ceremony He Got at His High School
“Yeah, that was special. It was a hard day. It was the same day that we lost Marshawn. So it was a very whirlwind of emotions. Yeah, it was a tough day. I don’t know if my emotions and mind was there even enough to enjoy it quite the way that I wanted to, but I can’t tell you how appreciative I am of my high school and where I’m from and talking about carrying things on. I am from Haughton, Louisiana, and I am Haughton, as I told them. And wherever I go, they go with me. And so, super proud to be where I’m from. Super thankful to be able to give back and to be in this position and hopefully to inspire a bunch of kids there on the field now, being Prescott Field. And it’s not just honoring me, that’s honoring my mother, who put so much into the community by loving her boys and allowing her boys to go forward and to shine lights. Then my brother as well, both of my brothers, who were great athletes, who inspired me and made me the athlete that I am, to even get us to this position.”
On the Extra Effort Plays Shown Tonight Can Help Define Them Moving Forward
“Yeah, that’s the winning plays. Those are the winning plays, not the highlights, right? Everybody sees that, but it’s that behind the scene, the third-and-10 that, you know, you get an 8- or 9-yard completion and put you in position, right, to go forward, which we did and and got the touchdown. Especially to a player like that, right? Hunter [Luepke], who does everything right, doesn’t get a lot of shines, not getting all the notoriety, does all the dirty work going, does anything you ask him to do. That’s what’s going to make this group special is those type of plays as we move forward and if we want to accomplish what we want to in these next few games to finish up.”
On the Importance of Speaking Up About Your Mental Health
“Yeah, I mean that’s being vulnerable. It’s not necessarily being weak. And to have courage or to show strength, there has to be that counter of that, right? There has to be that moment of vulnerability. It has to be that moment of weakness for you to even exemplify your courage or exemplify your braveness and how strong you can be. There has to be adversity to overcome. So, with that being said, it’s not, it’s real. We all go through, we all have foreign thoughts, and not all of us are capable and strong enough to counteract those thoughts and understand that they are foreign, right? That makes us feel different, then puts us in different moods, and I think that’s the most important part, is being aware of who you are and your moods and your daily acts. Not everybody understands that. When you get in those down moments, those depressed moments, it’s not about talking, and that’s what I’ve said earlier. It’s about being a good neighbor. And as a neighbor, sometimes we ask, how are you doing? You get a ‘good’ back. I think we should ask deeper sometimes, right? If you ask two or three times and that person says, ‘Good,’ well then, they’re cheating you. And you know that you have that responsibility too, of opening up. So we just got to have more conversations and talk. When you do that, as I told the local media, right, earlier this week, you’re just emptying out your cup. The more that you can help fill someone else’s cup.”
On What He Did Mentally to Get an Explosive Second Quarter
“I didn’t go anywhere when that happened. I stayed focused. I understand it’s football plays like that are going to happen. They had a better play than we had right there. They got a hell of a player, Maxx Crosby, who can rush. And trying to throw the ball away, he gets his hand on the football, back and forth, comes forward, and great play by them. But as I said, to watch our defense go out there and to hold them to a field goal, not allowing them to score a touchdown wasn’t just rejuvenating to me, I think, just to everybody and we fed off of that. But I’m not going to lose focus off of one negative play, off of a couple negative plays. This game is long, and each play has enough responsibility in itself, so I just like to focus one at a time and give my best.”
Prescott’s comments highlighted the team’s resilience in the face of adversity, emphasizing unity, legacy, and a forward-looking mindset. The Cowboys now turn their attention to a demanding schedule, aiming to build on this momentum. For more coverage, check out related stories on the game’s takeaways, fan perspectives, and tributes to Marshawn Kneeland.
