Prescott, Elliott lead charge as Cowboys dispose of Bears

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (left) celebrates with wide receiver Dez Bryant after they connected on 17-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ 31-17 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night in Arlington, Texas.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (left) celebrates with wide receiver Dez Bryant after they connected on 17-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ 31-17 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night in Arlington, Texas.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Maybe the Dallas Cowboys will be OK without quarterback Tony Romo this time. The future of the Dallas running game with Ezekiel Elliott looks pretty good, too.

Dak Prescott led scoring drives on all four first-half possessions before throwing his first career touchdown pass in fellow rookie Elliott's first 100-yard game, and the Cowboys beat the Chicago Bears 31-17 on Sunday night to snap an eight-game home losing streak.

With his second consecutive victories, Prescott doubled the number of victories the Cowboys (2-1) had in 14 games without the injured Romo over three seasons before the fourth-round pick showed up.

Prescott's first TD pass was a 17-yarder to Dez Bryant for a 31-10 lead in the fourth quarter, and he's up to 99 throws without an interception to start his career. Philadelphia rookie Carson Wentz has 102, and those are the two highest career-opening totals in NFL history.

"Dak's handled every opportunity he's had right from the start really, really well," Coach Jason Garrett said. "No different tonight."

Brian Hoyer had trouble moving the Chicago offense early with Jay Cutler sidelined by a sprained right thumb as the Bears fell behind 24-3 at halftime and dropped to 0-3 for the second time in two seasons under Coach John Fox.

Making his 27th career start for his fourth different team, Hoyer was 30 of 49 for 317 yards -- a good portion of that with the game out of each late in the fourth quarter -- and threw for two scores to Zach Miller.

"We haven't played a complete game," Fox said. "This week was the reverse of what we've had. We played very poorly in the first half."

Elliott finishing with 140 yards on 30 carries and a 14-yard run when he hurdled safety Chris Prosinski. The Cowboys kept giving him the ball while trying to work the clock with a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter a week after he was benched because of two fumbles in a victory over Washington.

"Made a lot of good runs tonight, a lot tough runs, a lot of NFL runs," Garrett said. "He's physically tough. He's mentally tough."

It didn't even bother Prescott that Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith missed just the second game of his six-year career after his back tightened up during the week.

Prescott was 19 of 24 for 248 yards in Dallas' first home victory since last year's opener, which was a week before the first of two broken left collarbones that kept Romo out of 12 games last season.

Cole Beasley caught all seven passes thrown his way against the Bears, gaining 73 yards. Terrance Williams was targeted four times, catching all of them for 73 yards. Bryant's third and last catch was the touchdown, after Prescott went his way on six plays.

"With all of those guys, we want to rotate them through, and we don't want any of those receivers playing every snap the whole game," Garrett said. "We want to keep them fresh."

On the second play of the game, Bryant had an 11-yard catch before limping off with what was described as a left knee issue. He was back on the field before the end the first quarter after getting treatment on the sideline, but didn't have another catch until the opening play of the fourth quarter.

"He hurt his knee, he was out for a little bit, but then he was able to come back," Garrett said. "The slant for a touchdown was a big play in the game."

Romo is expected to miss about another month after breaking a bone in his back in the preseason.

Prescott had one of three rushing touchdowns for the Cowboys, who have seven this season after getting eight all of last year, when they finished 4-12.

Because the Bears fell behind again, they couldn't do much with the running game. They had just 15 carries for 73 yards and lost leading rusher Jeremy Langford to an ankle injury in the second half.

It was Chicago's first game without linebackers Danny Trevathan (sprain thumb) and Lamarr Houston (season-ending left ACL year). And the Bears struggled to slow the Cowboys, getting outgained 274-114 in the first half. Dallas had a 19-4 edge in first downs before halftime and finished with 447 yards, including 199 on the ground.

Sports on 09/26/2016

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