ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott sustained a gruesome ankle injury not long after his first career touchdown catch before backup Andy Dalton led a drive to a field goal on the final play, and the Dallas Cowboys beat the winless New York Giants 37-34 on Sunday.
Michael Gallup made two spectacular sideline catches on throws from Dalton, the second a 38-yarder to the New York 16. The Cowboys ran the clock down to 3 seconds, and Greg Zuerlein had his second game-ending kick of the season, from 34 yards.
Prescott was going down in the arms of defensive back Logan Ryan at the end of a 9-yard run in the third quarter when the Dallas quarterback’s lower right leg got caught under Ryan and appeared to snap.
Prescott reached for the leg as he writhed in pain, and TV images showed his right foot bent at an awkward angle away from his leg. He was fighting back tears as he was carted off with a cast on the leg. Most of Prescott’s teammates rushed to greet him, as did several New York players, including Ryan.
The team said Prescott had a fracture dislocation of the right ankle and was taken to a hospital, where surgery was planned later in the day.
Dalton was Cincinnati’s starter for nine seasons before the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow No. 1 overall last spring and Dalton signed a one-year deal to be Prescott’s backup.
Dalton and rookie center Tyler Biadasz fumbled an exchange on Dalton’s first full series, setting up Devonta Freeman’s 4-yard scoring run and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas’ 2-point conversion catch for a 34-31 lead for the Giants (0-5).
RAIDERS 40, CHIEFS 32
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Derek Carr threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, outplaying Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes along the way, and the Las Vegas Raiders nearly shut out the potent Kansas City offense in the second half to rally for a 40-32 victory Sunday that ended the Chiefs’ franchise-record 13-game winning streak.
Josh Jacobs scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, Daniel Carlson added a field goal a few minutes later, and Mahomes was intercepted on fourth down to set up another touchdown by Jacobs that make it 40-24 with 5:26 left.
Mahomes led the Chiefs quickly downfield, hitting Travis Kelce for a touchdown and Darrel Williams for the 2-point try to make it a one-possession game.
But after the Raiders (3-2) recovered the squib quick, Jacobs rumbled for a first down as the Chiefs (4-1) used up their timeouts, and Carr sneaked for a first down on fourth-and-1 near midfield with 2 minutes left to allow Las Vegas to end its five-game skid against Kansas City.
RAMS 30, WASHINGTON 10
LANDOVER, Md. — Jared Goff threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, and Los Angeles improved to 4-1 by beating Washington in Alex Smith’s return almost two years since a gruesome injury put his career in jeopardy.
Smith played his first NFL game 693 days since breaking his right tibia and fibula, entering when new Washington starting quarterback Kyle Allen injured his left arm. He was 9 of 17 for 37 yards on the same field he was carted off of on Nov. 18, 2018, before undergoing 17 surgeries to repair the injury.
“It’s just spectacular to see him back on a football field,” said former Washington QB Joe Thiesmann, who broke his right leg in similar fashion 33 years to the day before Smith was injured. “I’m so thrilled and excited for him.”
DOLPHINS 43, 49ERS 17
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns and Miami sent defending NFC champion San Francisco to its third straight home loss to open the season.
Fitzpatrick connected on a 3-yard TD pass to Adam Shaheen on the opening drive of the game for the Dolphins (2-3) and didn’t let up, quieting talk for at least another week that rookie Tua Tagovailoa should take over as starter.
The 49ers (2-3) are the team with questions at quarterback after Jimmy Garoppolo got pulled at halftime after throwing two interceptions. Garoppolo had missed the previous two games with a sprained ankle and never looked comfortable against a defense that entered allowing the most yards per dropback in the NFL.
C.J. Beathard replaced Garoppolo at the half and threw one TD pass but it wasn’t enough to keep the Niners from falling again at home. San Francisco is 2-0 this season at MetLife Stadium with blowout wins over the Jets and Giants but has lost all three games at home.
The Dolphins dominated on both sides of the ball with five sacks, three takeaways and a nearly perfect performance from Fitzpatrick.
He converted on deep strikes for TDs to DeVante Parker and Preston Williams and led the Dolphins to their highest scoring road game since 1986.