Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

Since the opener, much has changed for Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott

FRISCO, Texas -- Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott seemed so innocent then, right? On that Sept. 11 night at AT&T Stadium, their faces told a story of youth and hope, like memories on a Facebook page.

Thirteen weeks later, they remain the same age -- Elliott is 21, Prescott is 23 -- but they have aged in a good way and the Dallas Cowboys have benefited.

With four games to play, the Cowboys have clinched a playoff spot. With a win Sunday against the New York Giants, they can clinch the NFC East and possibly a first-round bye and home-field advantage.

But after the Cowboys’ 20-19 loss to the Giants in the season opener, there were nothing but questions. Elliott was held to 51 yards on 20 carries. His longest run of the game was his 8-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Prescott did not have a pass intercepted but he did not have a touchdown pass either. He completed 25 of 45 passes for 227 yards.

“It does seem like it was forever ago just because we’ve been through so much more as a team since then and we’ve grown so much, it does seem like it was a long time ago,” Elliott said. “But you’ve got to use it as a learning experience. We’re going to use it to make sure we do what we need to do this game.”

The Cowboys have not lost since Week 1 and Elliott and Prescott are the top two vote-getters so far for the Pro Bowl.

As he reviewed the opener this week, Prescott did not recognize the quarterback that played that night.

“I watched back the tape and I shake my head sometimes at the things I did or the throws I didn't make because I wasn't trusting it,” Prescott said. “But I've definitely grown a ton since then, just being able to see the defenses faster, recognize what's going on, knowing and making confident decisions and letting the ball go.”

Since then, Prescott has completed better than 66 percent of his passes in the last 11 games. He has 19 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. He has run for five touchdowns. He has two 300-yard games and three three-touchdown games.

In the opener, he failed to connect on his five passes thrown 20 yards or more. Since then, he has completed 44 percent of his passes thrown 20 yards or more. In the fourth quarter he completed just six of 17 passes but had the Cowboys on the brink of a comeback. Since, he has complete 76 percent of his fourth-quarter passes.

Elliott called himself “average” after the first game. He had just seven carries in the preseason so he was not comfortable in the system.

“It was definitely frustrating because it was not how I imagined it,” Elliott said. “But I think it definitely helped shape me into the player I am today and put a chip on my shoulder early this season to go out there and get things right.”

Elliott has not rushed for fewer than 83 yards in any of the 11 games since. He leads the NFL in rushing with 1,285 yards and he keeps adding to his Cowboys record for most yards by a rookie in one season. He has tied Tony Dorsett's team rookie mark with 12 touchdowns.

It’s not only the players that have changed -- so have the coaches. They entered Week 1 with rookies playing major roles in their offense and not knowing what to expect. While they knew Elliott and Prescott could handle the job, they didn’t know what they could do best.

“We wanted to be balanced,” coach Jason Garrett said. “Obviously when you run the ball all those things help the quarterback, but we wanted to be mindful of that and give him things he was confident with doing, like we would with any quarterback. One thing that happens sometimes in the opening game of the season is you have six months of ideas you try to implement and sometimes as coaches you really have to discipline yourselves. We don’t have to show everything in Week 1.”

Garrett said he has seen Prescott grow as a decision maker

“I think he has more command of our offense,” Garrett said. “He’s seen more defenses. He’s seen pressures. He’s seen a variety of coverages. I think he responds to game situations really well. He’s had a lot of success. He responds well to that. He’s had some adversity where he’s had to play through some things. He responds well to that.”

Elliott’s patience has improved since Week 1.

“He’s a very aware football player,” Garrett said. “He learns quickly from the experiences he has. He

doesn’t make the same mistakes over and over and over again. I think as much as anything else it’s just the experience of playing, running the runs that we have against the looks that he sees, protecting against the different looks, running routes against the different looks and over time if you go about it the right way you’re going to get better.”

Much has changed for Prescott and Elliott since September. Mostly they want to change the result of what happened that night.

“I'm looking forward to it a lot personally, and then I know (our) team. They're the only blemish on our record right now,” Prescott said. “And just to be able to go up there at their place and be able to do what they did to us the first game, we're excited for the opportunity.”

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