Dak Prescott opens up about the stakes in Sunday night's game against 49ers

All week, the Dallas Cowboys have been riding the emotional wave that comes with a primetime rivalry matchup like the one they’ll play in on Sunday against the 49ers. The need to treat it like any other game, mixed with the undeniable desire to take down the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season, has quarterback Dak Prescott trying his best to remain in the present moment.

“It means more than just one game,” Prescott said this week, via DallasCowboys.com. “You got to treat it as one game. At the end of the day, it would just be one game. But understanding these guys are undefeated, fighting for the one seed, we’re always trying to get every game that you can.”

“You don’t go into any game thinking that we don’t need this one or this one is as big as that one,” Prescott added. “But from a team that’s been consistent the past few years, knocked us out of the playoffs in the last few years, there’s a lot that we can gain from this win that makes it definitely more than just one game.”

The loss to the 49ers last season preceded an overhaul of the Cowboys offense and some major personnel changes, including the departure of coordinator Kellen Moore, quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier, tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Prescott focused on personal improvement vs 49ers

Of all the changes made, Prescott believes it’s his own improvement that could make the biggest difference on Sunday. Given how he threw two interceptions in the playoff loss, it won’t be hard to show that improvement.

“There’s a lot of good that’s come from the changes versus the past year of playing against these guys,” Prescott said. “One is my play, simple as that. Go back and turn on that tape. I wasn’t my best in either of those games and wasn’t close to it. In the last one, [we’re] two or three plays away from winning that game and a game being a different score.”

So far this season, the eighth-year Cowboys QB is completing passes at a career-high 71.3%. He has just one interception as well, with 138 attempts, 906 yards, and four touchdowns.

If Prescott can continue doing what he’s done so far this season, the critics won’t be quite so loud come Monday.

“We’ve stopped listening,” he said. “That’s in the past, but we know what’s been on tape, we know what’s out there. We know what the history is. I can’t say this is about proving to the world as much as this is us going to get our week five win that we know is a big win. [A win could] continue to propel us throughout this season and could be huge come time for playoff seedings and future implications down the road.”

The Cowboys kick off against the 49ers from San Francisco at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday.