ATLANTA — Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes and the Atlanta Falcons maintained their hold on first place in the NFC South with a 27-21 victory Sunday over the struggling Dallas Cowboys, who took their third straight setback and lost quarterback Dak Prescott to a hamstring injury.
Cousins completed 19 of 24 passes for 222 yards, including 13 in a row at one point for the Falcons (6-3). He had scoring plays of 9 yards to Drake London, 36 yards to Darnell Mooney and 11 yards to Ray-Ray McCloud, the third three-TD game of the quarterback’s debut season with Atlanta.
Tyler Allgeier capped the Falcons’ fifth win in six games by powering into the end zone from 6 yards with just over 11 minutes remaining.
The Cowboys (3-5) tried to rally behind Cooper Rush after Prescott was ruled out, having completed 18 of 24 for 133 yards and a touchdown.
Rush guided an 86-yard drive in the closing minutes, capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert and 2-point conversion. But the Falcons recovered an onside kick to seal the victory.
It’s the longest losing streak for Dallas since a four-game skid during the 2020 season, which is also the most recent time the Cowboys finished with a losing record (6-10).
They are on their way to another in 2024, having already matched their loss total from each of the past three seasons.
Coach Mike McCarthy figures to be under even more heat after this performance, which included a fake punt that didn’t have a chance, a fourth down sweep by receiver CeeDee Lamb that was thrown for a 3-yard loss, and botched coverage in which three defensive backs got tangled up with each other and left Mooney all alone for his touchdown catch.
