Upon first glance, the Dallas Cowboys' 23-28 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday is just more of the same. A franchise replete with high-quality talent on offense and defense that inevitably finds a way to lose a pivotal matchup right at the end. Those watching closely, however, might have witnessed a significant individual breakthrough.

ESPN's Ryan Clark definitely thinks so, at least. “What we learned is that Dak Prescott can show up in championship moments,” the Super Bowl 43 champion said, via NFL on ClutchPoints, while giving the Dallas quarterback his flowers.

For the last few years, Prescott's reputation has been solidified as a good QB who simply does not have the composure nor the killer instinct to make winning plays with a big game on the line. He struggled in recent postseason losses to the San Francisco 49ers and too often fades into the background when the Cowboys need him to put them on his back. That was not the case in Philly this past Sunday.

The two-time Pro Bowl selection was 29-of-44 passing for a superb 374 yards and three touchdowns versus the Eagles. Beyond the stats, though, Prescott led his team back in a game that seemed on the verge of flat-lining well before the clock hit zero.

He connected with Jalen Tolbert with six-and-a-half minutes remaining to pull Dallas within five and then marched right down the field on the last drive of the game. Alas, consecutive sacks, a false start penalty and Luke Schoonmaker being tackled just short of the end zone earlier in the fourth quarter all resulted in another narrow, bitter Cowboys loss.

Dak Prescott connected with CeeDee Lamb on the final play, but he was short. But despite all of those pitfalls, he performed admirably with the bright lights shining on him. Prescott still has to prove he can post this type of effort in the playoffs, while the Cowboys must collectively figure out how to avoid any more self-inflicted wounds.