Almost every offseason concern about the Dallas Cowboys was validated tonight. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t even have to play well to hang a 19-3 loss on the home team. But perhaps the biggest story now for Dallas is the hand injury that forced QB Dak Prescott out of the game in the 4th quarter.
The Cowboys’ best drive was their first one, advancing 54 yards and scoring their only points on a 51-yard field goal from Brett Maher. It was Maher’s only attempt of the game.
The game was a slugfest early as Dallas’ defense managed to hold Tampa Bay to four field goals despite numerous punts and an interception on the other side of the ball. Micah Parsons had two first-half sacks to kill Bucs drives and Trevon Diggs had some nice pass breakups. Donovan Wilson picked off Tom Brady in the second half early in the 4th quarter to keep the Cowboys’ hopes alive.
But for every defensive effort, the offense failed to capitalize. The Cowboys’ depth issues at WR were evident as CeeDee Lamb was smothered and nobody else could give Dak an easy target. Offensive line woes also factored in with poor pass protection and several penalties from OT Terence Steele.
Overall, Dallas had 10 penalties for 73 yards tonight. It was a disappointing continuance for one of their biggest issues from 2021.
One thing we didn’t experience last year was such poor play from the starting QB. Prescott finished with just 134 yards on 14-of-29 passing. His 47.2 passer rating was the third-lowest for a single game in his career.
Of course, Dak had more talent at WR and less angst on the offensive line a year ago. These certainly contributed to his bad night, but Prescott also squandered some of the few opportunities he did have with errant throws.
Now the concern is if Dallas will be without Dak going forward. His hand was hit hard by Tampa’s Shaq Barrett on a throw late in the game and sent him to the sideline, then eventually to the locker room. X-ray results are still forthcoming.
With New York, Philadelphia, and Washington all winning their first games tonight, the Cowboys now sit alone in the NFC East basement at 0-1. They will hope to correct course next week against the Cincinnati Bengals, but that could become a lot harder if Cooper Rush moves into the starting lineup.
DP will be out several weeks. He looked pretty horrible when he was in there. Throwing behind receivers and had a terrible INT. If MP doesn’t make those two sacks, score would have been even more lopsided. One of the worse Cowboy offensive performances I’ve ever seen. Defense didn’t play too bad, though. But overall a pretty embarrassing night.
An absolute mess! Prescott injured and wasn’t playing well anyway. Stuck with Dak Prescott this season, but next year he has to be moved on. Making way too much money for something like we all saw tonight. Also Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore have to go! McCarthy stands on the sidelines doing nothing and Moore calls one STUPID PLAY after another one. Jerry and Stephen Jones thought they were alright at the Offensive Line and at Wide Receiver. Wrong on both accounts!!! Those two IDIOTIC KNUCKLE HEADS should sell the team to someone that understands football and cares about the team.
Dak didn’t hit his hand on a defenders helmet…. The defenders hand hit Daks hand!! And Dak did play bad before the injury, but I’m pretty sure that was cause he was playing scared the whole time!! He didn’t have any protection up front, and the pocket collapsed on him before he even had time to find a receiver!! That was the problem the whole game!! Hopefully Stephen realizes now that this team is not good enough and we need major help on the offensive line and at receiver!! And if they don’t address it, this is gonna be a long season!!
This season is over and it’s not even started! Tyron Smith, Zeke Elliott, Dak Prescott, Cee Dee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, DeMarcus Lawrence, Anthony Brown, and Jourdan Lewis are all OVERPAID, OVERRATED, AND OVERDUE FOR BEING RELEASED!!! Last night was an embarrassing fiasco. If it wasn’t for Micah Parsons , Zack Martin, and Jayron Kearse the Cowboys wouldn’t have any players.
Well we all seen what happens when you let Amari Cooper and utility man Cedrick Wilson go and try to replace them with less talented receivers BUT I will say this: maybe just maybe the guys we have out might come in and help us get back going on offense only time will tell!! Now all you Cooper Rush fans it’s time for him to make a name for himself as for myself I think he can’t handle the load but if he does I’ll post back and apologize (I sure hope i’ll be apologizing! ) . With it being early in the year I’m not throwing in the towel just yet!! One more thing ….CD is going to have to make plays when he has the opportunity to make them! I realize he was double teamed most of the night but he had opportunities with a big drop! Want to finish on a positive note so at least our kicker looked good!!
Maybe, just maybe we see Odell Beckham with a star in his helmet. Don’t see any other option out there. Unless Gallup has his best year ar WR. PLEASE Jerry, sell the team.
Dak and Zeke are just consuming too much of the allowed payroll. Zeke will be gone after this year. Not sure when Prescott can be a cap casualty while hurting the team the least.