One word sums up the the Cowboys’ (2-3) performance against the Buccaneers (1-4).
Dallas held a 10-7 lead to start the second half. Then Bucky Irving began the third quarter with a 72-yard run to flip the game on its head. From that moment on, the Cowboys had no control over the game in their 24-16 loss.
This is the Cowboys’ third head scratching loss. Week 1 they looked like they didn’t get off the plane in New York. They had the upper hand in Brazil until they didn’t. And now this. Hosting a winless Bucs team with an undrafted rookie quarterback, and let them dominate the second half.
There were major question marks about the defense coming into the season, and then injuries started to pile up. Two weeks ago, they held Derrick Henry to one of his least efficient performances as a Raven. It looked like they may have found a recipe to limit damage on the ground, and then they let Irving walk up and down the field on his way to 165 yards and a touchdown Thursday night.
The run defense wasn’t the only culprit. Dallas’ secondary allowed the rookie Daniels to have an efficient 189 yards with no turnovers and a 110 rating. That unit is now allowing a 124.8 passer rating against them, higher than Aaron Rodgers’ 2011 MVP season that broke the record for a quarterback that won the award.
The offense can’t escape its lion’s share of the blame either. Sure, Dak Prescott finished with over 300 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw two ugly picks in the second half. Javonte Williams had little impact on the game with only 45 yards on 12 attempts. George Pickens finally arrived this season with nine catches for 130 yards and a score, but he seemed to be the only answer they had.
“We didn’t execute the way that we wanted to,” Prescott said in his post-game press conference per the Dallas Cowboys. “That just led into their plan of blitzing and sending different blitzes.”
“I don’t think we handled the pressures very well Dak was taking too many hits,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer added. “I wish we could’ve gotten the running game going a little more, but we didn’t do that.”
Todd Bowles-led defenses have been characterized by heavy blitz packages, so not being prepared for that is far from a good look on the coaching staff. While Tampa did not record a sack, they did have four quarterback hits to go along with their 40% pressure rate.
Dallas will look to regroup on their mini bye week before heading to Green Bay for a Sunday night Matchup against the Packers.
“The NFL comes down to finishing games,” Schottenheimer said. “The way of the connection of the guys in that room are is special, and because of that I see a group of young men that are motivated to get right.”
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