Dak Prescott was far from his best in Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos, but he’s at the bottom of the list of the Dallas Cowboys’ problems.
It was Prescott’s first bad game of the year. He deserves to wear that, but from play calling, game management, and execution from teammates, the ecosystem around him crumbled in real time. To say nothing of the Cowboys’ defense. It’s no surprise he went down with the ship.
Prescott is always first to hold himself accountable, but he felt the need to send a fiery message to the Dallas locker room after the 44-24 loss in Denver. And it was absolutely called for.
Dak Prescott rightly calls out Cowboys teammates after ugly Broncos loss
“I hope. I trust and I like the guys we have,” Prescott said if a trade can provide a boost. “I honestly do, that’s not just a political answer. Our roster is OK. Can it be better? That’s for you guys to write about and judge … Forget a trade, do more. Step up and shut the talk up.”
No, this isn’t a case of Prescott ducking accountability. He answered a specific question about the trade deadline. He didn’t open his postgame availability by throwing teammates under the bus, and he certainly didn’t direct the message at the defense, which would’ve been justified.
More importantly, Prescott didn’t tell any lies, and he outright stated he trusts his teammates. The Cowboys simply don’t have an identity right now. They can’t string together wins because of inconsistencies on one side of the ball. It’s painfully obvious, but what is there to gain by calling out Matt Eberflus or the defense as a unit?
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Eberflus is not getting fired during the season, and this is probably the first game all season where the offense didn’t hold up its end of the bargain.
Beyond poor execution, penalties cost the Cowboys 13 points in the first half. A James Houston offside wiped out a stop from the defense, and the Broncos scored a touchdown a few plays later. A false start from Brock Hoffman forced the offense to settle for a field goal in the red zone. In the second quarter, a hold on Terence Steele knocked Dallas out of field goal range while trailing 14-3.
Even if Prescott played like he had in the first seven games, and the defense forced an extra punt or two, they didn’t play clean enough to win. Again, defense is THE issue in Dallas, but both sides of the ball were nowhere near good enough. A message needed to be sent.
Who better than the $240 million face of the franchise who has the respect of everyone in the locker room? If his message doesn’t resonate, this team has bigger problems than we thought.
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