Was the Dallas Cowboys‘ 24-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers embarrassing because they lost at home, or because they lost to a Bucs team that was previously 0-4? Perhaps it was embarrassing because the defense failed again, or because quarterback Dak Prescott struggled against Tampa Bay’s defense. At the end of the day, the Week 5 home loss was undoubtedly embarrassing.
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Dak Prescott knew it, as the quarterback heard a driver for a contracted car service yelling “embarrassing” as he walked past. For Prescott, however, being called out wasn’t the issue. Instead, it was the driver’s reaction after calling the team’s performance embarrassing that drew attention.
“I know when he said it, I just happened to look at him, and at that point, you know, he looked away, and then when I turned my head back, he said something else,” Prescott said after the game. “And so that’s the part that, as a man, feel free to speak your mind, but speak it, and don’t coward away from the reaction that you’re going to get.
“So, if you’re saying it’s embarrassing, say it’s embarrassing. If you’re saying it to me, then say it to me, you know what I mean? Don’t go back on it. So that’s all that was, and I hate that it’s even being talked about, to be honest with you.”
Dallas had a humbling experience on both sides of the ball. On paper, Prescott threw for 316 passing yards and a touchdown, but in reality, he completed 57.1% of his passes and threw a pair of interceptions. CeeDee Lamb was nowhere to be seen as he caught 2 passes for 9 yards before leaving the field in the fourth quarter.
George Pickens, meanwhile, was efficient as he caught 9 passes for 130 yards and one touchdown. But that wasn’t enough, as the defense failed to contain the Buccaneers’ offense, led by an undrafted free agent.
In Baker Mayfield’s absence, Jalon Daniels completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown. Bucky Irving complemented the run game, rushing for 165 yards on 21 carries and scoring a rushing touchdown. Dallas entered Week 5 without an interception and once again failed to record a pick against the Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers outperformed the Cowboys in every part of the game. The unit tallied 419 total yards, including 178 through the air and 241 on the ground. At the same time, Tampa Bay dominated throughout the game, as they possessed the ball 39:21 to 20:39.
It’s safe to say that the Cowboys just put up an embarrassing performance. While Dak Prescott acknowledged it, calling it an embarrassing performance is a tough pill to swallow for him, considering Todd Bowles and his unit’s strong performance.
“To use the word embarrassing; it’s tough,” the quarterback said. “I feel like I’m discrediting the NFL if I use that and particularly the Tampa Bay Bucs, the great Todd Bowles, a coach, and defensive-coached team. The guy’s been a winning coach for a long time, whether he’s been a head coach or a defensive coordinator. That’s the plan and what they did tonight is the reason for that. To say embarrassing, I think I’d be discrediting them.
“But we were definitely supposed to win this game, that we’re supposed to have on paper or whichever way you want to look at it. I think Schotty said it best in the locker room, in this league, you’ve got to win the games you’re supposed to win. When a winless team comes into your home stadium on a Thursday night prime-time game, yeah, we’re supposed to win that. It sucks and right up there close to embarrassing, but I don’t know if I would say that.”
The defensive fallout carries significant weight, considering Jerry Jones has already invested in Christian Parker’s defense in the past many months. He acquired Kenny Clark last year in Micah Parsons’ trade, then brought Quinnen Williams in the same year before extending him on a three-year deal this year.
Then, Dallas traded for Rashan Gary this offseason before bolstering the secondary with Joey Porter Jr. this past week. Yet, the defensive struggles persist. After the game, Jerry Jones was honest to call it a disappointing performance.
“Extraordinarily, extraordinarily disappointed,” said Jones. “You really do need to get it done when it’s there to take. They basically were very physical. I thought both their fronts, was really surprised at how well they ran the ball, how they ran it between the tackles. That was surprising. We thought if they were going to run it, they’d do it outside, and thought we’d put it on the quarterback’s shoulders. Their staff, their quarterback, all their players got a great victory here tonight, and it was a tough loss for us.”
That said, Dak Prescott and the Cowboys are now down to 2-3. After a 24-16 loss, the unit will face the Green Bay Packers on the road in Week 6.