At 3-4, the Dallas Cowboys need to recalibrate. This is not the result anyone hoped for in the offseason, given all the upgrades across positions. But after some unexpected and disappointing losses, quarterback Dak Prescott stressed on what the team needs to focus on.
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“Even more so important to come back and come back home and to get a win after the last time being here at home. And yeah, you’ve got to win your games at home. That’s a huge advantage,” shared Prescott in the latest presser. “We got to make it an advantage for us, and as you just said haven’t had many. So, we got to take advantage of it, and knowing that we’ve got a few more here in the back half of the season, it’d be great momentum to create.”
Dallas is back home after two consecutive away games against the Packers and the Eagles. The Cowboys have performed disappointingly at home, winning only one game (Dallas was the home team for the Rio de Janeiro game against the Baltimore Ravens, which they also lost). They lost embarrassingly to the formerly winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Dallas, despite being the favorites.
Dallas’ own mistakes contributed to the outcome. The offense looked disjointed. The defense also struggled to produce stops and was no use stopping the run. RB Bucky Irving left Dallas a star, rushing for 165 yards that night.
“Extraordinarily, extraordinarily disappointed,” owner Jerry Jones said after the 24-16 loss against the Buccaneers, via the team’s official website. “… 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.”
Prescott also reflected on the fact that this was supposed to be an easy win for the team.
“I think [coach Brian Schottenheimer] said it best in the locker room: In this league, you’ve got to win the games you’re supposed to win,” he said after the Bucs game. “And when a winless team comes into your home stadium in a Thursday night primetime game, yeah, we’re supposed to win that.”
The Cowboys are now at a precarious position and might even be losing their grip on playoff chances. They’ve got to rein themselves in and post a win against the Arizona Cardinals, who are the underdogs in this game. The Cardinals are on a losing streak at the moment. Going up against Dallas is not easy; like the Bucs, this matchup also looks like a win on paper.
Dallas got back on track with a convincing 38-21 victory over Philadelphia. The Cowboys found considerable success on the ground, rushing for a season-high 204 yards on 38 attempts. They averaged 5.4 yards per carry, balancing out their passing attack with the run game after failing to do so in previous matchups.
“Momentum’s real,” Prescott said. “Just to be able to use it, to be able to get a win, to gain a win on the road, a division win, and to be able to come back home and use this momentum of that win, use the crowd, use all the resources that the game offers you. We’ve got to take advantage of it and use them to our benefit and get two in a row.”
That’s the bar Prescott has set for his teammates. Dallas could use the upcoming matchup against Arizona as a launchpad for a winning streak while putting additional pressure on the NFC East-leading New York Giants.
However, it comes with a concern.
The 3-4 Cowboys cannot afford to underestimate their 2-5 visitors. They have struggled to take care of business against teams with losing records, and the Cardinals have another reason to feel confident, having won all four of their previous games at AT&T Stadium.