The 24-16 loss of the Dallas Cowboys against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wasn’t something that the fans and the team would digest right away. A driver at the stadium, upon seeing Prescott after the game, said, “Embarrassing!” Others back home definitely harbored the same feeling.
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After all, who thought that a 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that too without QB Baker Mayfield in play, had a chance against the Dallas Cowboys? The latter were massive favorites entering the game. But the tables turned brutally for Dak Prescott and Co.
“This is a game, you know, that was a game we’re supposed to have on paper, or whichever way you want to look at it,” Prescott said, according to DallasCowboys.com. “And I think Schotty (Brian Schottenheimer) 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 primetime 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.”
Team owner Jerry Jones even left the game before the game ended. On his way out, he said the loss was “extraordinarily disappointing.”
The Bucs were trailing at halftime. But they came out swinging from that point on, not allowing the Cowboys room to breathe. The stars of the night were rookie QB Jalon Daniels and RB Bucky Irving. The latter rushed for more than 100 yards, including a 72-yard gain right at the beginning of the third quarter.
In that one quarter alone, Tampa Bay has scored 17 points.
The Dallas defense allowed 419 yards of total offense. However, the offense disappointed too, putting up only 366 total yards. The Cowboys also had three turnovers, two of which were interceptions. Prescott even started getting booed by the crowd after an overthrown pass in the fourth quarter, per FOX Sports Greg Auman.
Entering the fourth quarter, star wide receivers George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb were restricted to just 63 yards on eight targets, nine yards on five targets, respectively, Auman noted. The two WRs and Prescott otherwise make one of the more powerful passing attacks in the entire league.
At the end of the day, it was a commanding win for Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and the Buccaneers. Prescott extended his respect for the opponents and the way they played.
“To use the word embarrassing; it’s tough, the QB 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.”
While Prescott wasn’t happy with the result, he was optimistic about the rest of the season, with only five games played up to now.
“Thankfully, our division doesn’t look like somebody has taken off and run with it, and everything’s still in front of us, so that’s the beauty of it, and that’s the unique part about an NFL season, and these divisions. You know, we’d feel a lot worse if somebody in our division was 5-0 right now,” Prescott said.
While there is no team in the NFC East to go on a 5-0 run, the New York Giants sit atop the division with a 3-1 record. Should they defeat the Washington Commanders on Sunday, they could be 4-1. Dallas will then have a reason to worry about.