Maybe it’s too much to ask to have the Prescott-led offense to convert 64.91 percent of their red-zone chances, as they did under Romo in 2014 (and 68.63 percent in 2013), but 33 percent is still shockingly low. Even though the Cowboys came up short in a 20-19 loss to the New York Giants, Prescott finished with 227 yards on 25 of 45 passing.
Advertisement
Sometimes after a football game there’s a perception and there’s a reality. On the plus side, he didn’t throw an interception, but he still rated his performance as “average”. Dan Bailey made field goals of 54 and 56 yards. Williams is a convenient scapegoat, but the real failure was in Dallas’ play calling.
“If they’re going to complete the ball, have them complete the ball in bounds”, McAdoo said after the game. But it just didn’t go as planned. He also missed on a number of passes that were high, although a couple that Prescott didn’t miss in the preseason should have been caught, . The coverage allowed tight end Jason Witten to catch nine balls and slot receiver Cole Beasley to grab eight. It was Cruz’s first game in almost two years because of injuries. Yes, he is a rookie quarter. His passes were pinpoint, hitting receivers in the hands on the dead run, and he was mobile, unafraid of taking a hit to get an extra yard. Probably, if he was willing to run pretty much straight to the sideline and not gain more than another yard or two, which might have left Bailey with something akin to a 64- or 65-yard try at a game victor, well beyond anything he had ever made in a game. There just weren’t very many creases. It was by far the loudest crowd I have ever heard at a Cowboy game either here, or at the old Texas Stadium in Irving or the Cotton Bowl in Dallas where the Cowboys began playing in 1960.
One game and it seems that the Dallas Cowboys are already panicking. The Giants took over at their own 23-yard line with a one-point lead and 3:57 remaining. “We found stuff that worked and guys made plays and ran hard”.
“Especially when you take into consideration Jackson State, Alcorn all the different universities”, said Marcus Jenkins, a Cowboys fan. Since that win, the Cowboys have gone 0-8 at home, including their Week 1 loss to the Giants on Sunday.
What may have been the Dak Prescott era of Cowboy football may have started yesterday?
Advertisement
With another NFC East opponent looming Sunday in Washington, the Cowboys are searching for the same answers they were a year ago when they went 1-11 without the injured Romo.
