The lasting image of Week 6’s 30-27 loss in Carolina, for most Cowboys fans at least, will be watching the final six minutes of regulation bleed away with the defense unable to make a stop and the rest of the team watching helplessly from the sideline.
But quarterback Dak Prescott is more bothered by several momentum-shifting moments in the game’s first 54 minutes of play, ones where he and his offense didn’t do their job either.
The Cowboys punted the ball away just three times on Sunday, with each of those punts coming at hugely important times and proving incredibly costly:
“We’ve got to do better on that last three-and-out,” Prescott explained in his postgame press conference after Sunday’s loss.
But while it’s easy to pin the entire game on that final go-nowhere possession and the defense’s collapse on the Panthers’ final drive, Prescott actually looks to missed opportunities earlier as the real reason for the disappointing loss.
“More importantly, we’ve got to score in the red zone when we had that chance there.”
On two separate occasions, the Dallas offense had to settle for three points instead of seven, even after crossing the Panthers’ 10-yard-line. Maddeningly, both field goals came after 10-play drives that covered 60 yards or more, only to stall out in the last 27 feet.
Prescott & Co. have been rather effective at getting inside their opponents’ 20 this season; only four teams have more red-zone trips heading into Week 6’s Monday night matchups.
But Dallas ranks just 11th leaguewide in red-zone touchdowns. They’re good at getting to the doorstep; they’re not nearly as good at actually crossing the threshold.
So with eight points left on the field and three other wasted possessions, Prescott refused to hang blame for the loss on his teammates on the other side of the ball.
“If we don’t score, the last thing I’m doing is being frustrated at the defense. That’s my problem. That’s our problem, that’s somebody on offense or something that we didn’t do better,” Prescott said. “There’s two or three plays I can think of off the top of my head. Sure, not big plays- maybe plays you won’t pick out- but I’m thinking, ‘Hey, if I throw it there, if I do this, what does that drive turn into? What’s the next play? What’s the next third down like?'”
Yes, questionable play-calling and poor execution on what turned out to be the Cowboys’ final possession (two short passes to Javonte Williams for losses, short pass to Hunter Luepke) will be rightfully second-guessed, even by Prescott.
“We just can’t do that,” he admitted.
“They got us on first down and when you’re behind the sticks, it’s hard to get going again.”
But it’s those two red-zone trips where the offense was turned away- especially the one in the fourth quarter- that will haunt Prescott with notions of what might have been.
The big play in that drive was the 45-yard catch-and-run from George Pickens that put Dallas on the Carolina 20. But two plays later, Luke Schoonmaker was unable to reel in an end-zone lob from a scrambling Prescott. Two plays after that, a botched snap put the ball on the turf, and only a lucky break kicked it back to Prescott to smother. And on the next play, Prescott found himself under pressure and had to throw early; he and Pickens simply weren’t on the same page about where in the end zone to put the pass.
The result was a 28-yard chip shot from Brandon Aubrey to tie the score. But Prescott knows it could have been more… maybe enough to change the outcome.
So while the Dallas defense has a ton of work to do if there is any hope of salvaging the season, Prescott and the Cowboys offense will also likely be drilling down, on the part of Sunday’s game he most wishes he could have back.
“Most definitely the red zone trip, when I know that there’s two balls in the end zone that were [opportunities] to cash in on,” he explained. “But anytime we get in the red zone- knowing the players, the plays, what we’re capable of- and we don’t score, yeah, the game’s different.”
Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: ‘That’s my problem’: Dak Prescott identifies real reason Cowboys lost to Carolina
Reporting by Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
