Dak Prescott, Cowboys lifeless in loss as Tom Brady awaits: ‘We all got to flip the switch’
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Here are a handful of quick Thesaurus pulls to help paint a picture of how the unit played: unpropitious, cataclysmic, demoralizing, execrable.
At the center of the conundrum is quarterback Dak Prescott. His word to summarize his own performance is not acceptable for print, unfortunately, but it rhymes with “smitty.”
Prescott was a dreadful 14-for-37 for 128 yards with one touchdown and one interception. His longest completion went for 15 yards. The offense logged 10 three-and-outs (with Prescott on the field) thanks to a 4-for-18 (22.2%) showing on third down. Prescott has thrown 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions over his last five games, a stretch over which the Cowboys went 3-2. Prescott finished tied for the league lead with 15 interceptions this season.
22-16 victory for the Eagles that zapped the Cowboys’ chances of winning the NFC East. But Dallas didn’t take care of its own business, regardless.
“Coming into this game, I feel like we knew we were going to win,” said receiver CeeDee Lamb, who caught the Cowboys’ lone touchdown six seconds before halftime. “We all got to flip the switch.”
Obviously, the Cowboys did not meet that standard.
“We play pro football, man,” right guard Zack Martin said on the topic of uncertain motivations entering the game. “If you come out and don’t go, this is what happens.”
McCarthy added that the Cowboys came into this week with little rhythm.
“It wasn’t our best week of practice, without a doubt,” he said. “We had moving parts trying to (play) guys at different (positions).”
“Our players are human,” McCarthy added.
Prescott’s struggles are one piece of the “pie” that owner and general manager Jerry Jones loves to talk about while deciding how to dole out contract extensions to Lamb, Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed eight times for 10 yards.
The Commanders’ defensive line bullied the Cowboys up front all game. As a team, Dallas had 27 rushing attempts for 64 yards (2.4 yards per carry). A holding call killed a drive. Simple screens could not be completed.
Special teams was another factor the Cowboys must course-correct ahead of Tampa Bay. Punter Bryan Anger poorly set the tone by mishandling a snap after Dallas’ first possession, giving the Commanders the ball at the Cowboys 20-yard line. Returner KaVontae Turpin muffed a punt later in the first quarter to once again give Washington the ball in the red zone.
This is not all to completely absolve the defense. Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, in his first NFL start, threw a touchdown on his first dropback to Terry McLaurin. Later in the game, he and McLaurin connected for a 52-yard play that set up a field goal.
The Cowboys can look back on the regular season as a 12-5 club that was in contention for the most competitive division in football down to the final day. That’s one prism to look at Sunday’s result. But that would be ignoring the fact that too much went wrong for the Cowboys in the nation’s capital.
The corrections must come quickly. Or else the offseason will arrive faster.
“There’s no other choice,” Martin said. “We do this again, we’ll be sitting at home next week.”
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.