Crunch-time drops, defensive growing pains doom Cowboys in first game after Parsons<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s hard to argue that the Eagles were not the better team Thursday night. Even with Carter\u2019s unusual ejection, they outlasted the Cowboys thanks in large part to a run game Dallas couldn\u2019t stop in the first half.<\/p>\n
But when Cowboys team owner and general manager Jerry Jones commented on the loss, saying he was \u201cencouraged,\u201d the surprise was less palpable than post-loss praise might seem out of context.<\/p>\n
Because trading Pro Bowl edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers just seven days before kickoff had stilted the Cowboys\u2019 external expectations. Was it surprising to see Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts run free on Dallas when the player Dallas recently tasked with spying him was now in Wisconsin?<\/p>\n
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And yet, in the second half, the Cowboys\u2019 defense settled.<\/p>\n
An Eagles team that rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns before halftime added 35 yards and no end-zone visits afterward. A Dallas defense that allowed Philadelphia to convert all five third-down attempts in the first half permitted just three of eight in the second half. Both before and after a roughly 65-minute lightning delay, Dallas\u2019 run fits and blitzes found their vision.<\/p>\n
The visitors lost even after the top consideration in their offensive line protections no longer needed to be considered. But they saw room to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a chance to win that game and weren\u2019t able to do it and it\u2019ll sting,\u201d Brian Schottenheimer said after his first game as head coach. \u201cThere\u2019s no moral victories \u2026 but again, we had chances out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Cowboys\u2019 chance faltered as they failed to play complementary football, their offense dropping off just as their defense began to pick up.<\/p>\n
The same Dallas team that put up 20 points in the first half suffered a full shutout in the second. The Cowboys squandered a nine-play, 61-yard drive in the third quarter when running back Miles Sanders fumbled at the 10-yard line. Prescott tackled cornerback Quinyon Mitchell to save a big return just before both teams retreated to their locker rooms to shelter from lightning. Game play resumed at 11:30 p.m. ET partway through the third quarter. Then Dallas\u2019 game-killing drive began with 3:09 to play, after the Cowboys’ defense forced a three-and-out to give its offense a chance to win it.<\/p>\n
The Prescott-CeeDee Lamb connection that went over 100 yards on the night lost its rhythm then. Prescott threw in traffic while Eagles defenders swarmed, Lamb slipping on the route toward a pass that ended up landing closer to Mitchell. A non-secured interception and 15-yard completion to George Pickens bailed Dallas out, but Prescott\u2019s 39-air-yard throw to Lamb bobbled from Lamb\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
Three plays later, on another 30-yard try, the ball would again slip through Lamb\u2019s hands with under 2 minutes to play.<\/p>\n
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The Cowboys didn\u2019t get the ball back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s terrible,\u201d he said after catching four of six passes for 86 yards in the first half and then three of seven for 24 in the second. \u201cI can\u2019t point the finger at anybody else. I take full accountability and everything else that comes with it. As a player, I train for moments like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to catch the damn ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cowboys’ offense needed to hold its spark for longer Thursday, and its defense needed to catch fire earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen plays are there against a good football team, you have to make plays, and that\u2019s coaching and playing and all that together,\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cBut again, we know we\u2019re good enough to beat the Eagles. We know we\u2019re good enough to beat anybody, but we have to do it. Those are just words, and we came up short tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Dak Prescott and Dallas’ offense got shutout in the second half against Philadelphia. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/p>\n
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)\u2018We didn\u2019t think we were going undefeated\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\nAfter opening against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Cowboys move toward a lighter portion of their schedule. Four of their next five opponents finished 2024 with a losing record.<\/p>\n
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The exception: the Packers, who knocked the Cowboys out of the playoffs two seasons ago and now have Dallas\u2019 2021 first-round draft pick in Parsons.<\/p>\n
The Cowboys hope the defensive rhythm they found in the second half will carry toward wins in the coming weeks, the banner reveal and Lombardi display that Philadelphia held Thursday before kickoff no longer a weekly staple on Dallas\u2019 schedule.<\/p>\n
Schottenheimer\u2019s first game calling plays has passed, as has the club\u2019s first game without Parsons. Prescott\u2019s first game back from an avulsion fracture to his hamstring is in the books, and rookie first-round right guard Tyler Booker\u2019s first NFL game is complete.<\/p>\n
Players expressed: Can we move on now?<\/p>\n
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Call the Cowboys crazy, but they left Lincoln Financial Field confident about what they\u2019re building. The visions from new coaches and new personnel aren\u2019t settled \u2014 but they did show signs of potential, players and front-office members believed.<\/p>\n
Safety Malik Hooker took the stool beside Prescott\u2019s locker after the game to tell his quarterback: It was us in the first half.<\/p>\n
Prescott\u2019s response: Hell, that was us in the second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s a game that both units can say, \u2018Hey, we let the other unit down\u2019 and a lot to grow off of and feel good about it,\u201d Prescott said. \u201cHell, I was walking through and telling guys: Be process-oriented. We didn\u2019t think we were going undefeated, did we? Let\u2019s be honest: Did we? Would\u2019ve been f***ing nice. But … now let\u2019s build. Let\u2019s not f***ing sit on our hands and be upset.<\/p>\n
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\u201cLet\u2019s build.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll aim to build a run game that doesn\u2019t fumble and leave Prescott tackling an opponent to save a score. Build a defense that can contain a mobile quarterback, knowing Hurts won\u2019t be the last to crop up on the team\u2019s schedule. And build a team that makes plays late into the fourth quarter when the game is on the line \u2014 because history says this won\u2019t be the last time the Cowboys have that opportunity this season.<\/p>\n
History also says this won\u2019t be the last time Prescott spits during a game.<\/p>\n
But perhaps it will be the last time a player spits on him in return.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually felt bad,\u201d Prescott said. \u201cI felt bad he got kicked out of the game. But then again, dude, you can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n
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\u201cJust can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 On the sideline of the NFL season opener, Dak Prescott was watching his defense face the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":202078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,13555,1596,8998,35777,9001,66647,29333,68401,80790,74780,11138,1297,1105,69595,358,29842,3187,35763,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-202077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dak-prescott","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-george-pickens","13":"tag-green-bay-packers","14":"tag-jalen-carter","15":"tag-jalen-hurts","16":"tag-lamb","17":"tag-malik-davis","18":"tag-malik-hooker","19":"tag-micah-parsons","20":"tag-miles-sanders","21":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","22":"tag-quinyon-mitchell","23":"tag-texas","24":"tag-the-cowboys","25":"tag-tx","26":"tag-tyler-booker","27":"tag-united-states","28":"tag-united-states-of-america","29":"tag-unitedstates","30":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115151269188342740","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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