ARLINGTON, TX – Dallas fell short to the Tampa Bay Bucs 19-3 in their season opener. The biggest issue that Dallas had all evening was their lack of offense. They couldn’t seem to put anything together and it really showed. The defense held their own so that it wasn’t a blow out game but the offense could not find their way into the end zone tonight.
Dallas struggled in the first half finding rhythm on offense. Dak Prescott could not get into any type of groove with his WR1 CeeDee Lamb. Lamb finished the half with one catch for 16 yards. Prescott finished the first half 6-of-16 for 53 yards and one interception that was picked by Antoine Winfield Jr. intended for wide receiver Noah Brown.
The run game that head coach Mike McCarthy said the Cowboys would rely on more this season due to their lack of depth at wide receiver didn’t help much in the first half either. Ezekiel Elliott finished the first half with six carries for 32 yards and Tony Pollard finished the first half with -2 yards rushing. Yes, you are reading that right… -2 yards.
The Cowboys defense is what made this deficit not a blowout at the half and it started and ended with Micah Parsons. Parsons had two sacks on Tom Brady on third down attempts, which resulted in Tampa Bay having to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. The Bucs were 3-of-8 on third down conversions in the first half.
Dallas lost left guard Connor McGovern within the first few plays of the game. He left the game with a right ankle injury and did not return. Matt Farniok took over for the remainder of the game.
The Cowboys trailed at the half 12-3. Neither team scored a touchdown, Tampa Bay scored four field goals while Dallas had one.
The third quarter was quiet until Mike Evans caught an exceptional one-handed pass from Tom Brady in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game with three minutes left in the third quarter. The Bucs took a 19-3 lead after that connection from Brady to Evans.
The Cowboys had an opportunity to retaliate at the end of the third quarter but back-to-back false start penalties killed all hopes of that quickly. Dallas had eight penalties for 50 yards entering the fourth quarter.
To think things couldn’t get any worse with four minutes left in the fourth quarter Dak Prescott leaves the game with a right hand injury. In the beginning he believed to have just jammed it but when he realized he couldn’t grip the football he knew it was more significant.
Following the game Jerry Jones informed the media that it was Prescott’s thumb and he will need to get surgery. Prescott is scheduled to have surgery on Monday according to many sources. He will be out 6-8 weeks. Prescott’s best point of return at this moment is on October 30 against the Chicago Bears.
Cooper Rush finished out the game for Dallas tonight. It looks like Mike McCarthy and the coaching staff are going to have to go back to the drawing board as they figure out how to navigate the next 6-8 weeks without their QB1.
The Cowboys will host the Cincinnati Bengals in AT&T Stadium next Sunday at 3:30 PM.
