FRISCO, Texas — There is very little positive to take from the Dallas Cowboys‘ loss to the Detroit Lions, 47-9 — which handed Dak Prescott and his teammates their third straight home loss to start the 2024 season.
A lot of things went wrong for the Cowboys, and Prescott is taking his share of the failure.
When asked if he could play better in the future, having thrown just 17 completions in 33 attempts for 178 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions against the Lions’ pass rush, the All-Pro quarterback didn’t shy away the responsibility. Instead, he bowed completely.
“Sure,” Prescott said. “Yes, it’s that simple. I don’t want to say I have to play perfect by any means, but I have to play better, better than I did and close to [lo perfecto]. Especially when you play against a team like that.
“As talented as they are, they’re at their best right now: good on defense, great on offense. Yeah, for sure.”
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, as things stand, they can’t say the same for themselves on either side of the ball, the offense has failed to score touchdowns while the defense has allowed 167 points in their last four home games. , the third most in NFL history in that span of games.
With a 3-3 record heading into their bye week and with their Achilles heel, the San Francisco 49ers, waiting on the other side, Prescott’s message to both himself and the entire roster is clear, and one that head coach Mike McCarthy echoed it in what is described as an emotionally charged postgame speech.
“We just have to get better,” Prescott explained. “And obviously, going into the bye week, I want to say we’re 3-3 after six games and with a long season ahead of us. I’ve been in worse situations, I guess you can say in terms and when we start, the teams that they got on a roll, I think, in 2018, yeah, it’s about us staying together.
“I think after a loss like this, there’s no better time than to test the character of that.”
This upcoming bye week is all about the man in the mirror in Dallas.
“Look in the mirror. Look in the mirror,” Prescott said. “Go watch these six games during the bye week. Take a few days off, reset and be ready when we get back in that building on Monday to refocus and do everything you can to help this team, and everyone has a role, whatever that role is, so make sure you understand what it is and it’s defined. And if it’s bigger than it was a few weeks ago, if it’s smaller, whatever it is, find a way to be the best at it.
“And, like you said, there are 11 games left. Let’s take them one at a time, San Francisco is next. So, since we need to see these six games, let’s go ahead and take a couple of the games and get ready to, like I said, to refocus after this restart.”
The challenge certainly won’t suddenly begin to evaporate in the future, with the 49ers, Falcons, Eagles, Texans and Commanders all hoping to face the version of the Cowboys they witnessed on October 13, with each of those opponents scheduled to battle Dallas between now and Thanksgiving.
How they come out of the bye week or not will determine whether they can have a run similar to what Prescott describes, or if they will begin to take a nosedive.
First, make sure the mirror is clean and free of cracks so as not to distort the reflection.
Secondly, and finally, stare at it.
Look at it closely, very, very carefully.
