Dak Prescott explains what should have been obvious about his worst play from Week 1 loss against New York Giants
The Dallas Cowboys defense was the story of the game, but the offense paid the price for this first-half mistake that’s being misunderstood by many.
The story of the Dallas Cowboys’ season-opening loss is how bad the defense looked against the Jaxson Dart-led New York Giants. But quarterback Dak Prescott knows he had a hand in his team’s 0-1 start.
Though Prescott played a more than decent game (he recorded the second-best QBR of the week despite multiple drops from his receivers), his interception toward the end of the first half proved very costly.
After the game, Prescott shed light into the offense’s struggles and clarified what happened in his interception.
Dak Prescott explains the obvious
When Prescott threw the interception, many fans and media members across social media called it an absurd decision. Some even compared it to Drake Maye’s decision-making at the end of the NFL’s Kickoff game, in which he forced a throw into the endzone that should have been a throwaway.
Such reactions were surprising to me watching the game live because it certainly appeared like Prescott was trying to throw the ball away but failed to put enough power on it. Not that it’s any consolation, but the Cowboys QB confirmed that was the case.
“Some self-inflicted wounds,” Prescott said of the offensive struggles. “We didn’t get going early, went three-and-out to start the game. The interception at half, I mean, that was crucial. I’m trying to throw the ball away, that guy made a hell of a play. I’ve got to make sure it’s out of bounds though. I was surprised. One I want back, obviously. I think that was a huge part in the game.”
It really was. The Giants were able to score before the half and came out of the locker room with a big-time touchdown drive to start the third quarter. Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer called it a “double dip.”
Cowboys INT was by far the biggest mistake on offense
The Cowboys QB described it as the most influential mistake the team had on offense.
“I think it was self-inflicted for the most part,” Prescott added. “The interception, some
drop balls, and they did a good job stopping the run. If there’s one thing that they did, it was stopping the run. Made us kind of one dimensional in that sense. And then the end,
yeah, I’m just going to keep reverting right back to the interception, because after that, we only had two possessions, and we scored on them. So, they controlled the game, and the time, and the manner, and that’s the NFL for you.”
To be fair to Prescott and the Cowboys offense, in the NFL, you need your defense to give you a chance to come back. The reason why Dallas didn’t get it was the Giants dragged the defense in the second half throughought two drives that lasted more than eight minutes apiece.
Prescott needs to be better and all, but if this is going to be another year of the offense needing to look pristine to have a chance at winning ballgames, that’s an indictment on the defense, not the other way around.
After those back-to-back eight-minute drives, the Cowboys defense got a chance to redemption. It declined it. With 5:21 on the clock, they got another chance at saving the day. Instead, the Giants moved the chains four times and iced the game.
