Preseason opener exposes Dallas Cowboys’ huge problem that everyone was ignoring before Saturday’s loss
Joe Milton’s struggles exposed a serious problem on the Cowboys’ roster.
In the offseason, it’s easy to hope for an NFL’s gambles to pan out. In the preseason, it’s hard to ignore when they’re not going well. That was the case on Saturday for the Dallas Cowboys as quarterback Joe Milton had an underwhelming debut with his new team during the team’s 21-31 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Milton completed 17 of 29 pass attempts for 143 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He finished with a 68.5 passer rating and 4.9 yards per attempt.
Other than a series at the end of the first half in which Milton completed five consecutive passes, it was a rough day for the second-year quarterback.
He threw an interception in a play in which—though he displayed his freakish arm strength casually slinging the football for well more than 50 air yards—he forced the ball downfield instead of taking the check down. He missed a receiver in the end zone near the end of the first half. Hi worst pass was an overthrow to a wide open Ryan Flournoy for what would’ve been one of the biggest plays of the game.
Misfires were a constant and more times than not, Milton failed to give his receivers a chance at making a play.
To make matter worse, problems went beyond the passing game: In the third quarter, Milton had a chance to convert a fourth down scrambling but stepped out of bounds short in what appeared to be a mental mistake.
Fortunately, in the fourth quarter, Milton was able to string together multiple touch passes to lead a scoring drive. He found Traeshon Holden down the sideline for a 35-yard-gain. Shortly after, he lobbed a touchdown pass to the corner of the end zone finding rookie TE Rivaldo Fairweather. He also completed a pass for the two-point conversion.
That sequence will be huge for raising Milton’s confidence going into the rest of the preseason.
Joe Milton’s struggles expose Cowboys have a backup quarterback problem
Though he’s still a young player with upside, Saturday’s outing was a reminder of Milton’s past struggles. Accuracy was his biggest problem at Tennessee and New England. For those issues to show up as bad as they did over the weekend, at minimum, the question should be asked: Do the Cowboys have a good situation at backup quarterback?
Milton’s play on Saturday suggests not entirely. He will have to turn it around quickly and build upon his late-game success before the Cowboys are tempted by the idea of giving Will Grier a bigger opportunity to land the QB2 gig if not bring in an outside competitor, which is unlikely considering the time of year.
For Dallas, it’s a problem that carries significant weight as Dak Prescott’s injury history has grown larger over the last few years. Let’s see if they keep betting on Milton or if they shake things up.
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