Well than was ugly (sigh). Yesterday, our Dallas Cowboys lost on the road to the Carolina Panthers 16-8. There are many topics that could be covered, but for now here are my top three takeaways from yesterday’s game.

Quarterback Issues

Quarterback Dak Prescott struggled yesterday. He completed 19 of 29 passes for 170 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He also had a lost fumble on the final drive of the game. The worst play was an under thrown deep ball to a wide open Blake Jarwin in the second quarter.  I will say that he had to scramble a lot (see below regarding the O-line), but no one was impressed with his performance. After the game, Prescott stated,

“I was off. That stuff you have to go back and look on film. I have to figure out what I was off. Was I rushing it? Did I feel pressure? What were the things causing it? Was it just me missing the pass? That’s not anything that I can judge right now.”

Ok Dak, well when you figure it out, please let us know.

Offensive Line Problems

The Cowboys were missing veteran center Travis Frederick yesterday (out for an unknown amount of time following a diagnosis of Guillien Barre Syndrome). Joe Looney replaced him and although he wasn’t horrible, he’s no Frederick. Rookie left guard Connor Williams got beat a coulple of times allowing two sacks. In the first quarter, left tackle Tyron Smith got two 10-yard penalties which helped to stop the Cowboys drive and put them at 3 & long. La’el Collins was called twice for holding in the second half, and he also gave up two sacks. Prescott was sacked six times which is the most he’s been sacked since that notorious game against the Atlanta Falcons last season (eight sacks). If yesterday is any indication of how the O-line will perform, then we have a long season ahead of us.

Defense Played 

The defense held the Panthers to just 16 points when it could have been much worse. Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence is earning that franchise tag which will give him $17 million. During the game, he accrued seven tackles, one sack, three tackles for loss of yards, and a fumble recovery. When asked to comment after the game, Lawrence refused.

“No comment, because we didn’t win the game…Plays don’t matter if you don’t win. Sacks don’t add up if you don’t win. It don’t matter. I don’t play just to get sacks, I play to win.”

I, for one, like his attitude and I feel like he is going to be a team leader for years to come. With that being said, the defense did have a hard time stopping quarterback Cam Newton from running. Just in the first half alone, Newton passed for 102 yards and rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown. The Cowboys adjusted in the second half and allowed minus six yards from Newton.

The Cowboys need to do some major adjustments this week. Lets hope they figure out what went wrong and come back with a vengeance this Sunday against the New York Giants.