It’s been over 48 hours since the Dallas Cowboys opened the 2021 season with a gut-wrenching 31-29 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on opening night. That 48-hour mark is relatively significant as I feel it is best to use the time to remove as much emotion as possible whenever discussing a win or a loss.
Heading into the game, had you asked me if I would take going toe-to-toe with the league champs in their own building, I would have absolutely said yes. Had there not been questionable circumstances that kept the Dallas Cowboys from pulling off the upset, maybe 48 hours would not have been necessary.
Regardless of the fact that Dallas sits at 0-1, there is no question that I was extremely proud of how this team battled. Obviously, there are things that need to be cleaned up. No matter the reasoning for the loss, we can all agree that the Cowboys did not play a perfect game. With that, let’s take this time to re-live the opener one more time and talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly from Week 1.
Dallas Cowboys: The Good
I mean, there is no way you can start any discussion of the good things that happened Thursday night without talking about Rayne Dakota Prescott. A lot has gone on since October 11, 2020, which was the last time Dak Prescott played a football game.
Not only did Prescott use game one of the 2021 season to make his return, but he also had little to no time in training camp due to a shoulder injury. Of course, he also played exactly zero snaps in the preseason as well.
So… how bout that rust, eh? All Dak did was go 42 for 58 for over 400 yards passing with three touchdowns and an interception that was not his fault. Prescott did not look like the guy who was lighting up the league before his season ended last year, he somehow looked better. If he continues to trend in this direction, it will not be long before people routinely talk of Dak as they do the ultra-elite quarterbacks in this league.
Other aspects of the game that clearly should be looked at positively would be the debut of rookie linebacker Micah Parsons, the return of receiver Amari Cooper and an improved run defense from last year.
Dallas Cowboys: The Bad
Last year, when a new regime was brought in, the excitement surrounding the hiring of long-time Rams’ special teams’ coach John Fassel was supposed to be a coup of sorts. In 2020, the Cowboys were average at best in all facets of this portion of the game.
This preseason, kicker Greg Zuerlein missed all of training camp recovering from back surgery. For some reason, it was decided upon to not bring in an actual kicker. Not only did that occur, but, by and large, the Dallas Cowboys spent an absurdly low amount of time on kicking in general.
As game time made its arrival, this rust showed up as well. Zuerlein’s first attempt was a badly missed snap-hook from 31 yards. Moments later, the Dallas Cowboys would score a touchdown, however, Zuerlein would miss the extra point. Later on, another kick, this time from 60 yards was also missed.
While that miss is excusable and Zuerlein did make amends of sorts drilling a should-have-been game-winning 48 yarder late in the game, the four points left off the board with the other misses could be looked upon as difference-making as well.
Why Zuerlein was not better prepared for the season opener or why another kicker wasn’t prepped just in case seems odd at best. For a team that could not afford easily correctable mistakes, this oversight bordered on egregious. Other bad things from game one would certainly include receiver CeeDee Lamb’s drops and the lack of a rushing attack.
Dallas Cowboys: The Ugly
Prior to the season starting, I shared my three biggest concerns heading into 2021. One of those concerns was the pass rush or lack thereof. Unfortunately, that worry came into fruition Thursday night as the Dallas Cowboys never sacked Bucs quarterback Tom Brady.
As a result, Brady was able to pick apart the suspect Dallas secondary to the tune of 379 yards and four touchdowns. Even with cornerback Trevon Diggs shutting down receiver Mike Evans, Tampa Bay fell ten yards short of having three different receivers eclipse 100 yards.
Cornerback Anthony Brown got destroyed in the matchup against his namesake Antonio. Brown and fellow receiver Chris Godwin combined to catch two-thirds of the balls in which they were targeted, while tight end Rob Gronkowski went a perfect eight for eight.
Moving forward, Dallas must be able to get to the quarterback effectively to protect a highly questionable secondary. Without that, they will be in many more situations where games will come down to whoever has the ball last.