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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff WriterSep 23, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @toddarcher.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott had a message for some of his teammates in the locker room after Sunday’s 28-25 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
“Enjoy your Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, tonight,” the Cowboys quarterback said. “Tomorrow, you wake up and it’s Thursday, so let’s get to it.”
At 1-2, the Cowboys are on to the New York Giants.
They have to be. They have just two practices before getting on a plane to New Jersey for Thursday’s game against their NFC East rivals (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
“I mean, that’s just the schedule,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “It’s part of the NFL. It’s the beauty of competition. There’s nothing like Sundays, like game day. So, we know what the schedule is. We have a plan. We’ll be in [Monday], do what we need to do. Get them lined up and get ready to go Thursday night.”
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The Cowboys are 1-2 for the first time since 2020, McCarthy’s first year. They would finish that season with a 6-10 record in part because Prescott was lost during the season with a dislocated and fractured right ankle. But also because of a defense that allowed a franchise-record 473 points and could not stop the run.
In the past two games, the Cowboys have allowed 464 rushing yards, the most for Dallas in a two-game span since 2020, when they allowed 476 yards in Weeks 12 and 13 and 469 in Weeks 6 and 7.
“It’s just like, at what point are we just going to knuckle up and just play?” said edge rusher Micah Parsons, who was a rookie in 2021. “I mean, I’ve never experienced something like this.”
If there was something positive for the Cowboys, it was the fight they showed in the fourth. They trailed 28-6 entering the final quarter. After Baltimore’s Justin Tucker missed a 46-yard field goal attempt, the Cowboys scored touchdowns on three straight possessions.
They entered the game with three touchdowns in two weeks. Prescott threw for 187 yards in the final 10:41 of the game with touchdown throws to Jalen Tolbert (15 yards) and KaVontae Turpin (16 yards) after he had a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Cowboys were helped by a recovery of an onside kick and a three-and-out by the Ravens that made a potential franchise-best 22-point comeback possible.
“It’s something that doesn’t show up in the playbook or the scheme: It’s the heart and soul of your football team and the ability to grow emotionally and have that experience,” McCarthy said.
But when the defense needed one more stop, they couldn’t get it with Lamar Jackson completing a 9-yard pass to receiver Zay Flowers on third-and-6. Two plays later, Jackson killed the game with a 10-yard gain.
“You can’t in any way sugarcoat the fact that we got beat, and there are parts of the way we got beat that were really areas we’ve got to get a lot better on,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “But it takes something to come back and give that kind of effort at the end. I’m going to hang my hat on that.”
The Cowboys can’t continue to have slow starts. In the past two games, they have given up eight touchdowns in 10 first-half possessions. The offense has been unable to match that production with one touchdown and five field goals in 11 first-half possessions.
“We’ve just got to be cleaner on everything,” tight end Jake Ferguson said.
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The Giants have been a good foe for the Cowboys. Prescott has not lost to them since his rookie season (2016), winning 12 straight. He has 27 touchdown passes and eight interceptions against the Giants.
Like the Cowboys, New York is 1-2 with its only win coming against the Cleveland Browns.
Jones wasn’t big on the Prescott winning streak.
“I just know that, not in a sense of this Giant team, how we’re playing right now. We’re going to be on the road, they’ll be tough,” Jones said. “So I’m not into at all our individual players’ record against teams that we’re going to be playing in the future.”
Prescott’s worry is more on the mindset. The Cowboys have had two two-game losing streaks in the past three seasons. Last season’s did not come until December. In 2021, it was November.
“If guys are dwelling and guys are sitting on a loss or back-to-back losses, I’ve got to obviously speak up and let them know that it’s over with,” Prescott said. “We’ve got an opportunity next week to go here Thursday, four days from now, and go 2-2. And when we get that win, you’re going to feel a little bit better.
“And once again I need to remind them that that doesn’t matter. It’s about what we can do in [10] days or what we can do tomorrow to build to that next game. We just have to understand the process, trust the process and be accountable.”
