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Morning After Week 5 – Another Brutal Showing
The Cowboys fell on their faces in a situation that can’t be excused as Tampa gets a win.
Bob Sturm2 hours ago
Let’s start at the start. I will be the first to own that I didn’t see this one coming.
After watching Tampa Bay play on Sunday and seeing Dallas in Houston, too, I spent most of Thursday not expecting this. This type of loss is always on the table. I mean, this is the Dallas Cowboys and we have been watching them long enough so you always stay on guard for one of these stinkers showing up on your porch.
But, this Tampa Bay team is probably not capable of this one. They are winless and can’t really score. They have a rookie QB who was undrafted and had never started a game on the road or in prime-time.
Look, we know the Cowboys have their issues, but this is in the running for the easiest challenge on the schedule. They surely cannot screw this one up in such an incredible way that they can actually lose the game. Sure, it can be tighter than it should be, but they can lose it? Doubtful!
But, I suppose you are saying that it was easy to see coming. Heck, in our game preview yesterday, we pointed out that this team cannot handle home games in prime time for the last two seasons. As we update this list below, we now see that since the start of 2024, the Cowboys have played in prime time windows at home seven different times and have a record of 1-5-1 in those seven games.
They have one win in seven primetime home games. Now, several of those happened in late 2024 without a starting QB, but, now you can see that several in a row have happened even if Dallas is favored against a team we might call hapless.
For whatever reason, in four opportunities to win a home game in primetime under Brian Schottenheimer, this team has not won any of them. 0-3-1 under the coach and that is going to be very hard to defend since they have been strong favorites in the last three. And yes, this one, in particular is very tough to defend.
You cannot lose this game in this situation. This undoes almost all of the good that they have discovered this season and definitely last weekend in Houston. This one is going to be put in the “inexcusable loss” category and unfortunately, we there are too many examples residing there.
Dak Prescott was asked about how tired he is of all of this in the post-game:
“It’s frustrating. I wouldn’t say I’m personally fatigued, but yeah, it’s frustrating. I feel like this game was similar to the Cardinals game last year and then I feel like I can probably pick another one from the year before. And so as a leader, as a guy that’s been on this team, it’s frustrating because you don’t feel it until afterwards. You feel like you’re saying enough, you’re being contagious enough, you’re being the leader that you need to be. And I know guys are fighting. I know guys are trying, but it sucks. And yeah, I definitely won’t use the word fatigue, but it’s frustrating. It’s challenging. It’s very, very challenging and it’s something that I’m going to embrace.”
People are just tired, boss. But, it is modern day Dallas Cowboys football as we know it.
They are stuck in a perpetual state of “under construction” and cannot move to the next stage no matter how hard they try. We talked yesterday how this would be a great opportunity to see how good this coaching staff is to get a tired team up and ready to take care of business and then enjoy an extended break before they play at Green Bay. This one was a trap game and everyone could see that. But, surely, it would be a feeble trap and one that should be avoidable by any team that is headed in the right direction.
You are home. You are heavily favored. You are relatively healthy at key spots. And your opponent is none of those things. This one should be an easy bar to clear and it will be up to your coaching staff to have preparation and motivation squared away.
And yet, this is what we got?
In Brazil, we talked about the honeymoon ending for Brian Schottenheimer and the stove getting warm under Christian Parker. Now, we are wondering what the performance yesterday says about those two again. This was just not in any way encouraging to see this game through the light of how well the coaches were able to prevent yet another stinker on home turf.
One step forward, immediately erased by a step backwards.
Stuck in the middle, again.
Looking back at this ridiculous loss will not be enjoyable in any way, because there may not be too many positives to pull from this one.
The defense started the game by allowing one of the longest drives of all-time. The Bucs took the ball at their own 27 yard-line and marched 15 plays for 73 yards and literally took the clock from just under 11 minutes to go in the 1st Quarter all the way into the second quarter.
The historical markings were everywhere:
- It was Tampa Bay’s longest drive by elapsed time since Nov. 4, 2007 (11:59 against Arizona), and the second-longest scoring drive in franchise history—one second short of a 10:59 drive against New Orleans in 1994.
- By time of possession it was the longest opening drive by any NFL team since the Ravens’ 10:52 drive in Week 2 of 2022.
- Jalon Daniels’ perfect 8-for-8 tied the most completions without an incompletion on a single drive by a Buccaneers quarterback in the last 35 years.
Yet, nobody was too concerned. Outscoring Dallas is a tall order because they score every drive, right? They are an elite offense who borders on unstoppable. The stats are not fiction, nor subjective. They are a very powerful side of the ball.
Unless, they decide to engage in self-sabotage. And on this night, the offensive mistakes were plentiful. The drops numbered a half-dozen. The poor throws were well above normal. The protection was substandard and the running game barely did anything after Javonte Williams ran for 21 yards on the Cowboys 5th play. After that, there would be 12 more run plays that would total just 29 yards all night.
The Dallas opening drive was very impressive. They took the early lead and set the pace. But, then, what happened? The next seven opportunities resulted in three points.
Punt, punt, punt, field goal, halftime. Then that third quarter hit where they essentially turned the ball over three times and it was all she wrote.
The third quarter will go down in history as one of the worst 15 minutes in my 29 seasons watching the Cowboys. Now, I will grant you that I am a prisoner of the moment and I am surely not considering all of the options from those 474 games that have occurred on my watch. That is a lot of disappointing football, so I reserve the right to change this opinion, but holy cow, that was a brutal quarter.
Here we go as Dallas had secured a very frustrating 10-7 halftime lead:
Opening kickoff goes to the Bucs and if you thought the 1st half was frustrating, you had no idea what you were in store for next.
Buccaneers 1st possession of third quarter: Bucky Irving breaks a 72-yard run on the 1st play of the half. He quite literally was fully surrounded by Cowboys and yet found an opening and ran from his 14 to the Cowboys 14 before he was pushed out of bounds. It was an amazing route his journey took:
Next Gen had his expected yardage for this run at 4 yards and his actual run at 72 yards for a nice 68 yards above expected.
Then, on the very next play, we have an untouched jet sweep by Emeka Egbuka and now, in less than 60 seconds, the Bucs have the lead that they will never relinquish.
Dallas gets the ball back and starts driving, but on 3rd and 3 from the Tampa 27, we have the first Cowboys turnover. Here, Dak fires a ball to Ryan Flournoy in tight traffic and Flournoy had the ball bounce off his hands. This is a proper and normal NFL throw on 3rd down and this is a young receiver not handling the job well. Because Tampa is in zone, the ball bounces up and is easily caught by the defender for a very costly interception and giveaway.
Tampa gets the ball now with the lead and despite a drive-killing holding penalty, they hit on a wide open 64-yard pass play on 2nd and 14. This time Tez Johnson will make his only catch of the night as Daniels sees him wide open after Daron Bland falls down. This moves the ball from the Tampa 21 all the way down to the Cowboys 15 yard line again. Three Bucky Irving runs later and they now are up 21-10. But, the 3rd Quarter is not even half over.
The Bucs kick it off and this is when Kavonte Turpin fumbles for the first time as a NFL kick returner and it is instantly recovered by Tampa Bay as they cannot believe how many things are now flipped in their favor. Dallas now has two giveaways. It would get worse.
This next drive for the Bucs would offer maybe the most humiliating moment of the game. Daniels has been sacked and faces a 3rd and 21 from midfield. They are up 11 points and have a QB who has only completed one pass downfield all night and that was when Daron Bland fell on the Tez Johnson play just one drive before.
Why would you allow your rookie QB to even try to fire a dart on 3rd and 21 in this spot? In any normal universe, you try to get 10 yards back to allow a field goal attempt, but asking Daniels to try to move the chains here is craziness given the setting and situation.
But, for reasons none of us can fully comprehend, Dallas treats Jalon Daniels like he is Drew Brees and plays the most conservative 7-deep coverage we can recall in a non-Hail Mary situation (and yes, the irony of not playing this on the final play in Rio is not lost on us).
But, there they are on 3rd and 21 and just trying to keep everything in front of them in the most careful and scared coverage available. But, again, this defense is so bad that we don’t blame Parker for playing like this. Yet, here they are as deep as can be and still, Daniels fires a pass to Egbuka who has just cleared those sticks 21 yards downfield and in front of the highest paid defensive back, Daron Bland, who has inexplicably fallen again on the play.
So, we see just two downfield passes completed all night by Daniels on the chart below and on both Bland has just fallen on his own to allow both of them.
This team makes people crazy and this third quarter shows you why. Even the best offenses and best Quarterbacks do not convert 3rd and 21 at higher than a 2% rate. This is such a long-shot play and desperation idea that you wonder about Tampa even trying to complete this pass. The sheer nerve and audacity reveals a coach who is thinking he might get fired for Todd Bowles to authorize this. But, with 6 minutes to go in the third quarter? Incredible. Even more incredible that it worked. Tampa would eventually kick a field goal to go up 24-10.
Then, Dallas would take a two giveaway quarter and try a 4th and 3 from their own 43 and Prescott would again miss a vital throw to Jake Ferguson. Turnover on Downs which is not an actual turnover, but it very much serves as one.
Third quarter score: Tampa 17, Dallas 0 and Dallas went interception, fumble, turnover on downs.
The fourth quarter would offer additional frustration in the form of a controversial 2-point conversion decision that failed and another interception that Jake Ferguson had go off both of his hands and then his facemask as it caroms to yet another Tampa defender for an easy takeaway.
In the end, this Tampa team has its first win of the season and Dallas loses a game that should receive an incredible amount of scrutiny. They were absolutely dominated in a game in which they were heavily favored and simply did not appear ready for battle.
Yes, they can still have a great season, but this is yet another indication that they cannot be trusted. Those of us who believed they were gaining trust now look silly for falling for it all yet again.
I am guilty. I thought progress was being made. I thought they could take care of this business because they were home, they were better, and they were appearing capable of belief.
But, that overlooks a simple truth that cannot be ignored. They have now played 22 games under Brian Schottenheimer and have only won back-to-back games one time in that 10 day period in 2025 when they won three straight.
Otherwise? Dallas is now 0-6 following wins.
That means they win one game and they instantly give back the progress the very next time they play, regardless of who they are playing and where they are playing them.
It is all so frustrating.
There are people out there who still believe in them – but those of us who ever make the mistake of trusting them are reminded what a bad idea that is on nights like this one.
They simply cannot be trusted and the current coaching staff is not getting that changed from what we can tell.
In other words, I understand why you feel the way you do about this organization.
There is no excuse for what happened last night. That is an absolutely brutal showing.
