Last Sunday, September 11, 2022, the Dallas Cowboys made their regular season debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a tragic end to their 2021 season with their 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card game. The Cowboys, who were working against the spread which was 2.5 against them, suited up at AT&T stadium to start the season in front of their 93,797 fans in attendance. Coverage started with the National Anthem on CBS for good old-fashioned Sunday night football.
Recap of the game
The game kicked off at 7:20 pm Central, with the Cowboy’s KaVontae Turpin receiving the ball. After a promising 68-yard drive down the field, the Cowboys could only muster up a field goal kicked by re-employed Brett Maher. Soon after they scored a field goal of their own. While it looked like the teams were of even skill level at the time, the game was about to make a turn for the worse. While the Cowboy’s defense held Tampa Bay to only 9 points for the rest of the half (all of which were field goals), the Cowboys could not create any momentum on the offensive side of the ball, punting three times and giving up an interception. Both teams went into the locker room at halftime, frustrated at the Buccaneer’s 12-3 lead.
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Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons sacks Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (photo creds Dallas Morning news)
After the half, a series of punts, turnovers, and turnover on downs plagued both teams, besides a Buccaneers touchdown in the 3rd quarter. To make things even worse, starting Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott left the game early due to a hand injury, which he will have surgery for, and reportedly will cause him to miss 6-8 weeks. The game ultimately came to a conclusion with a final score of 19-3 Buccaneers.
How did America’s Team get here?
So what went wrong for the Cowboys? Throughout the game, Dak Prescott seemed to have a disconnect with his receivers (which he didn’t have many of). The Cowboy’s receiver core keeps getting thinner and thinner. During the offseason, the Cowboys traded Amari Cooper to the Browns for peanuts. The franchise also lost Cedrick Wilson and Malik Turner to free agency, due to them being too expensive. Last, but not least, Michael Gallup did not play because of a torn ACL. Even though the quarterback has no one to throw to, at least he will be able to throw, right? No. The Cowboy’s offensive line ran thin this year with the loss of Connor Williams and the injury of Tyron Smith. To make things that much worse, the Cowboys will have to deal with a backup quarterback Cooper Rush, after Dak underwent surgery and is out for 6-8 weeks.
(Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott getting hit in the hand which eventually led to his departure from the game (photo creds Riggo’s Rags)
What does this mean going forward
All in all, injuries accompanied with poor financial and roster decisions leaves a lack of depth on the offense going up against top tier football teams. Week 2 will bring many challenges as the Cowboys welcome Superbowl runner ups Cincinnati Bengals to Jerry World. The Cowboys better make connections with the new players fast otherwise Cowboys fans will get a serious sense of deja vu to come Sunday.
Scene from the last Cowboys/Bengals faceoff in 2020 (photo creds Dallas Cowboys)
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