Oh, those poor Cowboys fans! Week 1 could not have gone any worse for America’s team. Their offense was stuck in the mud and they were never able to recover. I know it’s only week 1, tut this may be hard to overcome considering Dak may be out for 1-2 months with a thumb injury. There were issues all around with the offense and I believe it started with the offensive line. Read on to find out if it’s time to panic or not in the big D!
Reasons for Panic
First of all, Dak is out for quite a while with a thumb injury so that alone is enough reason to panic. Even before his injury, he was unable to consistently move the ball against that Buccaneers defense. The whole offense was out of rhythm. Some of that was the great play of the Bucs defense. We could also just be seeing the real Dak when he doesn’t have the league’s top offensive line and running game. This is a big change from early in his career. Prescott has never showed that he is capable of putting this team on his back by himself consistently. In the game against the Bucs, he looked like he was staring down receivers too much and didn’t know where to go with the ball. When he gets back from injury, he will have to really step up his game and play a full 4 quarters for this team to have any chance to succeed.
Another reason to panic is the play of this offensive line. We are so used to seeing them dominate the line of scrimmage vs everyone, but that just isn’t the case anymore. This isn’t a surprise as we were expecting this Cowboys Offensive line to take a step back. This game thinned out their line even more when left guard Connor McGovern went down early with an ankle injury. Without a great offensive line in this league, you need a QB who can make quick reads and get the ball out quick. The jury is still out if Dak can make up for some O-line deficiencies. Unfortunately, won’t be able to prove that until he comes back from injury. For now, it’s up to the unproven Cooper Rush who has only attempted 63 total passes in the NFL.
Reasons not to Panic
This defense played great in my opinion, especially considering the offense couldn’t sustain drives to give them much of a break. Micah Parsons is still an absolute stud who lines up all over the place. This guy has the potential to be Defensive Player of the Year this season. They also played a good Bucs team, so it’s not like they just put up a clunker against a bad team. (Sorry 49ers fans) I think the return of Michael Gallup will really help the depth of this WR group. He is still recovering from an ACL tear last season.
The main reason to not panic is that it’s only Week 1! There are still 16 games left in the season. You don’t win Super Bowls based on how you’re playing at the beginning of the season. After they play the hungry Bengals next week, their next 2 games are against the Commanders and Giants. If you are a good team, those 2 games should be very winnable, even without your starting QB. Along with those 2 games, they also get the Lions and Bears. There is a chance to be 3-5 or 4-4 by the time Dak comes back. They will need to hit the ground running when Dak returns to have a chance.
Final Prediction
I said it earlier this season and I will say it again. I think this team is in big trouble and yes it’s time to panic! They had a terrible offseason considering they didn’t really do anything to improve their roster. Dak has shown throughout his whole career that he is not consistent enough to take a team all the way to a Super Bowl, and that was when he had an elite Offensive line and running game! They don’t accept losing in Dallas very well, but this could be a very long season where they will have lots of questions to answer in the offseason.
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