The Dallas Cowboys, sitting at a hopeful 2-3, blew a golden opportunity to climb the NFC East standings. They didn’t just lose, they *gifted* the Tampa Bay Buccaneers their first win of the season, falling 24-16 on “Thursday Night Football.” This wasn’t some nail-biter against a contender, either. Dallas was a 9.5-point favorite at home against a previously winless 0-4 squad trotting out a backup quarterback. What was that?
The “Embarrassing” Truth After That Bucs Game
Honestly, this defeat takes the cake for the most head-scratching loss in the young Brian Schottenheimer era. Walking off their own field, the 100,000-seat AT&T Stadium rang with boos, and someone actually yelled “embarrassing” at Dak Prescott as he walked alone to the locker room. You can’t make this up. Even Prescott, trying to be diplomatic, admitted, “It’s a loss we’re supposed to have, definitely supposed to have.” He felt tough using “embarrassing” because he didn’t want to discredit the NFL or the Bucs, particularly “the great Todd Bowles.” But then he dropped the hammer, saying, “when a winless team comes into your home stadium on a Thursday night primetime game, yeah, we’re supposed to win that.”
And he’s not wrong. All Dallas had to do after that Week 4 road win against the Houston Texans was handle business at home. The Bucs were a mess coming into Week 5: league-high 16 sacks allowed (their most through four games since 1991!), nine turnovers (third-most in the NFL), and a negative-5 turnover differential (tied for second-worst). A clean game at home would’ve put the Cowboys at 3-2 with a sweet 10-day layoff. Instead, they’re 2-3, looking like a team that played three games in 12 days, sloppy and executing poorly in all three phases, especially on defense.
The Defense Is Giving Up Everything But Interceptions
The defensive problems? They are glaring. The 2026 Cowboys are only the third team since 1940 to give up 375-plus total yards without an interception in five straight games within a season. On Thursday, they allowed 419 yards. What’s more, this is the longest streak to begin a year for any team. Think about that for a second. That’s rough, man.
So it’s no shocker when Jerry Jones was asked about new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s performance through these first five games. His response? “Well, I don’t want to go there at all.” Yikes. That’s not exactly a vote of confidence, is it? He did add, “I feel that he’s competent,” but that came right after he said, “We did all the [wrong] things to get that score to end up like it was, and I thought we had the team that could get out of here with a win. So it’s very disappointing.” The boss is clearly disappointed.
Now, the Cowboys are stuck at 2-3, a far cry from where they could have been. Their next challenge is another primetime game, hitting the road to face the Green Bay Packers on “Sunday Night Football” on October 18. They better figure out this defensive mess fast, or those boos might just follow them to Lambeau.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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