“Cowboys’ Crisis: Prescott and Lamb’s Late-Game Heroics Fall Short Amid Turnover Troubles and Offensive Woes!”
After last year’s bye week, Prescott and Lamb’s connection gained momentum, but this time, it was a few late-game touchdowns in another defeat.
“We’re about to get this thing rolling, for sure,” Lamb said postgame. “We need to keep the momentum steady, not up and down.”
The Cowboys’ offense has been struggling, facing issues with a weak running game and poor pass protection. Dak Prescott’s performance has also been inconsistent; his two interceptions on Sunday brought his season total to eight, compared to just nine for all of 2023.
When asked about Prescott’s turnovers, Lamb was open, acknowledging that some responsibility lies with Dak and some with the receivers for not being physical enough.
“There are things we can control and things we can’t,” Lamb noted. “For him, I know he can make better reads. For us, we can run cleaner routes and be tougher at the top. Both sides can do things to prevent interceptions.”
Lamb’s comments echo recent criticism from Troy Aikman, who urged the Cowboys’ receivers to be more physical in their routes. Prescott has now thrown two interceptions in each of the last three games.
Prescott took accountability for the mistakes, stating, “I don’t have to be perfect, but I can’t afford these turnovers.”
Winning the turnover battle was a major focus for head coach Mike McCarthy during the bye, yet Dallas entered Sunday’s game with a minus-six turnover differential. Prescott’s two interceptions in Santa Clara dropped the Cowboys to minus-eight, only ahead of the Raiders and Titans in that statistic.
“[We] put ourselves behind in the turnover battle, and that’s on me,” Prescott said. “We can’t afford that if we plan to win games; I have to clean it up, period.”
Following Sunday’s loss, Dallas sits in third place in the NFC East.
“The third quarter impacted the game’s outcome,” said McCarthy, pointing to the three consecutive three-and-outs and a turnover by the offense. “We stayed in a slump for too long. Things felt solid at halftime … but in the third quarter, we didn’t give our defense any rest.”
Despite various mistakes across offense, defense, and special teams, Prescott and the Cowboys had a chance in the fourth quarter, finding rhythm with Lamb. However, unlike their comeback against the Steelers, this time they couldn’t complete the rally.
After a few more self-inflicted errors, the loss was inevitable.
“We fought hard in the fourth and needed just a couple more plays,” McCarthy said. “It’s disappointing. Our preparation was strong, we made some improvements, but there’s still a lot to work on.”