FRISCO, Texas — This weekend will feature an opportunity for Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys to re-establish their dominance at AT&T Stadium, the home opener against the New Orleans Saints giving them their first chance at cleansing the field following their loss to the Green Bay Packers in January.
They're beginning this season on the right note after delivering a convincing 33-17 victory against the Browns in Cleveland, but that wasn't a perfect offensive outing by any stretch of the imagination. So when Prescott and the Cowboys began assessing what they could improve upon with the Saints preparing to march in, his answer was unequivocal.
"Tons," said the All-Pro quarterback. "Usually, teams make that jump from Week 1 to Week 2 [though]. And just understanding we left a lot of meat on the bone [in Cleveland]. When you look at the game, as we've said around here, it was a tale of two halves, right?
"First half, we started off slow on the first drive but got it rolling after that, got some first downs and scored. We got some points in the second half, but we weren't able to convert on third down, and that was the story for us."
Flashbacks of Joseph Randle aside, the sentiment is almost exactly the assessment from perennial All-Pro right guard Zack Martin as well.
"When that kill shot is, in our view, we need to jump on it," Martin said. " ... We talked a lot about the second half. We kind of stalled out, had a lot of three and outs, and we've got to do a better job of putting our foot on their throat and ending the game earlier."
When the Cowboys' offense does precisely that, they're arguably the most difficult team to beat, and especially on their home turf where they routinely blew the doors off of opposing teams throughout the course of their 16-game win streak in Arlington.
Prescott and Co. are really standing on the table to regain the Mamba Mentality.
"We weren't able to put that team away when we had the chance," said Prescott. "Defense did a great job of it but, for us, it's about moving forward. We're one of the best third down teams we've been, so it's about getting back on track with that [and] converting those and, when you do, you get more chances at the plate, you get more plays and that's when just the big plays come naturally in our offense.
"So we've got to convert those third downs. Looking to do it this week. … Got to keep it rolling. I know the last time we were in there wasn't a win. So it's about getting that taste out of our mouth, and giving our home fans something to cheer about on Sunday."
As a Louisiana native, the fun banter with his friends and family back home in the The Boot does add that much more incentive to send the Saints back to New Orleans with a 1-1 record.
""I know I've had some friends reach out to me, 'I'll be there, I'll be in the end zone,'" he said with a smirk. " And I just kind of sent them an emoji [with] 'Go Cowboys'.They fired back with 'Who Dat?' and I wrote back, 'Who Dak' … Good playful stuff back and forth.
"But this the NFL, and that's a great team over there just looking to go do our job."
The trajectory of teams that begin their season with a record of 2-0 is markedly better than those who suffer a 1-1 start, and Prescott, Martin and the Cowboys' offense have no plans on allowing the Saints to walk away with an upset victory.
They're working hard to make sure they simply walk away upset.
