GLENDALE, Ariz. — After leading the NFL in scoring through two weeks, Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys offense was quickly humbled with a 28-16 loss at the hands of the depleted Arizona Cardinals in week three.
Despite being down three starting offensive linemen up front, the offense didn't have a problem finding a rhythm to March down the field, but red zone efficiency stopped the offense from being as successful as it's been — scoring just 10 points on five trips inside the 20-yard line.
"When you look at this loss, we moved the ball up and down the field and just couldn't score," Prescott said. "We've gotta get back to the drawing board, and that starts with me making some throws and making some plays with my feet to try and get it done. We didn't convert in the red zone. That's the story of this game, period."
The highs were high going into week three for the Cowboys, but adversity struck on Thursday with losing Trevon Diggs to a season-ending injury before losing Tyler Biadasz and Tyron Smith for Sunday's game due to respective injuries for the big guys up front as well.
"This was a humbling loss," he said. "We had a lot of adversity this week. It wasn't easy. No one is making excuses, we thought we had a great opportunity to come in here even with the adversity and get a win and we didn't."
Penalties also played a big role in the offensive inefficiency as 13 infractions for 107 yards stalled the offense at key moments.
"It was tough," he said. "Having penalties on the road is never easy. We were able to overcome some of them, but even when you have to overcome them, you're making it harder on yourself."
Through three games, Prescott has yet to throw a touchdown to a wide receiver as Sunday's lone passing score went to running back Rico Dowdle. When asked what that could be attributed to, Prescott pointed at a couple of opportunities with desire for better execution.
"Just hadn't done it," he said. "You go to the throw to Michael Gallup, I gotta get that out in front of him a little bit. The one to CeeDee was close, would like the call. We're taking attempts, we just gotta convert."
All in all, even with the adversity and certain issues that played a role into Sunday's loss, Prescott points back to red zone execution.
"We just didn't get it done. It goes back to the offense, myself, and if we score in the red zone, we win this game."
