ARLINGTON, Texas – The Cowboys' offense was no match for the Bucs on this night.
Sure, Tom Brady got another win against this franchise, but it was his defense that stole the show, leading to a 19-3 win.
Here's a quick analysis from the Cowboys' staff writers after the game:
Nick Eatman: Well, no one should be writing a piece called "on second thought" more than me. What a whiff on my part with this prediction. Just never imagined the offense being this bad, not with Dak Prescott running the show. Sure, there would be some issues with the Bucs' defense, but figured they could put up a few points. And honestly, few points would've put them in position to win this game. Now, we have to wait and see what Dak's situation will be. But the offense is going to be either really bad, or terribly bad – depending on this injury. Defensively, the Cowboys did a nice job and it looks like Parsons will be rushing off the edge more than playing linebacker. But the defense was just good. It has to be amazing if they're gonna carry this offense.
Patrik Walker: It's a defense in Dallas that's predicted to achieve great things in 2022, as it did one year ago, and they got off to a mostly hot start in nearly keeping Tom Brady and Co. out of the end zone entirely in Week 1; but the offense was a different story entirely. Dak Prescott looked uneven for most of the evening and had a difficult time finding a groove with any wide receiver including (and especially) CeeDee Lamb.
Lamb finished with only two catches on 11 targets for 29 yards with no touchdowns in his debut as WR1 and, prior to Prescott leaving the contest late in the fourth quarter with what was later revealed as bad news, the Cowboys quarterback finished with a passer rating of just 47.2 after completing only 14 of 29 pass attempts with an interception and no touchdowns.
Little went well for anyone on the offense not named Ezekiel Elliott (when utilized), Dalton Schultz, Zack Martin or rookie first-round pick Tyler Smith - the latter playing very well in his firs-ever NFL outing. But the injury to Prescott and potentially key players - i.e., Connor McGovern, Jayron Kearse and Tarell Basham - exacerbate the level of concern exiting a wildly disappointing season opener (defense notwithstanding).
