PHILADELPHIA — An excruciating loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday evening for the Dallas Cowboys was felt in the locker room of the visiting team as a late-game comeback attempt came just a few yards short.
For second-year offensive lineman Tyler Smith, the loss was tough to pin down in the immediate aftermath of the conclusion, but he looks forward to the rematch back in Arlington in five weeks.
"It's heartbreaking," Smith said. "I can't even lie to you. Obviously not the result we wanted. I feel like we were right on the cusp of pulling away with what we needed to [win]. But it's the little things, the details that are really important when it gets to crunch time. But we'll be back."
One of those little things included a false start penalty on the six-yard line on Dallas' final drive from Smith that started a barrage of negative plays for the Cowboys. That six-yard line presence would be a sight they would not see until the clock hit all zeroes.
"They called me for a false start," Smith said. "I felt like it was ticky-tack, but I'm not gonna make excuses or anything. It is what it is. That's just something I gotta be better at and improve upon."
Despite the loss, the result was much more digestible than the Cowboys' last big NFC test against the 49ers, and the confidence remains high in the group to continue to fight in big games and eventually come out with the key wins.
"Extremely high," Smith said on the confidence level. "We know who we are and we know what we're capable of. It's just a matter of us seizing the moment. Unfortunately, we didn't get the result we wanted, but I'm confident that we're gonna respond the right way. I'm absolutely certain in that."
Smith helped provide protection up front for an offense that accounted for 406 total yards against a talented Philadelhia defense that has talent on all three levels.
"We showed today that we can contend with anybody," he said. "We are part of that upper echelon. It's just a matter of tightening up the small things. Seizing the moments that we gotta seize. We'll be back and we'll be better."
"It's a game of inches and they got the inch. We'll see them again. I feel like things will be different."
