FRISCO, Texas — After arguably the worst season-opening loss in franchise history, Dallas Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said panicking isn’t an option for the Dallas Cowboys.
The same might not be able to be said about coach Mike McCarthy who entered the season presumably on the hot seat following last season’s disappointing loss in the NFC wildcard playoffs to the San Francisco 49ers when the Cowboys were admittedly nervous and unprepared at the outset and let the clock run on out on them before getting off a play as time expired.
McCarthy’s charge is to not only get the Cowboys back to the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 2006-2007 but also take them further in than anytime since their last Super Bowl title in 1995.
The Cowboys front office was not only deflated by the loss of quarterback Dak Prescott for 6-to-8 weeks with a fractured hand, but also surprised by the team’s woeful performance even before his exit. That doesn’t bode well for McCarthy.
Owner Jerry Jones was visibly and vocally disappointed after the game Sunday night.
“It’s pretty logical for me to see that we’ve got a lot of areas to work on and a lot of areas to improve on,” Jerry Jones said. “It was real disappointing before Dak’s injury certainly disappointed after it.”
“We’re dealing with a big minus. This, of course, is just the start, but a hard way to start and a very disappointing way to start. There’s no one in that locker room that expects us or expected us to play like we played. Certainly, that will be addressed and worked on.”
Stephen Jones echoed the elder Jones in his surprise in how poorly the Cowboys played on offense on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan Monday.
“The biggest part was our challenge to move football and get any consistency and rhythm in our offense,” Stephen Jones said. “After the first we seemed to struggle with each and every drive. We were unable to make plays and execute at a level that we need to.”
Stephen Jones then offered a direct shot at McCarthy when he said the team’s preparation and decision making in not playing the starters in the preseason are worth being questioned.
“Anything will be looked at now,” Stephen Jones said. “When you have a performance like that you are going to have question marks about you preparations.”
The Cowboys, who had the league’s top-ranked offense in 2021, had only 160 yards of offense before garbage time and then finished with 244 total years.
Prescott completed 14 of 29 passes for 134 yards with an interception before fracturing his hand. His 47.2 quarterback rating was third worst of his career.
Lamb, who made the Pro Bowl in 2021, had just two catches for 29 yards on 11 targets in his first game as the team’s No. 1 receiver.
Stephen Jones said Lamb needs to work on being a No. 1 receiver and prove he can be.
“The passing game goes hand and hand between the quarterback and the receivers,” Stephen Jones said. “We’ve got to be better there. CeeDee (Lamb) has got to improve and work his way into being the No. 1 receiver. We think we can.”
