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Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy had a entire lot of actual issues to affirm about his personnel following Thursday evening’s season opener at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He valid didn’t possess a victory to motivate him up.
The Cowboys started their season 0-1 for the third time within the final four years following Thursday’s 31-29 loss. Their head coach wasn’t sad, on the other hand. Especially no longer after the performance of quarterback Dak Prescott in his first sport since Week 5 of final year.
“I concept our guys fought love hell tonight,” McCarthy said. “A entire lot of actual issues got right here out of this contest.”
Jon Machota @jonmachota
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy: “I concept our guys fought love hell tonight. A entire lot of actual issues got right here out of this contest. … We got right here right here to salvage, but got right here up somewhat of fast.” pic.twitter.com/Z6hOsUNjXP
Chief among those positives used to be Prescott.
The franchise quarterback overcame his 2020 season-ending ankle ruin and a preseason shoulder ailment to entire 42-of-58 passes for 403 yards, three touchdowns and one interception that used to be more the fault of wideout CeeDee Lamb letting a glide cruise through his fingers than a mistake by Prescott.
The worst of the evening used to be kicker Greg Zuerlein, who went 3-of-5 on field aim makes an strive with misses from 60 yards, 31 yards and didn’t remodel a level-after touchdown strive.
Even supposing the 60-yarder could perhaps perhaps furthermore no longer possess given the inclined kicker essentially the most clear-reduce opportunity to ranking his personnel some functions, leaving the diverse four functions off the board used to be a total sport-changer—specifically in a two-level loss.
“You obtain in a sport love that, you wish the total functions you are going to be ready to obtain,” McCarthy said of the misses.
Whereas Zuerlein did advance up clutch with a glide-ahead field aim from 48 yards with 1: 24 closing in law, it left Tom Brady and the Bucs good ample time to space up for a sport-winning field aim from Ryan Succop with two seconds left on the clock.
The Cowboys striking with the defending Expansive Bowl champions on the side motorway is no longer essentially a reason at the motivate of Dallas fans to possess time, but it indisputably’s no much less than trigger for optimism. Wideout Amari Cooper summed up that sentiment really well after the loss.
“Now we possess a excessive-powered offense,” Cooper said. “Nonetheless a excessive-powered offense doesn’t assert wins. Now we possess a lot to tidy up.”
