Costly turnovers and uncharacteristic penalties doomed Dallas at MetLife Stadium, yet the front office insists these critical execution failures won't define the unit's performance moving forward.
The Dallas Cowboys' 28-20 loss to the New York Giants in Week 1 has seen everyone come after Christian Parker and his defense for the horror show at MetLife Stadium.
But the offense isn't absolved from blame.
Dak Prescott's interception toward the end of the half, as Dallas was driving to take the lead, allowed the Giants to "double dip" and score a touchdown before and then after halftime, to make it 21-7 in the blink of an eye.
Then, on that same drive where Dak was intercepted a few plays earlier, Prescott threw a long bomb to George Pickens, but the ball hit him in stride and slipped straight through his hands, negating what would have put the offense at least at the Giants' 40-yard line, if not closer.
And then there was Javonte Williams' unsportsmanlike penalty as he scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, which then backed up the extra-point attempt to 48 yards, and Brandon Aubrey missed.
But to owner Jerry Jones, who was on 105.3 The Fan, those costly offensive missteps will be an outlier, not the norm, for this unit.
"Well, I think New York, the way they were playing us, let's give them some credit," Jerry said. "But I don't anticipate the three plays and the people involved in them, I don't anticipate that to be the case as we go forward.
"I think those plays are variable nine out of 10 times, and maybe that was the one time that we'll see all year. Hopefully, we'll not make those plays and have that result."
In other words, Jones is insisting these mistakes are flukes.
But our insider Mike Fisher isn't so sure. He ticks off four argument points to battle Jones' assertion.
"One: These Cowboys are consistently among the NFL leaders in penalties, especially goofy ones. So that's not abnormal.
"Two: Their red-zone offense shriveled down to nothing in the final month of last season. So that's not abnormal.
"Three: Prescott's critics will tell you that brain-cramp interception is actually typical of what keeps him from moving up to the top eschelon of QBs. So to them, that's not abnormal.
"And four, coach Brian Schottenheimer's team was 7-9-1 last year - a loser. So why would being a loser now be seen as 'abnormal''?
The offense was rather disjointed in the first half, and after halftime, they got the ball only twice, but they still managed two touchdowns.
Still, it wasn't exactly smooth, with Giants penalties being the big reason Dallas was able to keep moving down the field, as there was no play of 20+ yards all night.
So, everything that could have gone wrong at MetLife did, and the score may flatter Dallas because this didn't feel like a one-score game. New York was better in nearly every aspect.
But for all of the offensive mistakes, Jerry doesn't envision George, Dak, and Javonte having the same brain fades as they did in New York again. ... even though keen observers like Fisher are less than convinced.
