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Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb has candid reaction to Dak Prescott’s couple of interceptions vs 49ers – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports
It was after the bye week last year when the Prescott to Lamb connection really heated up, but this time it was desperate fourth quarter touchdowns in another loss.
“We’re about to get this thing rolling, for sure,” Lamb told reporters postgame. “We gotta maintain the momentum, we can’t really go out too up and down.”
The Cowboys offense has gone through growing pains, as the team still lacks a solid run game and the pass protection up front is a huge concern. Additionally, Dak Prescott is not playing top-tier football. Sunday’s two-interception performance, he raised his season total to eight. He had nine in all of the 2023 season.
Lamb was asked about the quarterback’s turnovers, providing a candid response in which he admitted some of it is on Dak while some of it is on the receivers for not being physical.
“It’s some things that we can’t control, some things that we can,” Lamb said. “As for him, I know he can do better and have a better read. And for us, we can have better routes, fight at the top of the routes. There are plenty of ways you can avoid an interception, you know what I’m saying? And on both parties. I know he can vouch for that, but as for us, I can only speak for us, and we have to be more physical at the top of the route.”
Lamb’s reaction goes hand in hand with Troy Aikman’s recent criticisms of the offense, when he stated the Cowboys receivers had to be more physical with their route running.
Cowboys’ Prescott takes blame for interceptions in loss: ‘I’ve got to clean that up’ – Todd Brock, The Cowboys Wire
Dak Prescott has thrown two interceptions in three straight games.
Prescott was quick to take personal responsibility for the miscues.
“I don’t have to be perfect,” he said in his postgame press conference, “but I damn sure can’t be having the turnovers.”
Winning the turnover battle was a “huge, blinking light” for head coach Mike McCarthy during the team’s bye week; Dallas came into Sunday night’s contest with a minus-six differential in the category. After Prescott’s two giveaways in Santa Clara, the Cowboys are minus-eight; only the Raiders and Titans (three combined wins this season) are worse.
Good teams simply aren’t bad in that stat.
“[We] put ourselves behind in the turnover battle, and that’s on me,” Prescott said. “Can’t have that if we plan to win games, and I’ve got to clean that up, period.”
Don’t be fooled by Cowboys hollow comeback attempt against the 49ers – Jess Haynie, Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys late comeback attempt had a similar feel to the Ravens game, masking how much better their opponent really was for much of the game.
Nobody, including the 49ers, saw that fourth-quarter comeback coming. And that’s really why it happened; San Francisco was already in prevent mode and clearly stopped taking the Cowboys seriously. The proven All-Pro connection between QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb took advantage of the complacency, and suddenly the 49ers looked like Apollo Creed in the first round of his first fight with Rocky.
But don’t be fooled by what Dallas nearly accomplished, because most opponents aren’t going to make that same mistake. Beating up the Cowboys is old hat for the 49ers and they have every reason to not respect us. It only took them one quarter of competent football to turn the game into another laugher. When they got up 27-10, they just got sleepy and bored.
The issues that have plagued the Cowboys all season were still there on the final drive. Mike McCarthy’s unimaginative offensive scheme left bad options for Prescott, who threw four straight incompletions to kill the comeback. While he did throw a dime to KaVontae Turpin on one attempt, putting the game on Turpin’s suspect hands was hardly the optimal design.
This game was much more about the hole that Dallas found themselves in than nearly climbing out of it. How sad is it that Ezekiel Elliott averaging 3.4 yards per carry felt like progress? Watching rookie RB Isaac Guerendo rip off 85 yards after Jordan Mason’s injury rubbed salt in the wound; another guy the Cowboys missed out on in the 2024 Draft. And even as the passing game found some redemption near the end, Prescott’s crushing interceptions when the 49ers were still playing defense were more damning.
Worst of all, this wasn’t even your typical NFC-leading San Francisco team. They’re only 4-4 now after beating Dallas, battling their own issues and injuries.
Mike McCarthy names Cowboys’ biggest issue after another loss to 49ers – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys are still searching for answers as the third place team in the NFC East after Sunday.
“The third quarter was definitely a factor in the outcome — the three three-and-outs by our offense and the one giveaway,” said head coach Mike McCarthy. “You have ebbs and flows of the game and we definitely stayed in that valley way too long. It felt solid at halftime … we didn’t give our defense any relief [in the third quarter].”
Despite the list of self-inflicted wounds in all three phases of the game, with even the usually stout special teams unit and Brandon Aubrey joining in on those, Prescott and the Cowboys had a chance to try and march down the field for a potential go-ahead touchdown after igniting with CeeDee Lamb in the final session but, unlike the outing against the Pittsburgh Steelers, there would be no fairy tale ending in California.
A couple more self-inflicted wounds later and the loss was effectively secured.
“We did an excellent job of fighting back in the fourth quarter and needed to make one or two more plays, and still had a chance to go down and win it on that last series,” McCarthy said. “We’re disappointed. I think our men had a really good week of preparation. There were definitely areas of improvement, but we still have a ton to work on.
Hall of Fame QB calls out Mike McCarthy’s play calling – Shane Taylor, Inside The Star
Typically reserved for the offseason, former players and coaches being critical of the team has started early amid the struggles this season.
Pro Football Hall of Famer, Kurt Warner took to twitter this morning to remind all of us of something we already know was a problem.
Mike McCarthy has the worst offense in football. He said, “Man, this Cowboys tape is a tough watch again… play design, details/execution (bc can’t be sure which it is), Dak not playing well, etc… it would be so frustrating watching that as an O!!!”
He is right though. The play design, the details, the execution is so bad. I can’t tell you how many times last night I saw Dak Prescott throw a pass to a spot on the field where TWO guys were standing. Looking like they had no idea what was going on.
Like, how does this continue to happen?
First it was Troy Aikman calling the Cowboys wide receivers lazy and not running great routes, then Jerry Jones the owner and GM, called out Mike McCarthy last week, now Warner.
