Jerry Jones’ Cowboys have plenty of reason for concern after home loss to winless Buccaneers

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jerry Jones had his fingers entwined in front of him as he glanced up toward the big video board with a concerned look on his face. Right after his Dallas Cowboys fell behind against winless Tampa Bay, Dak Prescott threw an interception.

Things were just starting to really unravel for the Cowboys, and the owner’s expression would only get more bleak, even though they had a chance late to escape without a loss.

The Cowboys (2-3) fell 24-16 on Thursday night to a Bucs team with undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels filling in for the injured Baker Mayfield.

“Extraordinarily, extraordinarily disappointed,” team owner Jones said afterward. “You really do need to get it done when it’s there to take.”

Prescott had another interception with 1:16 left when his throw deflected off reliable tight end Jake Ferguson’s hands at the Bucs 12.

Playing at home for the only time in October, and in primetime for all to see, this was a chance for the Cowboys to build some momentum in the NFC East. And the opportunity for a second win in five days against another winless team before a bit of a break.

Instead, there will only be more questions before they play again after a nine-day gap between games.

“You wanna get right back to it, but it’s good to dwell on things sometimes,” Prescott said. “To really make the changes or make the adjustments that we need to for the better of our team, for the better of the offense, for the better of the individuals. … Be accountable to yourself, to your unit, to your position group, and let’s push forward.”

The Cowboys play Oct. 18 at Green Bay, then go to Philadelphia before playing at home again Nov. 1 against Arizona.

“This isn’t fold the tents here. We are 2-3. We didn’t expect to be 2-3,” Jones said. “We didn’t expect this. …We didn’t expect this Tampa team to come in here 0-4, either.”

The Bucs (1-4), whose touchdown before halftime was a 15-play drive that took just shy of 11 minutes, started must faster after the break. They went ahead to stay on two big runs that took only a minute. Bucky Irving ran for 72 yards, immediately followed by Emeka Egbuka’s 14-yard TD run that gave them a 14-10 lead.

Then came the first pick by Prescott deep in Tampa Bay territory, and Irving added a 1-yard TD run before KaVontae Turpin fumbled the ensuing kickoff return. The Bucs then converted a third-and-21 on the drive that ended with Chase McLaughlin’s 41-yard field for a 24-10 lead.

The Cowboys played their third game in 12 days, a stretch that began with 10-hour flights to and from Rio de Janeiro, where they lost 34-31 to Baltimore after the Ravens got a big play and game-ending field goal in the final 7 seconds.

Dallas rebounded last Sunday with a 34-30 victory at winless Houston, when CeeDee Lamb capped his career-high 17 catches for 189 yards with a 12-yard TD in the final minute.

But Lamb had only two catches for 9 yards against the Bucs before getting sidelined by a quad injury.

After Tampa Bay bypassed a field goal chance and was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 8 1/2 minutes left, the Cowboys went 99 yards in 10 plays for Prescott’s 18-yard TD to George Pickens before they failed on a 2-point conversion.

Dallas got a defensive stop with just under four minutes left, though on the third-down incompletion cornerback DaRon Bland had his hands on what could have been an easy pick-6. He had an NFL-record five interception returns for TDs in 2023.

That still gave Prescott and the Cowboys another chance, which ended with his late interception.

“We’ve got to trust the work that we’re putting in and then more importantly, we’ve got to come out and just execute better,” Prescott said. “I think our plan, the way we practice, the way we approach things is the right way, is the correct way. We’ve just got to come up in the games and execute better and get it done.”

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