National Football League

Cowboys know they failed in Arizona. Can they use loss as wake-up call?

Updated Sep. 25, 2023 1:50 p.m. ET

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Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

The Dallas Cowboys were certainly hearing it. They probably were feeling it too. They had already pronounced themselves "the best defense in the National Football League" and welcomed the historical comparisons. You can be sure they thought they were the best team in the NFL, too.

So how could they possibly explain what happened Sunday in Arizona? How could they not only lose 28-16 to the Cardinals, but look so bad while doing it, in every phase of the game?

"You all put us on top of the world," Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said after the beating was over. "We know who we are. And in that same sense, I'm sure the media got what they wanted."

OK, it's both cute and alarming that Prescott somehow found a way to blame the media for raising expectations for America's Team. His team's defense was already fitting itself for a collective gold jacket. And has he even met the Cowboys owner? Has Jerry Jones ever been known to tamp expectations down?

The fact is, these Cowboys had rightfully set their sights on Super Bowl LVIII. They had good reason to do it, too. They have the team to get there and they know it. They really are that good.

Which is why this disaster may have been exactly what they needed. Maybe they did need a wake-up call, and to be kicked in the teeth.

"There has only been one undefeated team in this league. Ever," Prescott said. "Yeah, it sucks. It's humbling. But to say it's a wake-up call … We knew we had a lot of adversity and we just didn't get it done."

It's not that anyone ever expected the Cowboys to go undefeated. It's more that true championship contenders aren't supposed to lose like this. This wasn't a hard-luck loss or a case of getting beaten by a better team. It was the kind of loss that makes people question everything they thought they knew about the Cowboys. They lost to an 0-2 team that nobody thinks is very good. They looked out of sync on offense. They looked like an undisciplined mess while hurting themselves with 13 penalties for 107 yards.

Worst of all, their vaunted defense was a complete no-show. After two weeks of basking in their own glory, they had just two sacks, forced no turnovers, got credited for just one pass defense and only hit the quarterback four times. They were even ripped apart for 222 rushing yards by a team that had 247 rushing yards total in its first two games. And Micah Parsons, the early front-runner for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, was hard to find for most of the game.

They were sleepwalking. Or they were unprepared. Or it was just an inexplicable letdown. It's the kind of thing that's better to have happen early, instead of in a game they need in the division race or for playoff positioning. Or worse: In the playoffs themselves. 

Dave Helman on Dak Prescott, Cowboys' SHOCKING loss to Joshua Dobbs, Cardinals

That's why this was a wake-up call. It showed the Cowboys they can't just roll into any town, flex their muscles and meander their way to a win. In fact, it was more than just a wake-up call. This was a giant airhorn being blasted into their ear.

"It just wasn't championship football," Parsons said. "The outcome was definitely shocking. It definitely hurts. The last two weeks we were on fire and today we came out and we got lit. We got to take on every game like it's the Super Bowl. We got to play up to our standard."

And they did not. Not even close. Prescott was 25-for-40 for 249 yards. He got the Cowboys into the red zone on all four of their second-half drives, but he couldn't get them into the end zone once. The last one ended when he was picked off in the end zone with three minutes remaining — his first interception of the year. 

CeeDee Lamb, their best offensive weapon, had just four catches for 53 yards (including a 32-yarder). The defense, as previously noted, was a completely disaster, too.

In fairness to the Cowboys, they weren't exactly playing this game with a full deck. They lost All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs during the week to a torn ACL — both a physical and an emotional blow to the team. And with right guard Zack Martin (ankle), left tackle Tyron Smith (hamstring) and center Tyler Biadasz (hamstring) all out with injuries, they were playing with just two-fifths of their starting offensive line. 

That couldn't have been easy. But it doesn't completely explain the avalanche of penalties (five of the 13 were on the offensive line, but six were called on the defense). And it certainly doesn't explain the suddenly leaking run defense, considering the Cowboys had only given up 172 yards on the ground during their 2-0 start.

"We can't play down to (our opponent)," Parsons said. "And that's what I felt like we did today."

That's the point. Whether it's the fault of the media or not (editor's note: It's not), the Cowboys were feeling really good about themselves. And they rolled into town to take on an inferior opponent, in the early stages of a rebuilding project, and with a quarterback (Joshua Dobbs) who was in his seventh NFL season, playing for his sixth NFL team, who had never won an NFL game.

This was the clichéd and classic "trap game" — and the Cowboys dove in head-first.

"Obviously, we're disappointed," Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. "But this is part of the journey. We need to grow from this experience."

Yes, they do — and quickly, because their schedule does them no favors. They've got to play at San Francisco, at the Los Angeles Chargers and at Philadelphia in the next five weeks. There are a couple of more traps in there, too, at home against the Patriots and Rams. And now the Cowboys know, that if they play down to their level, they could lose to them, too.

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So, yes, it's better that it happened now than later, but only if they follow McCarthy's advice and actually "grow." They are not the 1972 Miami Dolphins or the 2007 New England Patriots, and they never were. But they are still good enough to win 12-13 games and make a deep playoff run.

As they saw Sunday, though, they are also capable of huge disappointments — which makes them very much like every Dallas Cowboys team of the last 28 years. What they do next will determine which team they're going to be in the long run of this season. 

They can still have it all, but only if they heed this call to wake up.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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National Football League

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Ralph Vacchiano