It was a win, and coming off what Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott deemed the most “disappointing” loss of his career last week at home against the Cardinals, the 27-23 decision over the Colts will be a net positive. The defense looked sharp in forcing three turnovers, and the offense amassed more than 500 yards on the day, including 335 yards passing from Dak Prescott. But it’s hard not to take into account the realities of this game–the Cowboys were playing a Colts bunch that is in the midst of a fire sale before the NFL trade deadline, and Dallas was incredibly boneheaded in its approach to the game. The Cowboys were flagged for 14 penalties, totaling 153 yards.
Dak Prescott: Penalties ‘Purely Unacceptable’
For Prescott, that was overwhelming. The Cowboys committed penalties in every phase of the game, and as happy as he was to get a W, Prescott raised some red flags over the Cowboys’ discipline problem.
Asked if the penalties were “frustrating,” Prescott responded: “Absolutely. I started by saying, you get in your own way, you make mistakes and you make these games closer than they have to be. Last week were not able to overcome it, this week we did. It’s—we can’t do that, we can’t have this many penalties, especially on offense, I don’t know the number on defense. But I know on our side of the ball, that’s purely unacceptable. We’re better than that, form pre-snap top combative to however you want to categorize the penalties.
“That’s way too many of them. And we’re fortunate to be able to fix them in a win.”
Cowboys Were ‘Not Disciplined’
But let’s not paint Prescott as an ingrate. The Cowboys are now 4-5 and still somehow remain in the NFL playoff picture despite painful losses to the likes of the Cardinals and Buccaneers here in the first half of the season. He said he would rather not have such drama week-to-week, but if need must, he will accept it.
Said Prescott: “When you are not as clean as you want to be, not as disciplined as you want to be, you make it tougher on yourself—sometimes you can overcome it, sometimes you can’t. Tonight, we did. Today we did. Don’t want them all to be this close but I have said it before, if I can get the ball in my hands with an opportunity to win the game, I will take it that way. If they all have to come down to that, I am fine with that.”
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