ESPN's Bart Scott says Cowboys were ‘softest team I ever played’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Dallas Cowboys are looking for answers after being blown out by the Arizona Cardinals 38-10 on Monday in their first game without the injured Dak Prescott starting at quarterback. They struggled on both sides of the ball, coughing up four turnovers on offense while allowing the Cardinals to rack up 438 yards of total offense.
An anonymous Cowboys player told NFL Network on Tuesday that their coaching staff was “totally unprepared. They don’t teach. They don’t have any sense of adjusting on the fly.” Another player said “they just aren’t good at their jobs.” Head coach Mike McCarthy shouldered the blame in his postgame presser, telling reporters that he was still searching for the cause behind the Cowboys’ turnovers.
“I have a continuing issue with ball security on my football team, something I personally take a lot of pride in, in how it reflects how you play the game of football, and I’m not getting it done right now,” McCarthy said, as quoted by The Washington Post.
However, not everyone is pointing fingers at the Cowboys’ new coach. Former Ravens linebacker and current ESPN analyst Bart Scott said Wednesday that Dallas has had problems with its identity for years.
“It’s about what they decided to do and how they decided to build this football team,” Scott said. “They decided to build it on the offensive side of the ball. Trying to put up a lot of points, change the identity to more about Dak and not more about Ezekiel Elliott. Understand the offensive line is decimated and they’re not the unit that they used to be so it’s harder to really have the offense go through Elliott.
“The problem is, listen, whenever I ever played a Dallas Cowboys team, it was always the softest team I ever played. Mentally, physically…the philosophy and as an organization, their brand is soft.”
Dallas is 2-4 on the season, which is enough to put them in sole possession of first place in the NFC East. Yet, it’s still a less-than-ideal start, especially with Andy Dalton starting at quarterback while Prescott works his way back from a season-ended ankle injury. Owner Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday that he still believes in McCarthy’s ability to guide them to the playoffs.
“So you know how to adjust, overcome things, when you have that kind of accomplishment on your record,” Jones said of McCarthy. “What we don’t have to worry about is if he’s capable of coaching a team to the ultimate, and he very much is. He’s outstanding, to say the least, with his experience.”
