The Dallas Cowboys dropped their season-opener at Carolina 16-8. NBC 5 Cowboys Insider Jean-Jacques Taylor has 10 thoughts on the Cowboys loss -- including one that's "pathetic."
1. Dak Prescott threw 29 passes against Carolina and not one of them traveled more than 15 yards downfield. The Cowboys didn’t take a single deep shot and that’s pathetic.
2. Left guard Connor Williams, a second-round pick, had issues handling Kawann Short’s power. Short had two sacks, two tackles for loss and four hits on Prescott.
3. Ezekiel Elliott finished with 69 yards on 15 carries. It’s just the third time he’s had fewer than 80 yards in a game. All three have occurred in the first two weeks of a season.
4. The Cowboys went 2-for-11 on third down and needed an average of 11.6 yards.
5. If the Cowboys aren’t going to attack downfield, then they must win on first down and set up short-yardage situations on second and third down.
They averaged 3.1 on first down, which isn’t good enough.
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6. Sean Lee had four tackles and missed at least three others. It has been a long time since Lee missed that many tackles. He’ll definitely play better next week.
7. Cole Beasley caught seven passes for 73 yards. No other player had more than three receptions or 27 yards.
8. Kicker Brett Maher, who replaced Dan Bailey, missed his only attempt from 47 yards. It came at a critical moment, when Dallas trailed 10-0 in the third quarter.
9. The Cowboys’ defense held Carolina to 293 yards and 4.8 yards per play. They also had three sacks and a turnover in the red zone. Those are usually winning numbers.
10. The Cowboys’ 232 yards were the third-lowest offensive output since Dak Prescott became the starter.
