That forced the ball elsewhere, namely to Jake Ferguson, Pro Bowl tight end doing his part with 13 catches on 14 targets, but only averaged 6.3 yards per catch with no touchdowns; and that was exactly what the Bears were willing to accept over Pickens taking over the game.
Add in critical offensive penalties and two interceptions to go along with the aforementioned fumble, and it’s a self-inflicted loss being packed in the carry-on luggage back to Dallas.
“We were biting ourselves [in the foot],” Prescott said. “We’re kicking ourselves, and that’s the reason that we’re not converting to touchdowns and it’s the reason that we’re not getting first downs. It’s gotta start there. Everybody’s gotta look in the mirror and say, ‘How can I be better?'”
That question must also apply to the defense following another poor showing against a team that struggled offensively, and mightily, before taking the field against them.
But, for Prescott, it’s about what he can control.
“I know we’re capable of scoring, and if we’ve got a score like we did last week [against the Giants], we’re gonna do that,” he said. “I don’t get to play defense, and that’s not how this game works, and the guys on offense don’t. We’ve got to play offense to the best of our ability, regardless.”
It’s a sentiment echoed loudly by head coach Brian Schottenheimer, but from a platform that also addresses the defensive woes.
Not pulling any punches, Schottenheimer was bluntly honest about what the Cowboys put on tape in Chicago — a lot of very not good stuff.
“We didn’t play well,” he said. “We didn’t play well enough to win, and so that’s why we’re sitting here with the loss.
They converted their downs, and we didn’t. They protected the ball. We didn’t.
They hit explosives. We didn’t.
“This is one of the games that you look at and you’re like, ‘Yeah, I mean that’s humbling, and it sucks.’ But we can play pretty good, and we’ve gotta play better to win in this league.”
The road to trying to return to the win column gets more arduous in Week 4 — a homecoming game for Micah Parsons leading a Green Bay Packers’ defense for a team that was upset by the Cleveland Browns several days prior.
Suddenly, that game has ballooned from a like-to-win to a gotta-have-it victory for a Cowboys’ team dealing with more injuries to key players and staring a possible 1-3 record in the face.
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