Not so long ago, Dak Prescott arrived at Dallas Cowboys training camp wearing a vintage T-shirt celebrating the franchise’s last Super Bowl victory. The 1996 championship was a reminder of a standard the Cowboys haven’t reached in three decades, but Prescott had reasons to believe this season could be different. With CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens alongside him and Brian Schottenheimer leading the offense, Dallas entered the season with plenty of firepower. Let’s fast forward to November now. 

The Cowboys have gone from averaging 30.5 points across their first four games to managing just 14.5 in their next two losses. A convincing 38-21 win over Philadelphia offered some respite, but their inability to protect a 14-point fourth-quarter lead against Arizona brought the offensive concerns back into focus. Despite the talent at his disposal, Prescott’s offense has struggled to maintain the consistency expected of it. And Jerry Jones has made his expectations clear. 

While acknowledging that Dallas’ defense is still undergoing a rebuilding process under new coordinator Christian Parker, the Cowboys owner believes the offense should be doing considerably more to compensate. Speaking on 105.3 The Fan, Jones said:

“We had an offense, and we had a head coach that can run that offense extremely well, in my opinion, as well as the people in place, namely Dak (Prescott), that could give us a heck of a run, heck of a go of it on offense.

“That is the area right there that, when we don’t play as well as we should be playing. And if you put in place the theory that your defense has a process in building or rebuilding, then if you miscue there, then that can end up like we did with the look that we had at the end of that ball game Sunday.”

Prescott’s GOTI proclamation has raised the expectations

There was a time when Prescott was particularly confident about what this offense could accomplish. In October, the quarterback doubled down on the nickname GOTI, short for “Greatest Offense There Is,” which the unit had adopted during its offseason bonding activities. He wasn’t backing away from the lofty label even after Dallas’ 2-2 start.

There was statistical backing for his confidence at the time. Dallas ranked second in scoring after four games, averaging 30.5 points per contest. More impressively, it was generating 3.39 points per drive, the best mark in the NFL, despite having fewer offensive possessions than any other team. According to ALLCITY DLLS’ Clarence Hill, that points-per-drive figure was also the fifth-best through four games by an NFL team since 2000.

Prescott’s argument was that the offense hadn’t even reached its full potential. The Cowboys were still waiting for George Pickens to become more involved, while All-Pro guard Tyler Smith had missed the opening four games recovering from thumb surgery. The quarterback believed there was considerably more to come.

That makes the subsequent drop in production particularly striking. After averaging 30.5 points in their opening four games, Dallas managed only 14.5 across its next two defeats. Prescott threw two touchdowns and four interceptions during that stretch, a considerable departure from his opening-month form. The Philadelphia win briefly restored the offense’s momentum, but Arizona exposed the same difficulty in sustaining production when it mattered.

The Cowboys have repeatedly struggled to close out games

Arizona wasn’t the first team to expose Dallas’ struggles when it had a lead to protect. Against Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia, and Arizona, the Cowboys had possession inside the final 10 minutes while leading, yet failed to record a first down on any of those four drives.

The Baltimore and Houston games showed how costly that can be. Leading 28-24 against Baltimore with 7:29 left, Dallas went three-and-out. The Ravens responded with a go-ahead touchdown drive and eventually won 34-31. A week later, the Cowboys led Houston 27-23 with 8:40 remaining but again failed to move the chains. The Texans took a 30-27 lead before Prescott and CeeDee Lamb connected for the winning touchdown with 40 seconds left in Dallas’ 34-30 victory.

Philadelphia couldn’t punish the Cowboys for a similar possession in Week 7. Dallas led 31-21 with 7:47 remaining but failed to pick up a first down after DeMarvion Overshown’s interception. The Eagles went four-and-out on their next possession, and Dallas went on to win 38-21.

Arizona, however, made the Cowboys pay. After recovering a botched onside kick with 2:11 left and leading 27-24, Dallas managed just three net yards across its next three plays before Brandon Aubrey’s 41-yard field goal. That made it 30-24, but Arizona still drove 80 yards for the tying touchdown with six seconds remaining.

The pattern is hard to ignore. Dallas opened all four possessions with a run, and those first carries gained just five yards combined. None produced a first down. It also raises questions about Schottenheimer’s late-game play-calling, particularly the reliance on the run when the Cowboys needed to keep the chains moving.

Prescott Knows the Cowboys Let Another Opportunity Slip

Prescott did not try to pin the Arizona loss on one side of the ball. After the game, he called it one of the toughest losses of his career and acknowledged that the offense had its own chances to put the game away.

“We had the opportunities to put them away on offense. Obviously, defense had opportunities to stop them and we just didn’t get any of it done as a team,” Prescott said. He also made it clear that the blame should not fall on one individual.

That is a fair distinction. Dallas’ defense gave up four consecutive touchdown drives to close regulation, while the offense failed to take control when it had the chance. But Jones’ comments make one expectation clear: he does not believe the defense’s rebuilding process should become an excuse for the offense to fall short.

The challenge now falls on Prescott and Schottenheimer to make that expectation a reality. Dallas has shown that it can score in bunches, and the early-season GOTI numbers offered evidence of its potential. What it hasn’t shown consistently is the ability to keep moving the chains when the opposition is mounting a comeback and the game is on the line.