Jerry Jones did not stay for the Cowboys game to end. After Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ Bucky Irving broke a 22-yard run on first down late in the fourth quarter, the Dallas Cowboys owner left his suite before the clock hit zero. Dallas had just lost 24-16 at AT&T Stadium to a Bucs team that entered Thursday night at 0-4 with a rookie starting quarterback. And Kurt Warner, who watched the game on tape, believes the damage went deeper than the scoreboard.

“WOW!!! Dallas was just whooped on both sides & made so many mistakes to make it easy for TB!!!” Warner posted on X.

“They had no “Pressure Plan” (my biggest football pet peeve) on O… how does this happen?” he added, going after head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s game plan. “They did nothing to force the game into #JalonDaniels hands… if you’re going to lose that game it has to be at the hands of the rookie QB!”

Jalon Daniels, an undrafted rookie making his second start, completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards. After throwing two interceptions in his previous start, he threw no turnovers this time. Tampa Bay held the ball for 39:21 to Dallas’s 20:39. Irving did the heavy work with 21 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown.

Midway through the third quarter, with the Bucs up 21-10, Daniels converted a third-and-21.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys committed critical turnovers in the second half. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw two interceptions, and Alex Anzalone caught the last one on Dallas’s final possession. At halftime, Schotty even admitted that his calls had failed against Tampa Bay’s blitz.

“I gotta call better plays, No. 1,” he said.

Yet the 72-yard run that started the second half showed no fix had arrived.

Warner is not the only legend with a complaint. Former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant targeted a fourth-quarter decision. Dallas had just finished a 99-yard, 10-play touchdown drive, then went for two. Prescott’s pass to Ryan Flournoy sailed high, and Keionte Scott broke it up.

“I don’t care if we got the 2; I still think that wasn’t a smart decision. Knowing you’re down 7 vs down 8 makes a difference… smh,” Bryant posted in frustration on X.

Schottenheimer defended the logic. “That was kind of our philosophy at that point. We just didn’t get it executed.”

The miss left Dallas down eight instead of six. The Cowboys still had chances. DaRon Bland dropped an interception that Machota’s teammate Yousuf said would have gone back for a touchdown. Then Jake Ferguson let a pass from Prescott bounce off his hands. Ultimately, Anzalone intercepted it at the Tampa Bay 12 with under two minutes left.

“We were definitely supposed to win this game,” said Prescott afterwards.

The Cowboys’ head coach did show aggression on one snap, but his team allowed only 214 rushing yards while handing a rookie an easy night. The bottom line is the Cowboys fell to 2-3, and Warner’s criticism proved more accurate than Schottenheimer’s defense.