Through the first two weeks of the season, the Cowboys' red zone offense hadn't cost them a win. In Sunday's surprising loss to the Cardinals, it very well could have.
Dallas only scored one touchdown in their five red zone opportunities. Two of the chances resulted in short field goals by Brandon Aubrey, one resulted in a turnover on downs, and the last resulted in Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott's first interception of the season.
The Cowboys have gone just 6-16 this season in the red zone, with three of those conversions coming in the 40-0 blowout of the Giants in Week 1.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy took the blame for the team's struggles in the red zone, telling reporters after the game, "We're not executing obviously the way we'd like to. I've got to do a better job. It starts with me."
Dak Prescott was also asked about the team's red zone woes following the game, and the Cowboys quarterback said their struggles to punch the ball into the end zone was the difference between a win and a loss.
“We’ve got to do better, as a team, as a unit, myself. I got to make some throws, maybe use my feet more. Obviously that’s an area we haven’t been good in these last two weeks. We all got to get back to the drawing board. It starts with me. ... We didn’t convert in the red zone. That’s the story of this game, period.”
