Why Cowboys have to quickly move on from loss to Ravens with short week of preparation
While the Dallas Cowboys are clearly reeling and putting forth some self-reflection on the Monday following the franchise’s first set of back-to-back losses at home since 2020, a quick flip is needed to prepare in time for the team’s next challenge on Thursday night in New York against the Giants.
In his availability after the 28-25 loss to the Ravens on Sunday, defensive end Micah Parsons challenged his teammates to try and not be “Superman” and to come together in the team’s early season test.
“We just gotta stick together,” Parsons said. “This is a hard test. This is when your faith has to be the strongest.”
Even in the short week, focusing on a loss and what went wrong in a game that saw the offense sputter before taking off in the fourth quarter and the defense once again allow an insurmountable amount of rushing yards (273) to an opponent has required learning moments that are worth addressing early in the week.
“I feel like we should still feel it,” cornerback Trevon Diggs said. “I feel it, for sure. When we focus on the next team, we’ll focus on the next team, but we gotta feel this burn because I hate losing.”
The offense put together a 19-point fourth quarter that saw a furious comeback attempt come up just short. While the Cowboys’ two-minute offense found some late magic, the slate has to be wiped to move into the approaching challenge ahead.
“We got going, got hot and it’s important to continue to roll that over into this short week,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “As far as getting the taste out of your mouth, it’s always better on a short week, win or lose. Just being able to get right back to it, not being able to celebrate a win or dwell on a loss.”
With that being said, Prescott did say that the way “we finished on offense is vital for us to be able to build on” as the Cowboys can finally pull something positive out of the last two weeks that seemed to snowball out of control at times on Sunday.
“It’s a great fourth quarter for our first-year players,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “This is the emotional realm that we need to be much better in. They have work ethic, it’s a really good locker room. There’s talent. The mental part of it, we better have taken a step from last week. Last week was totally not good enough. The emotional part is where the real gold is. The end of this game can serve us well.”
The team’s first game against an NFC East opponent comes on the heels of the Giants defeating the Cleveland Browns on the road – just as the Cowboys did in week one. An urgency is felt to make sure the preparation is sound, even with less days to prepare.
“There’s obviously a need to win, an urge to win,” tight end Jake Ferguson said. “Don’t dwell on the past. We need to buckle down this week, it’s a short week. Get our work in, get our prep in and make sure we’re clean on everything so we can get out there and win on Thursday…There’s no doubt in my mind that we will be ready.”
