Dak attack puts East on notice
The NFC East got a wakeup call before three of the division’s four teams even played a game. Dak Prescott’s 58 pass attempts, 403 yards and three touchdowns in Thursday night’s narrow 31-29 road defeat to the reigning champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to keep coaches with the Giants, Eagles and Washington up late.
Prescott was off target at times early, but by game’s end, concerns about last season’s broken right ankle and this summer’s right shoulder strain felt like a distant memory.
Then Prescott delivered the promise to Tom Brady at midfield: “We’ll see ya’ll again.”
“That’s just the confidence that I have in this group and the expectations I have,” Prescott said after the loss. “This is a playoff team that’s going to make a big push this year.”
That is bold talk, obviously, for the leader of a team with a Big 12 defense that hasn’t been to the postseason since 2018.
The Cowboys also took two big hits in the ensuing days: wide receiver Michael Gallup (calf) is out 3-to-5 weeks, per the Dallas Morning News, and right tackle La’el Collins reportedly is suspended for five games for failing to show up for drug tests, pending an appeal.
Still, Thursday’s biggest takeaway for reigning division champion Washington, the Giants and Philadelphia had to be that Prescott looked ready to lead Dallas back into contention.
Brady and Prescott also served notice to the entire league that the NFL is picking right up where it left off on its highest scoring season ever in 2020, when teams averaged 24.8 points per game.
Five teams in 2020 scored more than 30 points per game: the Green Bay Packers (31.8), Buffalo Bills (31.3), Bucs (30.8), Tennessee Titans (30.7) and New Orleans Saints (30.1).
Brady’s Bucs hit 31 on Thursday and Prescott’s Boys had 29 with two missed field goals and a missed extra point.
Last season, Washington (20.9), Philly (20.9) and the Giants (17.5) all were in the bottom eight scoring teams in the league.
On Thursday, Prescott served notice that he is back, and those outputs won’t be good enough to keep up with Dallas this season.
BRUTAL IN BALTIMORE
The Baltimore Ravens have suffered a stunning string of injuries to top running backs J.K. Dobbins (torn ACL), Gus Edwards (torn ACL) and Justice Hill (torn Achilles) between Aug. 28 and Edwards’ injury on Thursday. Dobbins was hurt in the preseason finale. Hill and Edwards went down in practice.
Coach John Harbaugh was distraught on the sideline about Dobbins, feeling guilty about playing him in the preseason. He had to be consoled by QB Lamar Jackson and FB Anthony Levine Sr. They assured him it wasn’t his fault; it could have happened in a practice or the regular season
“I was just trying to get the offense one series so they could be together,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not gonna be able to get over it right now.”
The Ravens have pivoted by signing veteran Latavius Murray to their active roster and veterans Le’Veon Bell and Devontae Freeman to their practice squad. Murray projects as the eventual starter. He was available because the Saints cut him when he refused to take a last-minute pay cut.
But Monday night’s starting Ravens running back against the Raiders in Las Vegas will be second-year player Ty’son Williams, 25, who spent the 2020 season on Baltimore’s practice squad.
Williams played for three colleges (North Carolina, South Carolina, BYU), tore his ACL in 2019 and signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2020. Now he’s their Week 1 starter in 2021.
WEEK 1 WATCH LIST
The Houston Texans ruled out
QB Deshaun Watsonor their opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars with the status “not injury related.” NFL commissioner [b]Roger Goodell[/b] refuses to put Watson on the commissioner’s exempt list as the QB’s 22 sexual assault and misconduct allegations are investigated by police and the league, leaving the Texans twisting in the wind and leaving a stain on the league. Watson also did not address the media all training camp, which is a violation of the NFL’s media policy. … For the first time ever, two NFL games on Opening Weekend will feature rookie head coaches facing off. Nick Sirianni is taking his Philadelphia Eagles south to face Arthur Smith’s Atlanta Falcons, andDavid Culley’s Texans are hosting Urban Meyer’s Jaguars. Two rookie coaches haven’t coached against each other in a Week 1 game since 2014, when Bill O’Brien’sHouston Texans beat Jay Gruden’s Washington team, 17-6. It has only happened five times in NFL history. The first time? Bill Parcells’ Giants fell to John Robinson’s L.A. Rams, 16-6, in September 1983. … The Chiefs open by hosting the Cleveland Browns late Sunday afternoon in a rematch of Kansas City’s 22-17 AFC divisional playoff win last January. Andy Reid’s Chiefs have won 14 straight September games. They haven’t lost one since a 19-12 defeat in Week 2 of 2016 to the host Houston Texans. The Chiefs’ QB in that game was Alex Smith. The Texans’ QB was Brock Osweiler. In other words, Patrick Mahomes has never lost in September. He’s 10-0 for his career. Kansas City also has won six straight openers, tied for the longest active streak in the NFL (Green Bay Packers). … Aaron Rodgers and the Packers will visit Jameis Winston and the New Orleans Saints in Jacksonville, displaced by Hurricane Ida. … The Buffalo Bills’ quest to finish the job and reach the Super Bowl starts by hosting Ben Roethlisberger, Mike Tomlin and one of the NFL’s best defenses in the Pittsburgh Steelers. … The reigning rookies of the year will be on the same field when Washington and edge Chase Young host QB Justin Herbert and the L.A. Chargers, led by new head coach Brandon Staley. Ryan Fitzpatrick will make his Washington debut as part of a league-wide quarterback overhaul. There are 15 teams starting a different Week 1 QB in 2021 than they did in 2020, per ESPN Stats & Info, tied for the second most in the Super Bowl era. And that’s not including the looming presences of Justin Fields and Trey Lance behind the Bears’ Andy Dalton and the Niners’ Jimmy Garoppolo, respectively. … Sunday Night Football pits the Bears against the L.A. Rams at the site of Super Bowl LVI, SoFi Stadium in IngIewood, Calif. ... Robert Saleh’s first game as Jets head coach, the NFL gets back one of its most dynamic skill players in Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, who missed all but three games last season due to injury. … Wide receiver Julio Jones’addition to the Titans also adds a ton of intrigue to Tennessee’s opener against the visiting Arizona Cardinals. … As of Wednesday, 93.5% of NFL players were vaccinated for COVID-19, per The Athletic. Seventeen of the league’s 32 teams were over 95%, and zero were under 80%.