Prescott says Cowboys still have “tons” to improve in Week 2 vs Saints

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns on the road in Week 1 in a dominant 33-17 victory that was never as close as the final score implies. Dallas was the underdog heading into the game, but their defense came in and stomped all over the Browns in their own territory.

Even still, Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense were not the main contributors and this Sunday, they’ll be put to another challenging test against the New Orleans Saints.

Prescott says Cowboys need assert dominance early

The Cowboys have the advantage of playing the Saints at home this weekend. At AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys were unstoppable to the tune of a 16-game winning streak from September 2022 to January 2024. Unfortunately, that now comes with an asterisk as they played the Green Bay Packers at home in the Wild Card round of the playoffs last year and not only did they ruin their streak, but they embarrassed them horribly - on all sides of the ball.

Dallas will be looking for a home win on Sunday to get back on track and try to forget about last year’s ending. But despite their Week 1 victory, Dak Prescott knows they still have a ways to go.

When asked what the Cowboys can improve heading into the game against the Saints, Prescott said bluntly, “Tons”. He said that in Cleveland, the Cowboys “left a lot of meat on the bone”, failing to convert on third downs in the second half.

“We weren’t able to put that team away when we had the chance,” said Prescott. “Defense did a great job of it but, for us, it’s about moving forward. We’re one of the best third down teams we’ve been, so it’s about getting back on track with that [and] converting those and, when you do, you get more chances at the plate, you get more plays and that’s when just the big plays come naturally in our offense.”

Guard Zach Martin and Prescott both shared a similar mentality, saying that the team needs to dominate early on and keep the momentum going throughout the game.

“When that kill shot is, in our view, we need to jump on it,” Martin said. “We talked a lot about the second half. We kind of stalled out, had a lot of three and outs, and we’ve got to do a better job of putting our foot on their throat and ending the game earlier.”

The “Mamba Mentality” of always trying to get better is apparent in this Dallas team and the offense knows they have to do more than last week to keep getting wins against harder teams to beat. Being at home was an advantage for a long time for the Cowboys...until it wasn’t.

“Got to keep it rolling. I know the last time we were in there wasn’t a win,” said Prescott. “So it’s about getting that taste out of our mouth, and giving our home fans something to cheer about on Sunday.”