CHARLOTTE, NC – The Dallas Cowboys did not get off to a good start against the Panthers in their regular season opener at Bank of America Stadium in Carolina. The ground game struggled to take off with Ezekiel Elliott in the first half. Elliott had seven carries for 18 yards. The Cowboys had seven turnovers and only had four first downs in the first half. They were 0-6 on third down conversions. Dak Prescott had a rough start in the first half and was 6 for 10 with 46 yards. Dallas could not get anything going on the offensive side of the ball and played sloppy football.
The defense had a hard time stopping Cam Newton on the scramble. He had 7 carries for 64 yards and had a four-yard rush into the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter. A field goal put the Panthers up 10-0 heading into the half.
Things improved for Dallas in the second half. In the third quarter, Maliek Collins had good penetration on the Panthers offensive front and sacked Newton on third down to give the Cowboy’s offense a shot. Ezekiel Elliott was able to get down the field on a 17-yard gain to get the Cowboys in field goal range. Brett Maher missed a 47-yard field goal. The pieces were not aligning in the Cowboy’s favor.
In the fourth quarter, Prescott did well under pressure gaining first downs on the run, and Cole Beasley had a nice play in zone coverage to move the Cowboys down the field once again along with Elliott in the run game. Beasley finished the game as the team’s leader in receiving yards with seven receptions for 73 yards and a 10.4 average. Elliott finished as the leading rusher with 15 carries for 69 yards.
Prescott had a beautifully executed option to Elliott off the edge for a four-yard touchdown, and Allen Hurns kept the corner off the play. Prescott lunged in the end zone for the two-point conversion making it a 16-8 game, Dallas trailing by eight. DeMarcus Lawrence was a beast off the edge with a sack on Newton and finished the game with six tackles. The Cowboys up-tempo kept the Panthers from substituting their defensive players late in the fourth, but it was not enough for the win.
Nobody could get open on the outside for the Cowboys and receivers were not making an effort to get open and break away from man-to-man for Prescott to have a target. The Cowboys need to straighten out their issues on the offensive side of the ball this week with the receiver core. Overall the defense had a smooth game with players making pressures and tackles on critical plays, but the offense had too many mistakes throughout the game to put the Cowboys on the scoreboard to secure a win.
