Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys suffered a 23-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, extending their losing streak to two games and dropping the team to 2-4.
The ugly run has been a major blow for the Cowboys, who entered the season with playoff aspirations. Their disappointing performance against Green Bay also drew reactions from several former NFL stars, including Robert Griffin III.
Dak Prescott and Cowboys Face Growing Concerns as Robert Griffin III Highlights Major Issues
Prescott faced constant pressure from the Packers’ defense on Sunday, throwing two interceptions in the first half. He completed 63% of his passes for 258 yards and one touchdown, along with two interceptions.
Prescott currently ranks No. 15 in PFN’s QB Impact Metric with a 76.7 grade.
Following Dallas’ loss, Griffin shared three major takeaways from the game, with his first focusing on Prescott and the Cowboys’ offensive line.
“Dak Prescott has to play better, and the offensive line has to play better so he isn’t a human punching bag in the pocket,” Griffin wrote. “Because the defense’s reputation cannot keep giving the offense a free pass. Dallas was using star WRs CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens like supporting actors in the first half.
“At halftime, Lamb had two catches for 22 yards on six targets, and Pickens had one catch for 16 yards on one target. Three catches for 38 yards isn’t winning football. They need more quality targets and schemes that generate easy completions for them and Dak Prescott.”
PREDICT THE NFL SEASON:PFN’s Free NFL Playoff Predictor
Former NFL safety Justin Simmons also weighed in on Dallas’ offensive struggles, expressing confidence in the team’s offensive line and its talented receiving duo. Simmons said that, outside the Cincinnati Bengals’ pairing of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Lamb and Pickens could arguably form the best wide receiver duo in the league.
However, Simmons questioned why the Cowboys were not doing more to get the ball into their hands.
DIVE IN:PFN’s Free NFL HQ — Team and Player Stats, Info, and More
“I’m more concerned about creativity. I’m more concerned about the play calling itself,” Simmons said. “As great as Dak is, every quarterback needs to get into a rhythm to start the football game, and we’re not seeing that.. I feel like we’re asking Dak to step onto the football field and take all the burden of being one of the best quarterbacks in the league and to decipher every single play.
“Are they doing this? Are they doing that? And even for Dak Prescott, that could be too much. So you got to be able to run the ball, and you got to be able to set him up with easy, quick throws to these star receivers, so that they can get running.”
Dallas’ defensive struggles were equally concerning in the first half, as the Cowboys had virtually no answer for Green Bay on third down, allowing the Packers to convert 9 of 10 attempts through the opening two quarters. Green Bay entered the game ranked last in the NFL in third-down conversion percentage at just 27.6%.
“Dallas is giving struggling offenses a place to get healthy and confident,” Griffin said. “Getting to third down means nothing if you can’t get off the field.”
However, as Griffin noted, the Cowboys’ defense showed improvement after halftime and allowed the offense to make a comeback, only for the offense to waste that chance. Dallas limited Green Bay to just two conversions on eight third-down attempts in the second half while allowing only six points after the break.
The Cowboys will now turn their attention to the game against the Philadelphia Eagles on October 26, on Monday Night Football.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.