Dak Prescott Admits Cowboys Were Outplayed on Both Sides in Disappointing Loss to Cardinals

The defense has been the Dallas Cowboys’ Achilles heel from day one. They lingered in the lower echelons of nearly every metric in Mike McCarthy‘s penultimate season at Arlington; at the very least,

Micah Parsons was still in the locker room until Jerry Jones sent him away to Green Bay.

Since then, both pass and run defense have plummeted to the very bottom of the pile. Even teams like the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals no longer fear going all-in against them.

Quarterback Dak Prescott has been the Cowboys’ saving grace on several occasions, dragging the team to three wins. It’s the defense that has let him down. In a desperate move, the veteran quarterback has given up six interceptions and committed a few turnovers.

According to senior Cowboys journalist Ed Werder, the Cowboys are allowing opponents to score on 49.5% of drives this season, which is tied with the Cincinnati Bengals as the worst defense in the NFL.

During the Monday night showdown in week 9, the Cowboys allowed the 21st-ranked Cardinals offense (FOX Sports) to score 27 points while they managed only 10 until the final moments of the game when Prescott hit WR

Ryan Flournoy for a touchdown.

After the game, Prescott admitted that the Cowboys were outplayed by the Cardinals, who, despite the win, are at the bottom of the NFC West.

“They kicked our a*** on both sides of the ball,” Prescott said.

Cowboys address defensive worries with big player trades

Moreover, the Cowboys’ defense under defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus

has regressed compared to last year. They have averaged 2.2 sacks per game (20 total), which is 1.1 sacks fewer than in 2024, while average penalties per game have increased from 7.5 to 8.1 (

third most).

Dak Prescott Admits Cowboys Got Outplayed on Both Sides in Loss to Cardinals 1 Logan Wilson (Image via IMAGO)

To address the defensive deficiencies, Jerry Jones made two notable deadline day trades. The first move the Cowboys made was to trade LB Logan Wilson from the Bengals for a 2026 seventh-round pick. Right after Wilson, Jones sent a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and DT Mazi Smith to the New York Jets to acquire Quinnen Williams .

According to Werder, these trades should improve the worst defense in the Cowboys’ franchise history.

The Cowboys have allowed 30.8 PPG this season, their 3rd-highest mark through 9 games in franchise history after 1960 (33.1) and 2020 (32.2), per ESPN Research. They’ve also allowed opponents to convert on 53% of 3rd downs this season – the highest mark since the 1982 Chiefs. In addition, they’ve permitted 22 Pass TD, the 2nd most in the NFL after the Bengals (23). That’s also the most Pass TD the Cowboys have allowed in their first 9 games of a season in franchise history.

The bye week came at the correct time in Dallas. It will provide both Wilson and Williams time to learn Eberflus’ playbook. The following week, Brian Schottenheimer and his team travel to Vegas and face the Raiders in a must-win game for both teams.

Serena Williams Pays Tribute to Wimbledon in White Dress, Alcaraz Stars in Mr. Beast Video

In a new Daily Dose of Social Media, Serena Williams stole the spotlight with photos of her white look for receiving an important award—paying tribute to the all-white outfits worn at Wimbledon, as she herself commented. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz appeared in the most recent video by the renowned YouTuber Mr. Beast.

Meanwhile, from Riyadh—amidst the WTA Finals—Mirra Andreeva received a special gift from fans, a giant panda, while Aryna Sabalenka shared her joy on social media following her second consecutive victory—this time against Madison Keys—and moving closer to securing qualification for the semi-finals.

Serena Williams channels Wimbledon in all-white Spanish royalty look

Serena Williams referenced Wimbledon in her social media photos after sharing a picture in a white dress, which she wore to receive an important award. The 23-time Grand Slam champion was in Oviedo, Spain, to receive the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports 2025, and participated in several events alongside the Spanish royalty. Her chosen outfit on this occasion apparently contained a reference to Wimbledon, a tournament she won 7 times.

The former World No. 1 has been retired for over 3 years, and her participation in major events and acceptance of awards is no surprise. The award honors a person or institution who, in addition to the exemplariness of their life and work, has achieved new goals in the struggle for self-improvement and has made important contributions to the promotion and diffusion of sport.

Several sports legends have received the recognition, including race car driver Carlos Sainz, Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, and World Cup champion footballers Iker Casillas and Xavi Hernández. Williams won two titles in Spain during her career: the Madrid Open in 2012 (on the memorable blue clay) and in 2013 (back on traditional clay).

"What does one wear when they get an award from the King, Queen, and Princess of Spain?” she posted. “I decided to go with white...all white. The All England Club taught me well.”

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Viral Crossover: Alcaraz joins Mr. Beast

Carlos Alcaraz was the protagonist of the most recent video by the famous YouTuber Mr. Beast, joining several athletes who have participated in the videos of one of the world's most relevant content creators. The 6-time Grand Slam champion used his visit to Riyadh for the Six Kings Slam to film a video where Mr. Beast, along with his friends, attempted to return an Alcaraz serve, showing the vast difference between a professional and an amateur.

The YouTuber has more than 79 million Instagram followers and over 450 million on YouTube, and has made videos with several important athletes, including footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, NFL legend Tom Brady, and 8-time world champion sprinter Noah Lyles.

Andreeva gets surprise giant panda gift from fan in Riyadh

The World No. 9 Mirra Andreeva received a special gift from a fan in Riyadh: none other than a giant stuffed panda, which was thrown to her from the crowd after her training session this Tuesday. The teenager failed to qualify for the singles draw—having been surpassed last week by Elena Rybakina—but she still traveled to the tournament to compete in the doubles draw with her usual partner, Diana Shnaider.

The Russian doubles pair is the youngest in the tournament, and their lack of experience perhaps caught up with them, as they were eliminated in the Round Robin. The 5th seeds debuted with a straight-sets loss to 3rd seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, while in the second match they lost in the third-set super tie-break, this time against Luisa Stefani and Timea Babos.

Kasatkina enjoys well-deserved break

Daria Kasatkina reappeared after several weeks out of the public eye, sharing a post about her days off after concluding the season: "recharging p1," she wrote on Instagram. The former World No. 8 appears in several photos with her girlfriend, figure skater Natalia Zabiiako, just a few weeks before starting a well-deserved end-of-season break.

'Dasha' reported burnout in the final part of the season, which led her to end her year in late September, following a painful defeat at the China Open (3-6, 0-6), her third consecutive loss. The Russian player had, in fact, secured her last victory in late August in the US Open second round, defeating Kamilla Rakhimova in three sets.

Sabalenka celebrates WTA Finals win

Aryna Sabalenka celebrated her second victory at the WTA Finals on social media, remaining undefeated and moving closer to semi-final qualification. The World No. 1 recovered from doubts in the second set and finished with a comeback—winning 5 of the last 6 games played. The 4-time Grand Slam champion showed her usual sense of humor, posting a photo where she is seen soaring through the air to hit a forehand, to which she wrote: “The floor is lava challenge pt 2 🔥 @wtafinalsriyadh”

The 27-year-old player has already secured finishing the season atop the rankings, and her last goal for the year is to win the title in Riyadh, one of the tournaments still missing from her resume. The Belarusian reached the final in 2022, losing to Caroline Garcia, while reaching the semi-finals in 2023 and 2024—both times losing to the eventual champion, Swiatek and Gauff.

Sinner arrives to Turin

Jannik Sinner is already in Turin making final adjustments before beginning his participation in the ATP Finals. The Italian returned to World No. 1 this week—after winning titles at the Vienna Open and Paris Masters—although he will have a tough mission to defend it. He is defending 1,500 points as the 2024 champion, so he cannot add points. The Italian needs to defend the title undefeated and hope that Alcaraz is eliminated in the Round Robin stage.

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