The Dallas Cowboys suffered an embarrasing loss in Week 5 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even if Dak Prescott wants to pretend it wasn’t embarassing. Dallas played poorly on both sides of the ball and wound up losing 24-16.
Despite their struggles, they had a chance late in the game, but still came up short. Now at 2-3, they have to figure out how to get things back on track. It won’t be easy, but the season is a marathaon, not a sprint, so they have to keep trudging along.
As they move on and focus on the Green Bay Packers next week, we take a moment to look back once again and check out the highest and lowest-graded players, according to PFF, from Week 5.
Highest-graded Cowboys in Week 5
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens makes a touchdown catch against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Luke Schoonmaker, TE – 89.6George Pickens, WR – 85.2Markquese Bell, S – 81.2Malik Hooker, S – 75.9Malachi Lawrence, EDGE – 74.4
Luke Schoonmaker should have an asterisk next to his name, since he only played in five snaps, but he did still earn the top grade on offense while he was on the field. George Pickens was easily the best player on the field for Dallas, recording nine receptions for 130 yards with a touchdown.
Surprisingly enough, three defenders followed those two with a couple of safeties earning high grades. Markquese Bell and Malik Hooker brought some stability to the back end, but they couldn’t make up for the shortcomings at cornerback, we’ll have more on that shortly.
Finally, rookie outside linebacker Malachi Lawrence earned a 74.4, and was able to record his first career sack.
Lowest-graded Cowboys in Week 5
Dallas Cowboys CB Daron Bland attempts but cannot intercept a pass intended for Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
DaRon Bland, CB – 29.6Elijah Garcia, DT – 33.5Shavon Revel Jr., CB – 36.9Brevyn Spann-Ford 40.1Kenny Clark, DT – 41.7
While there were two safeties in the top five, the Cowboys had two cornerbacks in the bottom five. DaRon Bland had a 29.6, which is incredibly discouraging. He had a chance to make up for his struggles, but dropped an interception that would have gone in for a potential touchdown late in the game. Shavon Revel Jr. wasn’t far behind him with a 36.9, which is proof of how much they missed Joey Porter Jr.
Elijah Garcia and Kenny Clark also made the bottom five, but they were far from the only players in the front seven to let the team down. The one offensive player to make the bottom five was Brevyn Spann-Ford, who had a rough outing after performing well during the first four games of the year.
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