The Dallas Cowboys are sitting at 2-3 after a rough stretch, but Ian Rapoport isn’t ready to write them off.
Dallas comes out of a 24-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on “Thursday Night Football,” a game that exposed the same issue that has followed them through the early part of the 2026 NFL season: the offense has put points on the board, but the defense hasn’t consistently gotten stops. The defeat was particularly frustrating because Tampa Bay played without quarterback Baker Mayfield, and Bucky Irving still controlled the night, piling up 21 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown.
Even with that uneven start, Rapoport still sees a team with real upside. Speaking to Rich Eisen, the NFL insider pointed to the Cowboys’ approach, a trade he believes will pay off, and the decision to bring in Mike Pettine on the fly.
“Whatever people say about the Cowboys, which is basically everything, people talk about the Cowboys all the time. They do what they believe is necessary to win all the time, and they try to keep improving.
I think the Joey Porter Jr. trade is going to be a really good one. He didn’t play last week; that makes it hard to evaluate the defense.
Bringing in Mike Pettine on the fly, good move. Maybe I’m crazy, but I still think the Cowboys are going to be really good,” Rapoport told Rich Eisen.
Now the pressure shifts to the schedule. Dallas has little time to sit on the Buccaneers loss, with a primetime meeting against the Green Bay Packers coming Sunday before a showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles the following week. Those two games loom large as the Cowboys try to climb in the standings and keep themselves in the playoff race.
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The problem is the balance between urgency and caution. Rushing Mayfield back could leave Tampa Bay vulnerable if the thumb is not ready for full game action, yet sticking with the current setup raises its own questions about how much the offense can grow without its starter. With Pittsburgh on deck, the Buccaneers are in the awkward spot of trying to protect both their quarterback and their momentum at the same time. [Read more 🡒]