The Dallas Cowboys opened their preseason on Saturday with a matchup against the Denver Broncos. To say that they were disappointing would be an understatement.

The Cowboys went into halftime down 17-0 against a determined Broncos side. This prompted a fiery reaction from Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy who bluntly said that he did not appreciate the effort from his squad in the opening half (h/t Daniel Bates of The Spun):

“It's not good enough football. It's not good enough. We've gotta be better there,” McCarthy said. “… We battled through some penalty situations but we have to make sure we get all these substitutions [and] get everybody in the game.”

Article Continues Below
More Dallas Cowboys News
Brian Schottenheimer and Jerry Jones have a potential 2025 NFL Draft steal on their hands for the Cowboys
Rising Dallas Cowboys rookie turning heads in 2025 OTAsLorenzo J Reyna ·
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (7) leaves the field after an injury during the fourth quarter against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
Why Trevon Diggs could lose $500,000 before 2025 seasonBen Strauss ·
; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (14) runs after a catch against the Dallas Cowboys during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium.
The crucial upside that comes with George Pickens-Cowboys pairingAlex House ·
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) walks onto the field during the first quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.
Micah Parsons makes announcement amid contract uncertaintyZachary Draves ·
Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams (33) runs the ball in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers at Empower Field at Mile High
Insider fires warning on Cowboys’ major signingMatty Breisch ·
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) walks off the field after a game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Tim Hasselbeck reveals biggest Cowboys 2025 Dak Prescott concernZachary Weinberger ·

If McCarthy wanted to light a fire under his men with this rousing message, then I'm afraid it just didn't work. The Cowboys put up a better effort in the second half, but they still ended up losing the matchup 17-7.

Then again, we shouldn't put too much stock in this preseason loss. After all, the Cowboys sat out virtually half of their squad for this one, including star quarterback Dak Prescott. Dallas should be much better than this moving forward.

Saturday's preseason test presented itself as an opportunity for McCarthy to experiment with his lineup to try and see which schemes could work for the regular season. Unfortunately, he didn't see too many things he liked and I'm pretty sure he gave his boys an earful after this disappointing performance.

The Cowboys take on the Los Angeles Chargers next week before closing out their preseason with a home game against the Seattle Seahawks on August 26.