Viral moment shows Dak Prescott firing back at heckler who called Cowboys' loss "embarrassing"

After a Dallas Cowboys loss to the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers punctuated by drops, interceptions and missed tackles, a frustrated onlooker caught the attention of quarterback Dak Prescott with one word as he walked through the tunnel at AT&T Stadium: "Embarrassing."

In full view of the assembled media, Prescott turned around and looked at the heckler, apparently someone working at the stadium, and pointed him out to team staff before heading into the locker room.

It wasn't over then, since Prescott was asked about the exchange at his post-game press conference.

"When he said it, I just happened to look at him and at that point he looked away. When I turned my head back, he said something else. That's the part that just as a man, feel free to speak your mind, just speak it. Don't cower it away from the reaction that you're going to get. If you're saying it's embarrassing, say it's embarrassing. If you're saying it to me, then say it to me. You know what I mean? Don't go back on it. So that's all that was and I hate it that it's even being talked about, to be honest with you," Prescott said.

"To use the word embarrassing; it's tough. I feel like I'm discrediting the NFL if I use that and particularly the Tampa Bay Bucs, the great [Bucs head coach] Todd Bowles," he said. "When a winless team comes into your home stadium on a Thursday night primetime game, yeah, we're supposed to win that. It sucks and right up there close to embarrassing, but I don't know if I would say that."

Whether it was truly embarrassing or not, the Cowboys made some truly bad plays that likely cost them points, if not the game. After leading 10-7 at halftime, the wheels started to fall off early in the second half:

• Tampa Bay took the lead one minute into the third quarter one play after a 72-yard run on the struggling Cowboys defense.
• On the Cowboys next drive, Prescott's pass was intercepted after wide receiver Ryan Flournoy could not hold on to the throw.
• After another Bucs touchdown to make the game 21-10, the Cowboys fumbled the ensuing kickoff and gave possession right back to Tampa Bay.
• Down 8 points with less than 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter, cornerback Daron Bland dropped a would-be interception that he might have been able to return for a touchdown.
• Still down 8 points with 1:22 remaining in the game, tight end Jake Ferguson could not hold on to Prescott's pass, which was then tipped up in the air and intercepted.

The Cowboys played their third game in 12 days, a stretch that began with 10-hour flights to and from Rio de Janeiro, where they lost 34-31 to Baltimore after the Ravens got a big play and game-ending field goal in the final 7 seconds.

Dallas rebounded last Sunday with a 34-30 victory at winless Houston, when CeeDee Lamb capped his career-high 17 catches for 189 yards with a 12-yard TD in the final minute. But Lamb had only two catches for 9 yards against the Bucs before getting sidelined by a quad injury.

"We've got to trust the work that we're putting in and then more importantly, we've got to come out and just execute better," Prescott said. "I think our plan, the way we practice, the way we approach things is the right way, is the correct way. We've just got to come up in the games and execute better and get it done."