Is Dak Prescott Letting Down the Offense?

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The Implications of Dak Prescott’s Signing for the Cowboys
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - SEPTEMBER 29: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys wipes blood from his hand after losing a game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on September 29, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

The Dallas Cowboys (8-4) came out of the game against the New Orleans Saints Thursday night with a win, but it wasn’t pretty. The Cowboys’ offense looked out of sync for most of the game, just like it has for most of the last month-plus.

Dak Prescott threw for just 61 yards after halftime. The Cowboys were 2 for 13 on third-down conversions, punted seven times, and had five three and outs. Dak appeared hesitant to rush for yards even when it seemed he could be doing so.

On the first play of the game, Dak missed on an incompletion into tight coverage after he passed up what would have been a sure first-down run.

Prescott was given three chances to put away the Saints in the fourth quarter and failed every single time. One of the drives resulted in a Prescott interception. Ultimately, the defense sealed the deal with a pick-six by Defensive Tackle Carlos Watkins.

The Cowboys gained less than their season average yards of total offense per game (416.3 YPG). This marks the third time in the last five games Dallas has failed to eclipse 400 total yards, and in two of those games, they were unable to reach 300 total yards.

It’s been a hot topic as to why the offense is struggling of late.

Is it because of offensive line woes?

Is it because Dallas was thin at wide receiver for two games?

Is it because of the COVID-19 situation?

Is it because of Kellen Moore’s play-calling?

There probably is a little blame in each of them, but at some point, the quarterback that was just awarded a massive contract needs to take more responsibility. Dak doesn’t look the same since week nine after returning from his calf injury. As a result, the offense has looked like a shell of its former self.

Dak looks slower in reading the field. He made a few pre-determined reads on Thursday against the Saints. He is very reluctant to use his legs to make a play. It looks like he is missing simple passes; we are used to seeing him complete with his eyes closed. Combine this with a highly inconsistent run game, and the Cowboys are getting abysmal results.

The Cowboys are 21 for 68 (30.8%) on third down since and 3/8 (37.5%) on fourth down since week nine. The third-down numbers indicate the Cowboys are not sustaining drives.

Since week nine, Prescott, per rbsdm.com, ranks 19th in EPA+CPOE compared to ranking 7th in that category when the offense was rolling in weeks 1-6. Dak has been ranked 24th in success rate percentage at 42.4% since week 9. He was ranked second with a success rate of 55.7% from weeks one to six.

When your quarterback isn’t playing well, it’s hard for an offense to play well consistently. Combined with Tyron Smith being out for much of November, Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb missing time, and a hobbled and ineffective Zeke, it’s not a surprise that the Cowboys’ offense has been struggling.

The Cowboys look to get healthy during this mini-bye week with ten days off and right the ship with some NFC East contests looming in their future.

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I'm a 32 year old life long Cowboys fan from New York. It's fun growing up in enemy territory. College basketball and March Madness fanatic. Lover of thrillers and comedies. Follow me on twitter @CowboysCC9

62 Comments

  1. Mark A Kalilikane
    DAK is Tony Romo. Tony could play Football his defense average ranking was 23.5 Staubach and Aikman ave 5.6 that the difference. DAK is hurt and by playing he is hurting the DAK let Cooper Rush play til your healthy.
  2. VAM
    Agree Cwbysfansinz567, Cowboys are the richest franchise in the Country and maybe the world. Jerry is a great salesman and knows how to hype up his team, and gets butts in the seats at JERRY WORLD, and sells all the other stuff, despite not winning a SB since "96. Sport media also helps him quite a bit, and don't forget the LOYAL fan base, and the very successful history, produced by great Head Coaches TL and JJ. Long time Dallas fans have been spoiled by past great winning teams and do "demand a title". It's really that simple. Well let's see if they can beat the WFT first.
  3. Kansas Kowboy
    Who’s better off right now and in the immediate future Dallas or N.E.? Dallas has a $40 million QB with accuracy “issues.” N.E. has a accurate rookie QB with $40 million in cap space for next year. Dallas is projected to be $10-plus million over the cap with 20 free agents. Accountability isn’t just relevant in the locker room. It is also both critical and important in the front office.
  4. Cwbysfansinz567
    The answer for Jean. It's easy. Brady delivers Super Bowl wins. Seven times in two different franchises. Dak Prescott has not. Dallas fans demand a title and so far, being surrounded by volumes of talent, they have not produces one. To the others - One thing is obvious, Dak's head is not in the game. Jerry needs to stop deflecting criticism to the receivers. I have rooted for the Cowboys since the Ice Bowl in Green Bay in 1967 and I cannot to this day still understand how they cannot seem to get it together year after year. However, I can understand the voluminous actions of over inflated hype each year of expectance - to sell memorabilia, seats, season tickets and jerseys. Fact - big contracts, false hope, insufficient performance related to the big money in comparison to everyone else when the talent is on the payroll. Maybe they should start looking for a shaman to remove the curse. Can anyone ever remember disallowing a goat into the stadium or an Eagle fans jealous curse of 60 years from no title? Hmmm, Makes one consider the possibility of everything,
  5. gary b
    You saw what happened to the boy wonder, when his OL was bad in the SB last year. He had Tyreke Hill and all world TE Kelce to throw to, but didn’t have time to get them the ball. To ask Dak to carry this team with a bad OL and no running game, is not reasonable. If the OL improves and he gets some help from the running game, likely you will see a different QB. Unless his calf is worse then they are letting on, in which case we’re in big trouble.
  6. ThrowuptheX88
    You're right in the sense of Dak isn't getting help in his Line or run game, or even Moore, and the season is far from over, in fact, it's just getting started as we'll be in the playoffs (Heaven forbid us not making it and WFT makes it), we should be getting Gregory back pretty soon, Coop should be better this week, and hopefully we'll get a healthy Zeke back here soon, so we'll see what happens, I'm a always root for our team nonetheless, it's why I'm so adamant and critical of Dak, I hope Dak and our boys can return to form, but this last stretch has been more than concerning considering how we've won or lost games as of late All I'm asking is that if our Line isn't good, Zeke can't run the ball, but we got a D with D Law, Parsons, Diggs, and Gregory, and we got our WRs Ceedee, Coop, and Gallup all healthy, then is it too much to ask of a 40 mill QB to go win with that ? If not, then can we concede to the fact that Dak isn't worth the contract he got?
  7. gary b
    This offense has stalled because all three phases have not performed. OL/Running game/Dak. If u wanna throw in Moore and his play calling that's four. Does the QB bear the most responsibility? Absolutely The key for me though is the performance of the five guys on the OL. Get that right and everything likely falls in place. I know some want to put it all on Dak. But it's not that simple. I wish it was, then it would only involve one player playing poorly. But it's many things.
  8. ThrowuptheX88
    @VAM and that's what ppl used to argue as to why Dak should get paid but now when you bring it up, I GUARANTEE ppl gonna throw that stat out the window LOL XD #Twofaced
  9. VAM
    That QB list is simply showing their QBR rating. If anyone can show it as incorrect as of right now, please comment. I know it might not be palatable to some here, but it is what it is. DP is middle of the pack according to that system, that is used by many as a measure stick.
  10. donald morris
    I'm sorry, not trying to be difficult but I've always found the practice of saying "we", "them" and "us" weird when referring to a sports team. Ive been a fan of this team since 1977 but have never gotten a check from the Cowboys. Love the team but I do not work for the organization.
  11. Gary Johnson
    Get off Dak. Do you know how many one Superbowl quarterbacks there is. ALOT!
  12. Nick
    I think you guys are justified in being concerned about Dak and his play of late but are foolish to not wait for the rest of the season to play out (Including Playoffs) however long that lasts to assess Dak and this team as a whole. There are ebbs and flows to every teams season even the eventual SB champs will have gone through a rough patch causing speculation as to who they really were . I don't think Dak or the team as a whole simply got lucky in the first 8 games they played this year or suddenly forgot how to play since then. I say they turn this around and finish the season playing even better than they were early on with the reinforcements we have coming back we are looking healthier than we have been all year for this final stretch and into the playoffs
  13. Pete
    Dak is so consistently inconsistent it’s not funny you put any pressure on him and he chokes ! He’s got some good stats however look at his bad stat’s !
  14. gary b
    The idea that the cowboys have alot of pro bowl level talent on the roster is false. On offense Z Martin is the only pro bowl level player, and doesn’t play a skill position. Copper and Lamb are top ten WRs but not pro bowl level. Zeke is nowhere near pro bowl level. Defense is where we have two possibilities in Diggs and Parsons. But I would suggest that Diggs is a bit overrated. I like him, but he gets burned too much and is a poor tackler. But then so was D Sanders. Not that I’m comparing the two. We have alot of good players, but no real studs, aside from Parsons.
  15. VAM
    The trouble with excuses is that they become difficult to believe after they've been used a couple of times. I've seen numerous excuses being used for DP, it happens every year, including of course THIS YEAR, and pointing that out now doesn't necessarily make one a BAD FAN. Nor does criticizing his inability to play up to his overcompensation. Everyone here can give their opinion on the articles, without some silliness of attacking the messenger.
  16. Blaze1_Rank
    @ Vam all those QB you listed on your list only three have SB rings and one have multiple and the other two have one if qb’s are measured by sb rings then TB12 is the only elite qb on this list. Give me a break with that DP is not a good QB.
  17. G-Money
    I see a lot of finger pointing and tongue wagging in this thread. The truth as I see it is blame/responsibility can be spread in so many directions from QB to penalties, dropped passes, predictable play calling, lack of in-game adjustments (offense & defense), game management, and so on. Good game planning is absolutely necessary but what concerns me a lot is the lack of application and passion on the field. Not taking plays off is critical in developing a winning mentality. Allowing the last touchdown to the Saints is an example of what not to do. Lastly I'd like to see accountability across the board. From top to bottom including management.
  18. E B
    Adversity is what teams need to go through sometimes whether it's due to injuries, stupid covid violations, bad and inconsistent coaching and play at times and fans who are quick to dog the team because they are not playing well at times, especially when it counts. I would love to see some of you play or coach because none of you would make it. This team has not played well under adversity especially since Jimmy J has left. But to be Champions now is the time for these Coaches and Players to rise above it All and show and believe they can overcome adversity or falter once again and prove Stephen A Smith, many in their own fanbase and others right! Dallas has pro bowl personnel in each key position on offense and defense and this team is still young. Majority of team is under 30 and finally has talent on both sides of the ball as well as some good coaches. Been a Cowboys fan since the 70's from the MD and DC area. I didn't have Dallas winning 7 games this year as I felt the defense and offense would need another year to gel within its own units and together especially with McCarthy as HC, Dan Quinn as new DC and Moore learning to adjust to rest of league figuring his offense out. So, with that being said the team has overachieved in my opinion but are still better than many teams this year and should win the East and win during Playoffs. The key is for the coaches and players to start learning how to overcome adversity and get back in a flow as other good teams do by playing discipline, smart, energetic and tough football. And most of all not listen to Jerry Jones, the media and their fan base who don't recognize talent and whine all the time when the team and players are not playing well. The team isn't winning and you guys wonder why the Cowboys fan base is voted the worse because you want to dump the team and bash players when things aren't going right but when its going well everyone is great and were going to the SB or win the East and make playoffs. But I know, none of you said any of those things, lol, but just the opposite. I live in DC and Maryland area and the Ravens and The Washington Football Team fanbase stick behind their teams regardless and not B and moan when things looked dismal; and as you can see even Philly's fanbase has been patient with their team and look where those teams are now: in the hunt and they know their fans never gave up on them. Nothing is wrong with Dak's shoulder. Problem is because of calf strain, which clearly is bothering him to some degree, his foot work is off and more importantly he's not running to keep defense's honest. McCarthy should have let Dak rest during the Broncos game as calf strains take time to recover from. Smith is going to take a minute to get in rythym as well as Collins. Issue on the line are the Connor's as neither have been playing well at all. Zeke is hurt and he should not be playing now or the several past games(coaches have to make decisions that players may not like and an unhealthy Zeke does not bold well for this team as we see and don't think Pollard can carry the full load because he can't and he shouldn't because he's so valuable not just to the offense but Special Teams. This is why Zeke needs to rest of Cowboys make playoff because he is a beeter blocker and a harder runner to grind the game out.) Many missing key players during month of November means continuity will take time within both units to reestablish itself, especially on offense. Offense is all about timing and O line has not palyed the same unit together for some time now and it is showing and has shown, period so that needs to be fixed asap. Can't have any more Covid violations as that hurt especially because Coop is so important to this office. Mental toughness and how bad the players and coaches want the East will be determined over these next few games. Either they will strut in as the East Champs or back into the playoffs or miss them totally but if they back in they will be at home on their backends with everyone else watching. If Cowboys are going to be good for the rest of this year and near future, unlike many in their fanbase, the Cowboys better learn how to overcome adversity which the fanbase clearly can't which means they are no better than their fanbase when Adversity Occurs!!
  19. gary b
    Most of the QBs on this list couldn't carry Dak's jock strap. He was playing at an MVP before the injury, which most of these QBs can only dream of doing, then he gets hurt and now we have this version Gregory has missed 4 games for what was described as a mild calf strain. Gallup missed half the season for a calf strain. But Dak comes back after one game? Is it conceivable they rushed him back, because of how valuable he is to the team? It's certainly reasonable to assume part of his recent performances are due to the calf. As I said it's been a convergence of many things, that factor into our recent play. Dak is certainly the biggest, but I could name about a million others as well.
  20. DS
    Dak and Zeke need to stay out of the bars late at night drinking shooters and spend more time using their so called “leadership” skills and put in more actual practice and studying opponents during preparations during the week.

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