Dallas Cowboys need consistency from quarterback Dak Prescott
In a contract year, Dallas Cowboys need to see quarterback Dak Prescott set his feet, trust his protection and perform at his best on a weekly basis.
The Dallas Cowboys came prepared to play on the grand stage of Sunday Night Football against the New York Giants. Giving credit where it’s due, quarterback Dak Prescott helped get the team off to a fast start.
A victory over the New York Giants hasn’t inspired me to change the oil in the Cowboys bandwagon and prepare for the drive to Atlanta, Georgia yet. Let’s begin by discussing the improved play of Prescott in the first half.
Before the Giants game, my last article highlighted some of the flaws in Prescott’s throwing mechanics and other reasons for his poor performances at the quarterback position. This was the first game in weeks that Prescott seemed to trust his protection.
Since last season, Prescott has seemed extremely skittish in the pocket and lacked pocket presence. Instead of letting routes develop downfield, he imagined pressure and looked to run. That wasn’t the case against the Giants. Against the Giants, Prescott stood tall in the pocket and delivered the ball downfield.
With the risk of going 0-2, I’m willing to bet that standing in the pocket and trusting the protection was emphasized to Prescott by the coaches during film study. I’m positive quarterback coach Kellen Moore would have mentioned that the Giants’ defensive line is better at stopping the run than rushing the passer. Prescott had nothing to fear but fear itself.
Prescott remained focused on his throwing mechanics and it was good to watch him set his feet and throw the football. The biggest miss was to tight end Rico Gathers in the end zone. Throwing the pass out of bounds was nearly inexcusable for an NFL quarterback.
When the Cowboys defense recovered the Giants’ fumble on the Giants 27 yard line, I was disappointed in the play call at that point. I know the Cowboys wanted to establish the running game, but part of me believes former quarterback Tony Romo would’ve taken the field and immediately thrown a touchdown pass to former wide receiver Dez Bryant. Feel free to debate that in the comments.
I’ve admitted that Prescott played better, which means that many members of Cowboy Nation haven’t been able to admit that Prescott has been playing poorly. We can only hope that Prescott becomes consistent with doing the little things like setting his feet and trusting his protection. It’s a contract year and the Cowboys need to see this style of play on a weekly basis.
Now, at this point, I need to give some love to the Cowboys defense because it was enjoyable seeing them pressure Giants quarterback Eli Manning, but Manning is 37 years old. There were moments that Manning’s play action looked close to a run-pass option.
Those plays were hilarious because everyone knows that Manning isn’t a running threat. In the pocket, Manning is a sitting duck due to his lack of mobility and the lack of communication in his offensive line made things worse.
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The Dallas Cowboys defense is young, fast and athletic. They are definitely better than any defense than Tony Romo ever had. Hopefully the defense continues this level of play against offensive lines that won’t be confuse by simple defensive stunts. Every Cowboys victory is a good victory – Next stop, Seattle!
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