Cowboys over Redskins: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Week Two
By Richard Ball
The Bad
Prescott was nearly perfect a second consecutive week. His lone blemish for the day was his first quarter interception which warrants a deeper look.
On a 3rd and one with 5:25 left in the first quarter, the Cowboys lined up with tight end Jason Witten set on the right and a bunch formation of wide receivers Cooper, Cobb and Michael Gallup to the left just inside the numbers. Running back Tony Pollard joined Prescott in the backfield.
Prior to the snap, Gallup motioned farther to the outside and then Cobb motioned from the left to right stacking behind Witten. Prescott took the snap with five seconds left on the play clock.
Washington defensive tackle Daron Payne lined up over center Travis Frederick. At the snap, Frederick chose to double team Washington defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis who was lined up across from Cowboys guard Zack Martin.
Payne slid to his right and was met by guard Connor Williams. Williams was leaning too far forward hinged at his hips to get much of a block on Payne giving the Washington defender a free run at Prescott.
Payne was on top of Prescott eight yards in the backfield about 2.4 seconds after the ball was snapped. To Prescott’s credit, he absorbed a shot from Payne and was able to escape the massive Washington defender.
Prescott stepped up into the pocket and launched the ball eight yards downfield to Cobb who ran a dig route. The ball was thrown behind Cobb who had two yards separation on the Washington middle linebacker.
Cobb turned his body to try and catch the ball. He was able to get his hands on the ball resulting in the ball being popped up in the air for an easy interception for Washington safety Montae Nicholson.
When Prescott threw the ball, his right foot or back foot was parallel to the sideline and his left foot or front foot was in the air. In this position, Prescott was not able to lead Cobb and threw the ball behind his receiver.
While Prescott was under pressure, his poor footwork ultimately led to the bad ball. Quarterbacks coach Jon Kitna still has some work to do to eliminate Prescott’s natural tendency.