There are plenty of perks to playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. A career in broadcasting once retired is a given. Companies come flocking to use their faces for advertisements. But for Dak Prescott and Tony Romo before him, playing quarterback for the Cowboys is a double-edged sword.
As America’s team, the Cowboys deal with an elevated level of scrutiny on network talk shows. Fans don’t have the time to learn about the intricacies of football, so they must take their cues from those in high places who speak or write about the game. Unfortunately for them, network shows aren’t meant to educate, they’re meant to entertain.
So, why don’t we have a little class on Dak Prescott’s performance from Week 1, and then we’ll give him a letter grade at the end?
Dak Prescott Returns From Broken Thumb
We may as well get the basics out of the way. Prescott finished 19-of-25 for 207 yards and a touchdown. Sunday marked the first time since 2019 that Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense started the game with two straight three-and-outs. Of course, Twitter was already ablaze.
Once again, the Cowboys’ defense was outstanding. Few entities have been so consistent during the hallucinogenic trip that has been the 2022-2023 NFL season. The Cowboys’ defense ranks first in EPA per play and weighted DVOA. They have, unequivocally, the best pass rush in the NFL.
In other words, Prescott doesn’t need to put up video game numbers to have a successful outing, especially in his first game back from an injury that required surgery on his throwing thumb.
But Prescott needs to be efficient. And on Sunday against Detroit, he was. Patrick Mahomes currently leads the league in EPA per play at .366 — those are alien numbers. Aaron Rodgers led the league in that stat with a .265 mark one year ago.
Prescott’s day against the Lions had him at .38. Good things happened when the Cowboys passed the ball on Sunday. But sometimes numbers can lie — how did he look through the lens of the All-22?
Dak Prescott’s Rusty Ball Placement
Here is where the numbers can lie a bit. Prescott’s Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE) was 10 on Sunday. He was expected to complete 66% of his passes but actually completed 76% of them. However, the ball didn’t leave his hands as cleanly on a few occasions, particularly when on the move (as usual).
The most obvious was on the first play of the game when Prescott threw a ball, forcing Noah Brown to leap. Prescott is usually very good at rolling to his left, so this was a bit concerning at the time. However, the All-22 suggests this ball was still catchable.
Two other throws come to mind. The first of which is the deep completion to CeeDee Lamb against AJ Parker and a converging DeShon Elliott. However, that play developed quickly on the rollout, and Prescott was hit and faded away as he threw it.
The egregious miss came on the second throw: a low red-zone pass to Dalton Schultz. It resulted in a defensive pass interference because the NFL loves rewarding underthrown passes, but it’s one Prescott surely wants back. Schultz beat the coverage toward the back pylon, and Prescott had every opportunity to lead the pass closer to that point.
But here’s the thing that fans miss. All 32 starting quarterbacks, Mahomes and Allen included, miss passes they shouldn’t. It happens all of the time, but most fans only have a microscope on their favorite team, so they’re seeing the highlights from the rest of the league.
Overall, Prescott looked sharp. When the line protected him to attack the intermediate areas of the field against Detroit’s zone coverage, he was money. And he hit a slick crossing route to Lamb in stride against man coverage. But those are throws we expect the $40 million QB to make.
Decision-Making
Anybody who understands and talks/writes specifically about quarterback play raves about Prescott’s mental aptitude. Prescott is a $40 million QB because of that ability, first and foremost. He doesn’t have a top-tier arm and doesn’t possess the athleticism to consistently create outside of the structure of the offense.
He is a pocket passer through and through, but one who can occasionally take off when he needs to and is athletic enough to run a speed option here and there.
Few quarterbacks are as quick-witted as Prescott when executing horizontal spacing concepts against zone coverage. He is surgical, to the point where it’s become detrimental to the offense because the team leans on that ability to a fault.
That’s why Kellen Moore deserves some flowers for the team’s game plan against Detroit. They didn’t simply spread them out and say, “Hey Dak, go make the perfect read 30 times today.” Moore and the Cowboys remained more condensed and used a good chunk of under-center play-action concepts.
Let’s discuss the seam throw.
The above play is an outstanding example of just how razor-thin the margins are as an NFL QB. Taking the decision out of the equation, if Lamb doesn’t extend his left hand against Alexander Anzalone and fade off his stem, he might get to turn and box Kerby Joseph out.
If he does that, we’re talking about that throw possibly being the best throw of the week. Just like the throw to Amari Cooper against Cleveland in 2021 would have been discussed differently if the safety was a half-step quicker.
Kudos to Moore again because this dagger concept is a great call against Tampa 2. Some will leave the seam route out of the progression and treat it like an alert. Others read this completely high to low, which appears to be the case for the Cowboys — Prescott releases this as soon as he hits hitch.
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Ideally, the middle of the field is vacated by the two outside hook defenders, who are occupied with the two stopping routes. That would leave Michael Gallup open on the dig route. However, the ball is out so fast up the seam that we don’t see that develop.
The decision itself is aggression bordering on recklessness. But Prescott has never shied away from taking risks over the middle of the field if he feels he can sneak a pass in there. He nearly did here, and it was simultaneous nearly caught and intercepted.
Prescott’s Efficiency and His One Big Missed Opportunity
The Cowboys’ passing attack needs to be efficient, and on Sunday, it was. Not scoring points after KaVontae Turpin’s unbelievable punt return was less than ideal. However, the attitude surrounding the Cowboys’ offense is a lot different this week if Noah Brown doesn’t fumble on the 6-yard line and Dallas scores there.
There was one play in particular where Prescott left meat on the bone, but other than that, he was methodical. Nonetheless, nobody wants to see a few cuts of Prescott hitting Schultz for seven yards on a spacing concept or throwing across the hashes on a stopping route to Brown.
So let’s look at that.
Now, I’m not one to complain about positive yards, but this could have possibly been a touchdown had Prescott allowed this to develop longer.
Turpin pulls the middle safety to cover the deep crosser, which uncovers Gallup, who got a late start on his vertical stem after being jammed at the line. As Prescott loads to throw the safety is still on the hash but is booking it across the field to carry Turpin.
Asking a QB to hold onto the ball for another half-second is asking a lot, particularly with how lopsided the battle between pass rush and pass protection is in the NFL. But on this occasion, Prescott had the pocket to do it. It’s a nitpicky gripe to have, but this could have been the type of bomb to get Gallup going.
While this piece highlighted some of the lows from Prescott’s performance, the vast majority of snaps are ho-hum Prescott completions — on time and on target. There were individual instances Dak could have been sharper, but in totality, he had a fine game.