Again, Dak and Watson are not the same player. Let’s look at this year for example.
In the last quarter, when down by seven:
Dak
22/36 61.1% 4.6 YPA 0 TDs 1 INT 2 sacks
Watson
55/71 77.5% 10.4 YPA 6 TDs 1 INT 8 sacks
Where is all the yards by Dak, when the game is close and on the line, per the stats. Even going by the sacks, Watson is getting sacks 1 times every 8 attempts, while Dak is getting sacked 1 time every 16 throws. And he’s doing it while checking down to a whopping less than 5 YPA.
And again, as I’ve stated many times, Dak is below league average in terms of QB rating when down by a 1-8 with four minutes to go, meaning if the Cowboys actually needs to rely on his arm to win, they end up sucking. This idea Dak is clutch all goes back to 2016, when he was a game manager, with a completely dominant line and he didn’t make mistakes. Nobody disputes that Dak can manage a game when he has an all-pro line and a RG wearing out defensive fronts, but he hasn’t showed anything in fives years to lead you to believe he can carry a team on his back.
Dak is the biggest paper-Tiger out there. Heck, if you want to talk about garbage time stats this year, even Watson can do it better when down 9-16 points
87 of 111 at a 77% 10 YPA clip 9 TD and 1 INT
42 of 61 at a 68% clip 8.8 YPA 3 TD and 1 INT
And Dak’s WRs are way better and he didn’t have Bill O’Brien or a garbage OL and his best WR traded away...
If you get a chance to swap Watson and Dak, especially if the OL is back to normal and Zeke still showing at times he can do it, you do it in a heartbeat, no questions asked based on the stats and supporting cast.
