CFZ What Dak is Doing Is Not Normal

[IslandCowboy]

Let's not get too crazy excited. We've been playing pretty bottom barrel teams aside from Seattle which is middle of the pack and has been terrible as of late. If Dak destroys the Eagles like Purdy did then I might start drinking the Kool Aid, but until then I'll reserve my astonishment.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I think it's hilarious that some want to act like Dak just hit his magical eighth year without acknowledging the coaching change. The Garrett influence is finally gone. You now have a proven excellent QB coach and OC instead of another project you have to hope works out.

Go look at Kurt Warner's latest Dak video and compare it to the one he did on the Niners playoff loss, where he said over and over he had no idea why we were running these routes or what we were trying to do. It's night and day.

 

[CowboyoWales]

If I had to guess why all of a sudden the "light came on" for Dak, and that is that for the first time in his career he isn't playing under Garrett or Garret Jr.

I mean, have we had any "all 4 receivers run to the sticks and turn around" plays this year? I mean, that was a staple in the Cowboys offense since Romo was playing, yet I can't recall a single play like that this year. We use stop routes still, but not with everyone doing it on the same play.

So while the complaint were that Dak "wasn't a real NFL QB", maybe, just MAYBE, that because he never ran a real NFL offense.

I'm sure this is an oversimplification, and I really did not like Garrett or KM (once he showed he was VERY Garrett-like), but it's just a theory ... A football theory.

Out of adversity comes enhancement. The 9ers out planning and out executing their Defensive system to snuff out the TCO with press defense was the "light came on".

I suppose it was an acceptance that TCO wasnt the answer and that one of the factors that wasnt helping was Dak remaining in the pocket. As soon as he offered the scramble, and started moving out of the pocket to extend the play, buy changed defenses 'book' on him. It does also help that CeeDee/Ferguson has given him two targets that he's confidence with.

 

[SultanOfSix]

It clicked for Romo in 14 with bad back and all.

It clicked for Romo well before that.

What happened in 2014 is he actually had an offensive line and consistent running game where he didn’t put it on himself to try and do too much. Unfortunately, he still had lousy Garrett as a head coach and a middling defense.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

You Dak haters just need to man-up, admit you were wrong about Dak, and confirm he is what the Cowboys need going forward.

Just because I'm going to let it play out, let Dak EARN this "not normal" gig against the best teams in th eleague...

Doesn't make me a Dak hater.

And yes...as a matter of fact I AM going to cheer him on the whole way through.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

The reality is that Dak has always been a good to very good QB. It’s just that some were so dug in against him that only once he ventured into the stratosphere of truly elite, playing so well that nobody could possibly deny it, that they recognized it.

In order to be elite you have to BEAT elite.

That's is just the....reality.

 

[Redline360]

He's played phenomenal since the niners game and is finally starting to carry the offense. Hopefully this mid season surge is not an outlier. We also played a good majority of cup cake defenses though. Still regular season means nothing in the long run.

OL has finally starting to click, team is healthy, Dak is using his legs again, MM scheme, and etc.

If the OL can get the run block locked down its going to be hard to stop them moving forward

 

[CATCH17]

Dak's currently on a major roll, yes. Maybe his best ever.

But you still don't understand that Dak's always been at least a "very good QB", and now he's playing like a "great QB."

You were always wrong about him. Period. Look around the NFL and tell me how many QBs can put up the high PPG as consistently as Dak.

That's not "mediocre." Mediocre QBs don't have Dak's career win percentage and stats, and their offenses aren't consistently as highly ranked as the Cowboys offense has been.

He's always been good. You can say he wasn't elite, you can complain about him losing to the very best team in football with zero run game in the playoffs (SF, twice)... but you're blind if you still think he was "mediocre."

No. I’ve always said Dak is about the same as Kirk Cousins.

Anywhere from the 8th to 13th best QB depending on the week.

A guy who gets carried by the team and not a guy who Carrie’s the team.

I was right then about him just like I’m right now about him.

Will this level of play stick? I don’t know but as of this moment he’s playing an elite brand of football. This isn’t his norm.

 

[CATCH17]

I think it's hilarious that some want to act like Dak just hit his magical eighth year without acknowledging the coaching change. The Garrett influence is finally gone. You now have a proven excellent QB coach and OC instead of another project you have to hope works out.

Go look at Kurt Warner's latest Dak video and compare it to the one he did on the Niners playoff loss, where he said over and over he had no idea why we were running these routes or what we were trying to do. It's night and day.

100%…

We’ve taken a step forward with our passing schemes and 2 steps back with our blocking schemes lol.

 

[Nav22]

No. I’ve always said Dak is about the same as Kirk Cousins.

Anywhere from the 8th to 13th best QB depending on the week.

A guy who gets carried by the team and not a guy who Carrie’s the team.

I was right then about him just like I’m right now about him.

Will this level of play stick? I don’t know but as of this moment he’s playing an elite brand of football. This isn’t his norm.

He was carried by Zeke, Amari Cooper and Kellen Moore, right?

Oh wait.

 

[America's Cowboy]

In order to be elite you have to BEAT elite.

That's is just the....reality.

That's a team accomplishment, not an individual player's. Football 101

 

[jsb357]

Waiting for January to see if Dak & Dallas can keep up the performance.

 

[The Fonz]

It is a team work my friend

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

That's a team accomplishment, not an individual player's. Football 101

Yes sir...yes it is.

And what is the team made of? Individuals. And their performances can make or break the team. Some more than others.

 

[phildadon86]

Listen, you really have to have an untrained eye to say the things you’re saying.

If you can’t see the difference that’s on you at this point.

Untrained eye?

Parsons is a wasted pick.
CJ Beathard and Brad Kaaya are going to be better pros than Patrick Mahomes.

You have no right to tell anyone they have an untrained eye. At all.

 

[Jarntt]

This performance surge is not normal. In fact, I can’t think of another QB that had late career surges like this. I give up trying to project QB play. For me it goes back to Wentz vs Dak. I went back and forth on that 10x before Wentz fell off the cliff.

Off the top of my head I would say maybe Alex Smith and Gannon? Gannon had that great year with the Raiders when put in an offense that suited him better. I'm no fan of McCarthy's in game management, but you have to admit something is working with Dak and this offense. I think a lot of it is just less miscommunication. It always seemed Dak and the receivers weren't on the same page. I think things were simplified a little this year and I think players are out there playing football and not thinking as much. I think right now the top MVP candidates are probably Dak, Purdy, Stroud and Tua? Maybe a guy like CMC or Hill if it isn't a QB. I say if we somehow do end the year 14-3 it will be Dak for sure.

 

[Vandyr]

How has only one person in here stated the obvious? The Cowboys have beat 8 crap teams, four of those wins being against the absolute bottom of the barrel in the league, the rest being mediocre to bad. The only somewhat decent team the Cowboys have beat was Seattle. I mean, how hard is it to figure out?

 

[TWOK11]

No. I’ve always said Dak is about the same as Kirk Cousins.

Anywhere from the 8th to 13th best QB depending on the week.

A guy who gets carried by the team and not a guy who Carrie’s the team.

I was right then about him just like I’m right now about him.

Will this level of play stick? I don’t know but as of this moment he’s playing an elite brand of football. This isn’t his norm.

Any team that wins as many games as consistently as Dallas has is being carried by their franchise QB. That’s the nature of the modern NFL. Any team winning a lot by any other means will have much greater variance in win totals year to year because the margin for error is too small and the roster turnover too high. QB play is a franchises stabilizing influence over time.

We are about to win 12 or more games for the 4th time in the 7 years Dak has played a majority of the games. We have never finished below .500. That can ONLY happen with high level quarterback play.

 

[TWOK11]

Listen, you really have to have an untrained eye to say the things you’re saying.

If you can’t see the difference that’s on you at this point.

He is playing better this year, but he is literally the best quarterback in the NFL this year. He was still a very good franchise quarterback before this. It’s just that now he’s outplaying all the guys everyone always said he could never play at the level of.

This idea that he was Kirk Cousins or Derek Carr though was always laughable.

 

[john van brocklin]

You guys just don’t get it. You need a great QB to have a chance but you need so much more than that to have Super Bowl aspirations.

I agree rocky
We are just trying to figure out why dak is playing lights out lately