Prescott had a very shaky 4th QTR

[Vtwin]

The bending of reality is in the statement that "lack of killer mentality shows itself every time.." I was assuming it was in reference to Dak's risk averse nature mentioned in the same sentence. If that was not the case then I apologize. But the fact of the matter the Cowboys with Dak at QB have lit opposing defenses on fire many times over the past 5 years. And they have done it more than any other team in that span. So for anyone to claim that he or they "lack killer instinct" is what I would call "mindless absolute." Since they have killed many teams over the years. But to the first bold.. The defense had literally forced a 3 and out the previous possession and forced a punt two possessions before that so there was every reason to believe they could at least put up a fight with 6 minutes left in the game. So they had gotten stops on 2 of the last 3 Panthers possessions yet the OC and the QB should have expected them to just bend over and let the other team go 86 yards, eat up the last 6 minutes and never give you the ball back? Maybe I'm not the one who should look at the way the game had gone.

I did mean exactly that. Dak has been very risk adverse and that shows the most in crunch time when it often comes down to taking a risk to make something happen. The good plays in the "normal" situations are great, but once again, they don't mean anything when the ball is snapped in the clutch moments. If that wasn't a thing then labels such as "clutch" and "choker" would have never been coined. It is what separates guys like Staubach, Montanna, Brady etc from other very good QB's who don't respond near as well in the pressure cooker moments.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the defense. The reportedly worst defense in the league. The defense that is being talked about as the historically worst defense in the league. The defense that gave up 5 scores on 8 drives prior.

Playing it safe and counting on getting the ball back in that situation is a loser mentality. I would rather have seen Dak throw a pic while trying to make something out of nothing in that situation. End result would have been the same but at least they would have gone down fighting, instead of whimpering.

And for the umpteenth time for all reading this, this is not blaming Dak for the loss. This is nothing more than looking at the specific situation and Dak's role in how it played out. Dak is not to blame for the loss but he is also not blameless.

As a comparison, Romo was just the opposite. He tried to do to much at times. I said years ago here that if you could mix Dak's athletic abilities with some of Romo's gunslinger mentality you would have one hell of a QB.

 

[Captain43Crash]

That’s what I think. We didn’t lose because of Dak. In fact Dak and Pickens kept us in it. We lost cuz our defense is terrible. Like really terrible. But that last drive was pretty bad on the whole offense: playcalling, execution, scheme and timing. Dak was a part of that drive so he shoulders some blame but no more than offensive linemen, rb, and HC.

So the OP isn’t completely wrong cuz that last crucial drive didn’t go good. But that drive and the game is not 100% on Dak. I wonder if Dak and the rest of the offense knew if they didn’t convert and score the game was over and over pressed?

I can't believe we have the worst defense in the NFL, one that just gave up a 6.5 minute drive to kill the game, and there is a 27 page thread on how Dak is the problem because didn't score a 4th TD.

I know this board loves to hate Dak, and a lot of times the criticism has been justified, but it's still surprising the lengths you'll all go to pin every single bad thing on him.

The reality is that it doesn't matter who our QB is this season. The defense is that bad. We can't win because the defense is rock bottom of the league. We made Russel Wilson look like an all-pro and he was benched (probably for the rest of his career) two weeks later. Rico Dowdle just hung 200 yds on us at 6 yards a carry. Caleb Williams had the best game of his career on this team.

Seriously, what sport are you watching? What team are you watching? Because I see a guy that is playing elite and keeping us competitive while our defense leaves receivers 5yds open in the end zone and plays 40 yards off the receivers on 3rd and 2.

Two things can be true!

We have a terrible terrible defense with a terrible DC.

Dak played a really good game
until the 4th quarter. As bad as our defense was Dak still had a chance to make a couple plays, and help us win the game in the 4th quarter. He did not do it. He also did not do it late in the game vs GB.

 

[Captain43Crash]

Dak has been good period

False, and you know it.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Two things can be true!

We have a terrible terrible defense with a terrible DC.

Dak played a really good game
until the 4th quarter. As bad as our defense was Dak still had a chance to make a couple plays, and help us win the game in the 4th quarter. He did not do it. He also did not do it late in the game vs GB.

It's just the facts. I can't for the life of me figure out why some pople refuse to accept it. They just get triggrered into "you don't know football"..and "you are blaming dak for EVERYTHING!"

It's weird.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

The bending of reality is in the statement that "lack of killer mentality shows itself every time.." I was assuming it was in reference to Dak's risk averse nature mentioned in the same sentence. If that was not the case then I apologize. But the fact of the matter the Cowboys with Dak at QB have lit opposing defenses on fire many times over the past 5 years. And they have done it more than any other team in that span. So for anyone to claim that he or they "lack killer instinct" is what I would call "mindless absolute." Since they have killed many teams over the years. But to the first bold.. The defense had literally forced a 3 and out the previous possession and forced a punt two possessions before that so there was every reason to believe they could at least put up a fight with 6 minutes left in the game. So they had gotten stops on 2 of the last 3 Panthers possessions yet the OC and the QB should have expected them to just bend over and let the other team go 86 yards, eat up the last 6 minutes and never give you the ball back? Maybe I'm not the one who should look at the way the game had gone.

Against which teams? In the playoffs?

and by the way...a question occurred to me. Does Dak audible or change plays?

I know Romo used to be "famous" for it. Even mayfield recently told his bench after a TD "we drew that one up in the dirt".

I'm sincerely curious. I figure you' d know.

 

[blueblood70]

False, and you know it.

Wrong he didn't call those screens that was his job to listen to the coach that was what was called that's what he did just because he said after the game he didn't want to put the ball in jeopardy doesn't mean that he didn't look down the field first before he dumped those balls down but those were all called plays he is not the play caller..

you want to blame someone on offense, blame the fact that the offensive line didn't play well ,there was no run game, Williams broke zero tackles on the screens, blue got zero yards, they were playing one dimensional football and Prescott doesn't call the plays,​

​

would you like to have another ridiculous post with Prescott was shaky in the 4th quarter without mentioning all the context, and I would say you're 100% wrong, and you know it you're false, you need me on that wall you, want me on that wall...​

​

You know what would have been the story if he would have forced the ball into traffic trying to make a play like he has he did it at the end of the Bears game and he was getting out of control that's what quarterbacks do and the ball is intercepted or he holds on to it too long looking downfield and it gets knocked out of his hand then it's the quarterback's fault for putting the ball at risk you would come here and fry him that's the truth he can't win against the haters your haters go away..​

 

[Vtwin]

Against which teams? In the playoffs?

and by the way...a question occurred to me. Does Dak audible or change plays?

I know Romo used to be "famous" for it. Even mayfield recently told his bench after a TD "we drew that one up in the dirt".

I'm sincerely curious. I figure you' d know.

That's a good question. Some are quick to point the finger at the play call. I think they forget that the defense has the final say in what the play call should be.

The play caller can't know what the defense is going to do. The play goes in, the defense lines up in the perfect defense against that play. The QB absolutely has to have options in that situation, and he has to effectively use those options.

 

[Chasing6]

So the UFL is another resource just like the draft I hate to break it to you but they're there for anyone to take challenge tell me you got lucky to do so no his scouting department did their job and they brought over some good players in technicality it's a farm league for the NFL even though nobody admits it....

I guess Free Agency is not another resource.

I guess $30M of unused cap space is not a resource.

Jerry is saving the $30M, so he can wait until the last minute and over pay, whomever he decides next.

 

[khiladi]

People need to get over Dak already. He was shaky years 1-4 mechanically but he has fixed those issues. QBs get overpaid and let's just say we all agree he is a B+/A- he is still better than Dilfer, Flacco, Eli, Johnson, Doug Williams, McMahon, Rypien, Hostetler who all managed to win a super bowl.

We literally have the worst defense in the league giving up over 30 a game. We scored 40 and tied that game. Mahomes is 3-3 right now. People complain about Jerry, but then somehow also buy into his strategy because we seem to have endless complaints about one of the few guys delivering on his contract.

If someone wants to complain about someone getting elite money and not delivering there should be endless threads on Diggs. How many times this year has he been completely lost in coverage? At least that would be on the side of the ball that can't get it together.

LOL...

Dak's main problem is he can't go through progressions and read the field when the game slows down, meaning when he isn't playing garbage defenses himself. He has never fixed those issues, why? because he's can't. He's too slow processing the field, which is why his mechanics look horrible when he plays teams that aren't one dimensional defensively and which is why he got blown out against the Packers, throwing passes directly to opposing defenses, and why, even when he had the number 1 defense in the league 2 years in a row and top 5, he looks like a deer in the headlights. Our offense was averaging 35 PPGs in 2019 and Dak proceeded to become his typical mediocre self and he lost to Wentz to not qualify for the playoffs.

Mahomes has also won multiple SBs and carries his team regularly in the PLAYOFFS, even when his team is mediocre.

 

[HungryLion]

Dak is who he is. He’s a good to very good QB at times. Right now he is playing very good.

He just hasn’t done it in the playoffs. Could be one day overcome that hurdle? Nobody truly knows. There’s clearly a psychological factor at play in the playoffs IMO. Is it possible for that to change? Maybe. Though I would have to see it to believe it.


That said. He isn’t even going to get a chance this season because the team is fatally flawed with the defense being as bad as it is. I came into the season thinking maybe they could compete for a wildcard. But the defense has been worse than even I thought it would be and I didn’t have any confidence in the defense being good going into the season. I just didn’t think worst in the league.

 

[cowboys1732]

You didn't give him credit you did not say thank you Jerry for giving us a prolific offense a top five quarterback and a great special teams you you said nothing in there about all the guys that we signed and the things that he did do right we're not doing that..

It doesn't matter how much is $60 million i'm saying he was willing to pay it to make sure we weren't going through quarterback problems like the Browns you got that my man you get it yet you can't talk out of the side of your mouth you can't say how awesome an elite our offense is without saying thank you Jerry. I'm not having it we won't be having a discussion because you don't know how to have one where you can see both sides of the debate..

Look friend, respectfully you can get glad in the same pants you got mad in. I provided counter factuals, it’s part of debating. No I am not going to thank Jerry and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who will. We will just have to agree to diisagree on the owner/gm. It sounds like we agree that on that the QB is not the problem with this team right now.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Dak does not consistently use his legs to move the chains. This is a major flaw in his game.

We needed Dak to make a play on the last 2 drives of the 4th quarter. Did he do it?

Do you disagree with these statements?

Show video of where Dak supposedly had room to run out of the pocket. Show us.

 

[StylisticS]

It's just the facts. I can't for the life of me figure out why some pople refuse to accept it. They just get triggrered into "you don't know football"..and "you are blaming dak for EVERYTHING!"

It's weird.

Very weird. Any slight critique of Dak is met with vitriol and insulting of intelligence. Dak simply did not get the job done when needed on one of the most important possessions in the game. These are the facts. Also yes? The bigger issue of the game, and pretty much the season, was in fact the defense. Both statements are true.

 

[NDGAEDE]

Two things can be true!

We have a terrible terrible defense with a terrible DC.

Dak played a really good game
until the 4th quarter. As bad as our defense was Dak still had a chance to make a couple plays, and help us win the game in the 4th quarter. He did not do it. He also did not do it late in the game vs GB.

That's fair, I can't dispute that.

 

[RonnieT24]

Against which teams? In the playoffs?

and by the way...a question occurred to me. Does Dak audible or change plays?

I know Romo used to be "famous" for it. Even mayfield recently told his bench after a TD "we drew that one up in the dirt".

I'm sincerely curious. I figure you' d know.

Sorry but this is goal post moving man. We can always refine the criteria to where only that which we are looking for applies. Dak has 24 game winning drives.. I am not going to go back and look up every one of them to see against which teams they came. I do know he engineered a game winning drive against the Seahawks in 2018 and brought us back to tie the game up in 2016 only to watch defense drop trow to Aaron Rodgers and we end up losing when in reality that game should have gone to OT at worst and given that we'd outscored the Packers 31-10 from the middle of the second quarter I would have liked our chances in OT in that one. The defense just needed to hold up for a measly 35 seconds.. But I digress. Fact is, Dak has no control over what the defense does once he hands them a lead. Which he has done several times this season only to watch the defense hand it right back to the other team. But somehow HE should have done more. We will never agree on that. As for the last question.. Of course Dak changes plays.. But I would guess that he would only do so if he thought we had sent in a bad play.. The swing passes to Williams were not bad play calls per se. They were supposed to be safe passes to keep us ahead of the chains. They only became bad plays because the blocker completely whiffed on the defender both times. If he just slows the guy down Williams has a chance to at least get back to the line of scrimmage and frankly if he gets a 4-5 yards head start with moment he probably drives him forward for 3-4 additional. Poor execution does not necessarily equal poor play calling. It was conservative as hell but again.. 8 minutes left in the game is a different mindset than 2 minutes left in the game.

 

[RonnieT24]

Dak is who he is. He’s a good to very good QB at times. Right now he is playing very good.

He just hasn’t done it in the playoffs. Could be one day overcome that hurdle? Nobody truly knows. There’s clearly a psychological factor at play in the playoffs IMO. Is it possible for that to change? Maybe. Though I would have to see it to believe it.


That said. He isn’t even going to get a chance this season because the team is fatally flawed with the defense being as bad as it is. I came into the season thinking maybe they could compete for a wildcard. But the defense has been worse than even I thought it would be and I didn’t have any confidence in the defense being good going into the season. I just didn’t think worst in the league.

That's the bottom line brother. Dak will have to wait until the 2027 playoffs to change his playoff narrative cause this team aint sniffin the playoffs unless a miracle happens with this defense.

 

[IceStar-D7]

Anybody expecting Dak or any quarterback at any football stadium to play perfect every game. Is like a kid waiting under the tree for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Get REAL-kiddo!!

 

[RonnieT24]

I did mean exactly that. Dak has been very risk adverse and that shows the most in crunch time when it often comes down to taking a risk to make something happen. The good plays in the "normal" situations are great, but once again, they don't mean anything when the ball is snapped in the clutch moments. If that wasn't a thing then labels such as "clutch" and "choker" would have never been coined. It is what separates guys like Staubach, Montanna, Brady etc from other very good QB's who don't respond near as well in the pressure cooker moments.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the defense. The reportedly worst defense in the league. The defense that is being talked about as the historically worst defense in the league. The defense that gave up 5 scores on 8 drives prior.

Playing it safe and counting on getting the ball back in that situation is a loser mentality. I would rather have seen Dak throw a pic while trying to make something out of nothing in that situation. End result would have been the same but at least they would have gone down fighting, instead of whimpering.

And for the umpteenth time for all reading this, this is not blaming Dak for the loss. This is nothing more than looking at the specific situation and Dak's role in how it played out. Dak is not to blame for the loss but he is also not blameless.

As a comparison, Romo was just the opposite. He tried to do to much at times. I said years ago here that if you could mix Dak's athletic abilities with some of Romo's gunslinger mentality you would have one hell of a QB.

Nobody who suited up goes blameless in a loss. I have at no time disagreed with the characterization of Dak as risk averse. What I disagree with is the assertion that he fails "every time" because of it. If that were true then almost a third of his career wins would not have come by way of the game winning drive. That's why I called the assertion a mindless absolute because there are irrefutable fact which say different. Yes Dak has failed in those situations sometimes in his career.. making him just like every other QB who has ever laced 'em up. Since he wins 2/3 of his starts and he comes from behind to do it in 1/3 of those wins I would say he succeeds more than he fails. Again.. not a judgement call, not cheerleading. Just stating facts.

 

[Chasing6]

That's fair, I can't dispute that.

Our 3 top defensive players before the season were Micah, Diggs and Bland. Diggs and Bland directly benefit from Parsons presents and Pass Rush. They have to kept extra blockers in to protect the QB, meaning less people to cover down field and the QB has to get the ball out quicker.

Without Micah and two injured CB's, that are supposed to be the hart of the defense, what do people expect from Eberflus?

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Sorry but this is goal post moving man. We can always refine the criteria to where only that which we are looking for applies. Dak has 24 game winning drives.. I am not going to go back and look up every one of them to see against which teams they came. I do know he engineered a game winning drive against the Seahawks in 2018 and brought us back to tie the game up in 2016 only to watch defense drop trow to Aaron Rodgers and we end up losing when in reality that game should have gone to OT at worst and given that we'd outscored the Packers 31-10 from the middle of the second quarter I would have liked our chances in OT in that one. The defense just needed to hold up for a measly 35 seconds.. But I digress. Fact is, Dak has no control over what the defense does once he hands them a lead. Which he has done several times this season only to watch the defense hand it right back to the other team. But somehow HE should have done more. We will never agree on that. As for the last question.. Of course Dak changes plays.. But I would guess that he would only do so if he thought we had sent in a bad play.. The swing passes to Williams were not bad play calls per se. They were supposed to be safe passes to keep us ahead of the chains. They only became bad plays because the blocker completely whiffed on the defender both times. If he just slows the guy down Williams has a chance to at least get back to the line of scrimmage and frankly if he gets a 4-5 yards head start with moment he probably drives him forward for 3-4 additional. Poor execution does not necessarily equal poor play calling. It was conservative as hell but again.. 8 minutes left in the game is a different mindset than 2 minutes left in the game.

I wasn't goal post moving. just talking with you.

Can;t have a discussion on different things, eh? Fine. MUST be afraid to talk about it.

Telling on yourself?