Dak wasn't that good last night **merged**

[Bluefin]

Well he balled in his rookie year with a great Oline and run game.

Dak Prescott's rookie season was fantastic, but his numbers the first eight games last year were also very good before the burning of Atlanta.

When you look at those 25 games (and he only played two series in the '16 finale @ Philly), it's a lot more good than bad. One of the reasons is that Dak didn't get pressured a ton in most of those contests.

He really only had adversity for about 10 games.

And most of those games featured some combination of missing offensive players named Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Ezekiel Elliott.

That doesn't excuse Dak for performing poorly, but it was a common factor.

If one of the best OL or RBs in the NFL isn't playing, let alone two of them together, it's not good for that team.

I bookmarked a great read on CowboysWire by John Kinnear back in January that looked at how Dak handled getting pressured. Some of it we would expect, Dak played a lot better in games when pressured on less than 40% of his dropbacks than in games where pressured 40% of the time or higher.

The Cowboys were 18-3 in the former and 4-8 in the latter.

The story also showed that Dak trailed only Alex Smith in QB rating when looking at games when pressured less than 40% of the time. In those 'clean games' it further illustrated that Tom Brady was the only passer with a higher QB rating than Dak when there was pocket pressure.

The other side of the pancake wasn't as pretty.

Dak had the lowest QB rating of them all when pressured on 40% or more of dropbacks and when having a clean pocket in those 'dirty' games.

The severe drop in play, especially when having a nice pocket in a heavy pressure game, is alarming.

It also compares Dak's pocket passing in 'clean' games versus 'dirty' games with the expected big rating difference between the two.

The pocket passing numbers used in the story came from Zone fave site PFF and I decided to combine the two sets using Pro Football Reference's QB calculator to generate Dak's total numbers as a pocket passer over 2016 and '17.

Pocket passer QB rating: 106.34
473 of 659 (71.8%)
5,189 yards (8.7 ypa)
38 TD
12 INT

 

[Them]

.

the team was good enough to win. despite the short comings. the defense was outstanding.

…?...the team?...fine with me if you don't agree... Dak was the QB of "the team," ...Eli was the QB of the other "team."
Dak won...Eli lost...'nuff said!

 

[G2]

when you bring up the all time passing performance against Denver as an example of not getting it done.

That's where a lot of fans get lost. Great, he had these great passing stats. But in the end, when the team needed a win, he couldn't finish. In fact he threw it away.

Perfect example.

 

[G2]

2013 game against Denver...... I’m thinking our defense getting torched for 50plus had more to do with a loss than any Romo late pick. Using that game as any argument to put Romo in a negative light is a joke.

Fancy stats doesn't subtract throwing a game winning opportunity away. The real joke are those who refuse to acknowledge excuses equally across the board.

 

[G2]

Nonsense. Romo would win the game and then the defense would cave, and then he would have to win in again and the defense would cave, then he would have to win it again and then he would throw a pick.

But I freely admit that his gun slinger ways lost us some games for sure. HE was probably of the worst game managers I have ever seen. But then again, he had Garrett as his OC or head coach the entire time.

I'm not talking about games he didn't contribute to the lose, but the games late in the season, win or go home or post season. The defense didn't throw those INTs.

 

[G2]

I was pointing out postseason issues.

You've pointed out seven losses. I can gaurantee you that Dallas lost a lot more than seven games under Romo's watch, lol.

As far as the bolded item, You obviously don't understand football or not watching the game if you want to blame Romo for losing the Denver game. First off, Ty Smith got pushed back into Romo and Romo's follow-through was disrupted so he lost a little on the pass and Travathan made a diving pick on it. Do you think that our defense might have been just a little responsible for giving up 50+ points?!!! Crying out loud, what more could you want from the man in that game and don't say "throw a pick", because that was totally a flukey play.

Right. The convenient "go to" is suggesting "I don't know football." Get the **** out of here with that.
Until Prescott is afforded the same excuses you're being biased. I supported Romo from some pretty outlandish criticism. But to suggest scoring 50 covers for a **** throw is lame at best.

 

[G2]

And really that is the tip of the iceberg. There were many, many more. And he was constantly bashed because if it. And people rightfully defended the dude because he was solely blamed. Me and you being two avid Romo defenders.

Now you have these fans who have seemingly forgotten Romo had his problems and have convinced themselves it was everyone’s fault but Romo’s and try to build him up to be something he was not while finding everything to bash Dak for.

Exactly. Simply pointing out mistakes that Romo actually made that lost games are facts. We defending him from the ******** blame for everything under the sun. Now, it's all Prescott.

For **** sake, missing the nfl's best LT, RB, K and LB, a new RT a garbage LG and a shaky secondary are now "excuses."

 

[Gator88]

That's where a lot of fans get lost. Great, he had these great passing stats. But in the end, when the team needed a win, he couldn't finish. In fact he threw it away.

Perfect example.

Yes, fans can get lost by blaming a qb that put up 48 points and not realizing it is a team game. You can only score so many times (48 points) before you eventually get stopped yourself regardless of how good you are. For example, an offensive lineman getting pushed back into stepping on the qb's foot when he is throwing the ball, the rookie receiver running a poor route, and the defender making a great play, stuff outside of your control will eventually catch up to you if the other half of your team doesn't do anything.

Exactly. Simply pointing out mistakes that Romo actually made that lost games are facts. We defending him from the bull**** blame for everything under the sun. Now, it's all Prescott.

For **** sake, missing the nfl's best LT, RB, K and LB, a new RT a garbage LG and a shaky secondary are now "excuses."

Romo made mistakes like every other QB ever has done. The problem is when people act like he made tons of mistakes when he didn't really. People consider Brees elite yet he missed the playoffs for years until he had a defense and running game last year.

As for Dak missing all of those players, nobody was expecting top 5 offensive results, but he shouldn't have given historically bad production for the team like longest period in franchise history without a touchdown. There was still enough talent around him that it shouldn't have been close to that bad for the length of time he struggled.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Dak Prescott's rookie season was fantastic, but his numbers the first eight games last year were also very good before the burning of Atlanta.

When you look at those 25 games (and he only played two series in the '16 finale @ Philly), it's a lot more good than bad. One of the reasons is that Dak didn't get pressured a ton in most of those contests.



And most of those games featured some combination of missing offensive players named Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Ezekiel Elliott.

That doesn't excuse Dak for performing poorly, but it was a common factor.

If one of the best OL or RBs in the NFL isn't playing, let alone two of them together, it's not good for that team.

I bookmarked a great read on CowboysWire by John Kinnear back in January that looked at how Dak handled getting pressured. Some of it we would expect, Dak played a lot better in games when pressured on less than 40% of his dropbacks than in games where pressured 40% of the time or higher.

The Cowboys were 18-3 in the former and 4-8 in the latter.

The story also showed that Dak trailed only Alex Smith in QB rating when looking at games when pressured less than 40% of the time. In those 'clean games' it further illustrated that Tom Brady was the only passer with a higher QB rating than Dak when there was pocket pressure.

The other side of the pancake wasn't as pretty.

Dak had the lowest QB rating of them all when pressured on 40% or more of dropbacks and when having a clean pocket in those 'dirty' games.

The severe drop in play, especially when having a nice pocket in a heavy pressure game, is alarming.

It also compares Dak's pocket passing in 'clean' games versus 'dirty' games with the expected big rating difference between the two.

The pocket passing numbers used in the story came from Zone fave site PFF and I decided to combine the two sets using Pro Football Reference's QB calculator to generate Dak's total numbers as a pocket passer over 2016 and '17.

Pocket passer QB rating: 106.34
473 of 659 (71.8%)
5,189 yards (8.7 ypa)
38 TD
12 INT

The only problem I have with this stuff is you guys want to compare Dak to pro bowlers in their prime or fully developed. As if some 2nd year QB is supposed to be great at dealing with pressure. Its a developed skill. And you actually have to go through adversity and get pressure and fail over and over again to get to the other side.

Its like the conclusion is that since Dak sucked when he was pressured, so he simply cant handle pressure. NO, its just that young QB's have to learn to handle pressure. And since that didnt happen much the first 24 games, he is now experiencing that part of his development. Now there is no crystal ball that can say for sure he will get to the other side. But thats par for the course for young QB's. At least Dak has things going for him:

1. He is a good leader and the players rally around him. He has the team.
2. He is a great kid and works hard and wants to be the best. Isnt afraid of the big stage.
3. He is great with his legs and can hurt defenses there.
4. We saw what he COULD do when given time and great players around him even at a young age. 11 wins in a row, 13-3, nearly beat Rogers in the playoffs had it not been for bad coaching. Drove them down for the winning FG before Garrett and the defense choked.

So in my book, we got a lot of positive things to go with already. And the fact that he was a 4th round picks is very very lucky.

But the more time goes on, the more the doubts become further justified. As they do with me.

Thats how I see it and why I dont freak out everytime Dak has a bad game. But they are adding up.

 

[Aviano90]

Yes, fans can get lost by blaming a qb that put up 48 points and not realizing it is a team game. You can only score so many times (48 points) before you eventually get stopped yourself regardless of how good you are. For example, an offensive lineman getting pushed back into stepping on the qb's foot when he is throwing the ball, the rookie receiver running a poor route, and the defender making a great play, stuff outside of your control will eventually catch up to you if the other half of your team doesn't do anything.




Romo made mistakes like every other QB ever has done. The problem is when people act like he made tons of mistakes when he didn't really. People consider Brees elite yet he missed the playoffs for years until he had a defense and running game last year.

As for Dak missing all of those players, nobody was expecting top 5 offensive results, but he shouldn't have given historically bad production for the team like longest period in franchise history without a touchdown. There was still enough talent around him that it shouldn't have been close to that bad for the length of time he struggled.

You guys use this Denver game as if it haloen often. It is an outlier scoring 48 points and losing. Yes, 48 points should win you a game. On the flip side, using an abusing a defense all day long should mean it is easier to come back and get the game winning score since you owned that defense all day. Right?

Yes, Dak shouldn’t have sucked so bad last year. Romo and his offense shouldn’t have sucked so bad in win or go home games either, right? Can you admit that out Top 10 offense shouldn’t look like a Weeden led 2015 offense because that is what they averaged when our season was on the line.

And I will call it now, you just can’t admit it, you will come up with a bunch of excuses for why you don’t think Romo has any responsibility whatsoever for why our top 10 offense performed like a Weeden led offense in season ending games. But, but, but, it’s not Romo’s fault.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

.


…?...the team?...fine with me if you don't agree... Dak was the QB of "the team," ...Eli was the QB of the other "team."
Dak won...Eli lost...'nuff said!

Dak or Eli didn't lose or win. Dallas won, Giants lost. Sean Lee won, Smith Won, Jones Won, etc.....you get my point. it wasn't as if Dak and Eli were the only ones out there.....give me a break

 

[kskboys]

Right. The convenient "go to" is suggesting "I don't know football." Get the **** out of here with that.
Until Prescott is afforded the same excuses you're being biased. I supported Romo from some pretty outlandish criticism. But to suggest scoring 50 covers for a **** throw is lame at best.

Yeah, it's like when someone proclaims "You don't know football", what they're really saying is that they're not bright enough to answer you.

 

[G2]

Yeah, it's like when someone proclaims "You don't know football", what they're really saying is that they're not bright enough to answer you.

I made a sizable list of Romo blunders where he clearly threw the game away at the end. And that list was JUST late season, win or go home or postseason game blunders.
And what happened? Every single factual example was ignored and EVERY fan posted about the Denver game. That tells a lot.

 

[Gator88]

I made a sizable list of Romo blunders where he clearly threw the game away at the end. And that list was JUST late season, win or go home or postseason game blunders.
And what happened? Every single factual example was ignored and EVERY fan posted about the Denver game. That tells a lot.

Week 1 against NYJ is a late season game? Week 6 against Denver? Good to know.

 

[kskboys]

I made a sizable list of Romo blunders where he clearly threw the game away at the end. And that list was JUST late season, win or go home or postseason game blunders.
And what happened? Every single factual example was ignored and EVERY fan posted about the Denver game. That tells a lot.

Wheel spinnin'!!!!!!!!!

 

[Gator88]

You guys use this Denver game as if it haloen often. It is an outlier scoring 48 points and losing. Yes, 48 points should win you a game. On the flip side, using an abusing a defense all day long should mean it is easier to come back and get the game winning score since you owned that defense all day. Right?

Yes, Dak shouldn’t have sucked so bad last year. Romo and his offense shouldn’t have sucked so bad in win or go home games either, right? Can you admit that out Top 10 offense shouldn’t look like a Weeden led 2015 offense because that is what they averaged when our season was on the line.

And I will call it now, you just can’t admit it, you will come up with a bunch of excuses for why you don’t think Romo has any responsibility whatsoever for why our top 10 offense performed like a Weeden led offense in season ending games. But, but, but, it’s not Romo’s fault.

Romo usually ended up against elite defenses with an oline that was terrible at pass blocking in those games. As much as you try to spin and label this as excuses, it doesn't change the fact that even the best quarterbacks (which Romo wasn't) don't succeed in the playoffs without good team support. It's not like the Cowboys have a history of having a good team under the reign of the current guy in charge.

 

[G2]

Week 1 against NYJ is a late season game? Week 6 against Denver? Good to know.

I also meant late in games.

 

[kskboys]

Over and over and over again. Seems like I just don't know when to say when!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cap12]

You guys use this Denver game as if it haloen often. It is an outlier scoring 48 points and losing. Yes, 48 points should win you a game. On the flip side, using an abusing a defense all day long should mean it is easier to come back and get the game winning score since you owned that defense all day. Right?

Yes, Dak shouldn’t have sucked so bad last year. Romo and his offense shouldn’t have sucked so bad in win or go home games either, right? Can you admit that out Top 10 offense shouldn’t look like a Weeden led 2015 offense because that is what they averaged when our season was on the line.

And I will call it now, you just can’t admit it, you will come up with a bunch of excuses for why you don’t think Romo has any responsibility whatsoever for why our top 10 offense performed like a Weeden led offense in season ending games. But, but, but, it’s not Romo’s fault.

Typical Romo bashing....How about the fact that our defense sucked? We gave up over 50 points and Romo kept us in the game with a remarkable effort. We just stop Manning just once on one iof the bazzilion scoring drives and we win the game.

Right. The convenient "go to" is suggesting "I don't know football." Get the **** out of here with that.
Until Prescott is afforded the same excuses you're being biased. I supported Romo from some pretty outlandish criticism. But to suggest scoring 50 covers for a **** throw is lame at best.

Are you blaming Romo for Ty Smith getting bull rushed into him as he's in his throwing motion, Twill's rookie route and the diving pick? That's pure BS. Not all interceptions are created evenly and any sane person would not say that Tomy simply ***'ed up. The guy passed for over 500 yards and 5 TD passes. Its' one of the greatest QB performances in the history of the league and it wasn't rewarded with a win because the Defense was terrible and an improbable INT sealed the loss. Understanding all of this. it is simply a ridiculous position to take. So yeah, you either don't know football or you are so full of Romo hate that you can't be objective.

 

[Aviano90]

Typical Romo bashing....How about the fact that our defense sucked? We gave up over 50 points and Romo kept us in the game with a remarkable effort. We just stop Manning just once on one iof the bazzilion scoring drives and we win the game.

LOL, Perhaps you missed the acknowledgement that 48 points should win the game? Fact is the offense cracked with the opportunity to still pull out the victory in a tie game. He needed to hit Murray who had all kinds of room to run. He also should have thrown the ball away on the first down play instead of scrambling for the sack. It put us in bad down and distance to start the drive.

but, but, but...it's Romo....48 points....he's allowed to make mistakes and not be blamed at all.