49ers Player Has Brutally Honest Admission On Dak Prescott

[Pantone282C]

I am in no way defending Dak's performance because that speaks for itself with so many interceptions this season.

That said, the one thing that irritates me when teams play zone against the Cowboys is that Kellen Moore calls a lot of comeback routes which makes it really easy for the defenders to defend. The defender never loses sight of the ball while the Cowboys receiver only sees the ball at the end of the comeback route.

Even if that's the only way he knows how to beat zone you would think at some point he would mix in some "run to the defender, stop, turn back, then immediate turn around and take off down field" just to keep the defenders honest or hesitating.

Yeah, Achilles heel play calling. Doesn't help that Dak stares down some of those routes.

 

[CowboyoWales]

We did the same thing when Romo was the QB and JG was the OC. It's big part of JGs offence.

If the OC cant create a scheme that the QB is capable of executing, even when Jimmie Ward (see signature- from the 2022 game) is on the record as explaining last years defensive strategy then there's a problem with BOTH.

Where the disconnect becomes catastrophic is when the QB is unable to overcome the defensive scheme.....the issue with Dak's reading of Safeties has seriously limited Dak's use between the hashes (in a lot of games).

Dak appears to struggle with and frequently throws behind lateral runners: whether he's late in processing or unable/ not confident in hitting a target on the run I dont know, but it takes away slants/ins and leaves us relying on curls and hitches.

There's no surprise that Dak appears to like throwing to Schultz.

 

[CowboyoWales]

I am in no way defending Dak's performance because that speaks for itself with so many interceptions this season.

That said, the one thing that irritates me when teams play zone against the Cowboys is that Kellen Moore calls a lot of comeback routes which makes it really easy for the defenders to defend. The defender never loses sight of the ball while the Cowboys receiver only sees the ball at the end of the comeback route.

Even if that's the only way he knows how to beat zone you would think at some point he would mix in some "run to the defender, stop, turn back, then immediate turn around and take off down field" just to keep the defenders honest or hesitating.

Yeah, Achilles heel play calling. Doesn't help that Dak stares down some of those routes.

Yep, Dak throws to curls and hitches, because those are his easily checkdown plays - not necessarily the first choice read. When Dak's confidence is off he'll go to safe 'out' routes Against an 'average' Defense he'll get away with the short chain moving connection to Schultz, but against the 49er's of this world he just doesnt have the arsenal.

The mitigating point in Sunday's game was that with Pollard/Zeke (sharing the running load), eventually our running game would have taken ascendency as the defense tired and would have had to fill the d-line breachess.....at that point Dak would have had a chance with less coverage....as we know Pollard going down meant the running game died, 49ers were able to stay in heavy secondary coverage and the rest is history.

 

[NotForLong]

You mean like this pathetic play where all the receivers run right to the defenders then just turn around. The defenders are looking right at Dak to jump the route as the receivers run toward them. This has to be the worst play to run when defense is playing zone with their eyes toward the QB.

The risk taken to get 4 yards is not worth it. We've been running this play multiple times a game since JG days as OC/HC.

Deductive reason points to 1 reason . . . The limited ability of the QB

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

This is the only franchise dumb enough to hire an OC to train on the job. It is no surprise that our results are as expected.

 

[NotForLong]

If the OC cant create a scheme that the QB is capable of executing, even when Jimmie Ward (see signature- from the 2022 game) is on the record as explaining last years defensive strategy then there's a problem with BOTH.

Where the disconnect becomes catastrophic is when the QB is unable to overcome the defensive scheme.....the issue with Dak's reading of Safeties has seriously limited Dak's use between the hashes (in a lot of games).

Dak appears to struggle with and frequently throws behind lateral runners: whether he's late in processing or unable/ not confident in hitting a target on the run I dont know, but it takes away slants/ins and leaves us relying on curls and hitches.

There's no surprise that Dak appears to like throwing to Schultz.

Staring down the receivers . . . don't forget staring down the receivers . . . The opposing Safeties have feasted on this all year .

 

[Pantone282C]

Yep, Dak throws to curls and hitches, because those are his easily checkdown plays - not necessarily the first choice read. When Dak's confidence is off he'll go to safe 'out' routes Against an 'average' Defense he'll get away with the short chain moving connection to Schultz, but against the 49er's of this world he just doesnt have the arsenal.

The mitigating point in Sunday's game was that with Pollard/Zeke (sharing the running load), eventually our running game would have taken ascendency as the defense tired and would have had to fill the d-line breachess.....at that point Dak would have had a chance with less coverage....as we know Pollard going down meant the running game died, 49ers were able to stay in heavy secondary coverage and the rest is history.

Good assessment. Not sure why they didn't bring in Davis. Dak didn't see some open receivers or didn't have confidence in hitting them. Why no play action or screens?

 

[NotForLong]

This is the only franchise dumb enough to hire an OC to train on the job. It is no surprise that our results are as expected.

Kellen is awesome . . . #1 offense with Dak at QB . . . This guy should be up for Sainthood

 

[Pantone282C]

Sure seemed to be a lot of slow developing passing plays that looked like home run attempts.

 

[Xeven]

Dak is awesome, he made generational wealth on mid level skill set. Good on him! Smart man and lucky.

 

[FTWayne]

Daks processing skill are as fast as a sloth running.

 

[EversonIWasAYoungBoy]

That is a Kellen special, run curl routes right at the sticks. If they do catch it, it often results in being short after the tackle. There aren’t many routes that allow for YAC in this offense.

The bigger problem is that Dak doesn’t get the ball there in time. The ball should be on the way before the receiver turns. Dak is so late on his throws that the defender has all day to jump it

 

[Xeven]

Good assessment. Not sure why they didn't bring in Davis. Dak didn't see some open receivers or didn't have confidence in hitting them. Why no play action or screens?

Kellen failed to adapt. Should have used Turpin and Ceedee to help keep the run game going. Ceedee actually does pretty good on runs around the edges. Kellen had no plan for if Pollard got hurt. That’s a fail. And Zeke has his uses but it’s not game changing plays anymore.

 

[EST_1986]

Yet you disappear when he plays well.

So he goes missing 2 maybe 3 times a season

 

[atlantacowboy]

This is a stupid take and I don't even want to defend dak but he literally destroyed the eagles zone defense less than a month ago.

"Per @NextGenStats, Dak Prescott went 24-for-24 for 300 yards when Eagles played zone. Eagles defense allowed points (4 TDs, 4 FGs) on 8 of 10 Cowboys possessions. Eagles’ 2nd-worst defensive performance of the season, based on EPA per drive."

The key is whether the 4 guys on the DL can get enough pressure. If you look at all of his worst games this year Tampa week 1, Washington week 18, and SF on Sunday , the common denominator was the linebackers dropping into zone and the front 4 getting enough pressure to disrupt him.

How do you explain his wildly inconsistent performances? He was literally the best player on the field against Tampa and the worst player on the field against SF.

 

[USArmyVet]

I am in no way defending Dak's performance because that speaks for itself with so many interceptions this season.

That said, the one thing that irritates me when teams play zone against the Cowboys is that Kellen Moore calls a lot of comeback routes which makes it really easy for the defenders to defend. The defender never loses sight of the ball while the Cowboys receiver only sees the ball at the end of the comeback route.

Even if that's the only way he knows how to beat zone you would think at some point he would mix in some "run to the defender, stop, turn back, then immediate turn around and take off down field" just to keep the defenders honest or hesitating.

Dak is the one making the throws and if you watch both of his INT's against SF he stutter steps far too many times in the pocket which allows defenders to jump the route.
That is not on Moore as plenty of QB's throw against zone coverage without similar results.

The week prior Geno Smith had much better success against the SF zone defense than Dak so ultimately it comes down to QB play.

 

[USArmyVet]

You mean like this pathetic play where all the receivers run right to the defenders then just turn around. The defenders are looking right at Dak to jump the route as the receivers run toward them. This has to be the worst play to run when defense is playing zone with their eyes toward the QB.

The risk taken to get 4 yards is not worth it. We've been running this play multiple times a game since JG days as OC/HC.

Yet Dak makes the pass and got lucky as the LB jumped the route and would have had a clear pick 6. This is a pattern with Dak of not reading a defense and starring down his targets.

 

[SinceDayOne]

When Prescott is good his defenders gloat; when he not good his detractors aggressively criticize him. The two group bicker back and forth all day long on this very forum. That proves that the QB is just too inconsistent. You never know what the Cowboys will have until after the games are over. He is probably going to be on the roster and likely the starter for some time to come. I strongly suggest that management needs to find new people to coach and work with him ASAP. Go with a new OC and a very good QB coach to try and get more consistent play out of him. Continuing on the way things are is a big mistake IMO.

 

[USArmyVet]

When Prescott is good his defenders gloat; when he not good his detractors aggressively criticize him. The two group bicker back and forth all day long on this very forum. That proves that the QB is just too inconsistent. You never know what the Cowboys will have until after the games are over. He is probably going to be on the roster and likely the starter for some time to come. I strongly suggest that management needs to find new people to coach and work with him ASAP. Go with a new OC and a very good QB coach to try and get more consistent play out of him. Continuing on the way things are is a big mistake IMO.

Therein lies the issue: Dak is constantly in need of some level of help whether it be more weapons or better coaching....even after 7 seasons.

The bottom line is that Dak, as you stated, are too inconsistent as you just saw a rookie QB in SF that has more poise, confidence, and ability to read a defense more than the Dallas $40M man.

 

[HeavyBarrel]

That's exactly what I am takling about. I saw that happen multiple times during the game.

I remember watching the replay on one of the 3rd-and-10 plays when the Cowboys sent 4 receivers (2 on each side) 10 yards to the first down marker, had them stop and turn around right in front of the defenders making it easy for the defenders to cover all 4 of them.

Even if one of them caught the ball they were not getting a first down because they would be 1-3 yards short at that point as the defender was right there to make the tackle.

It's not really that hard to attack zone coverage. You beat zone by running through it which forces the defenders to turn away from the ball.

You can then have one or more receivers stop and turn back while the others keep going or you could swing a tightend or running back around into the middle of the field for an easy catch and run.

The Cowboys receivers are at their best when they are running slants and crossing patterns, not comebacks.

Agreed, comeback routes are fine when you have a large target (TE) sitting beyond the marker as the ball gets there. Having this WR core running 7-8yd comeback routes on 3-10 in ridiculous...We need way more slants, posts, crossing routes etc....