Breakdown of how Dak Prescott transformed his game in one year into an MVP type of performance

[America's Cowboy]

Coach McCarthy had a lot to do with it.

Enjoy...



Keep it going throughout the playoffs, Dak. Best of luck. Go make history.

 

[HanD]

I think part of it was last year was more of an outlier but people took it as his normal performance or that he was on a downward trend.

 

[acr731]

Said it before, I'll say it again - he's had better seasons. Not sure why this season deserves MVP discussion more than the seasons where he threw for more yards or TD's didn't. The biggest difference is less interceptions, which needed improvement anyway.

Personally, I think CeeDee deserves to be in the discussion more than Dak.

 

[RodeoJake]

Coach McCarthy had a lot to do with it.

Enjoy...



Keep it going throughout the playoffs, Dak. Best of luck. Go make history.

I think it's more MM has Dak staying within himself and making quicker decisions. Dak ain't trying to gain big chunks on every throw. Part of it is MM and part of it is no more KM and his hero ball offensive attack.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Said it before, I'll say it again - he's had better seasons. Not sure why this season deserves MVP discussion more than the seasons where he threw for more yards or TD's didn't. The biggest difference is less interceptions, which needed improvement anyway.

Personally, I think CeeDee deserves to be in the discussion more than Dak.

Statistically, you are right. Dak did have better seasons 2 previous times. But for the very first time, Dak truly had command of the whole Offense (from knowing every receivers' routes, reading opposing defenses well, making proper changes at the line of scrimmage, having the proper footwork/armwork, and pretty much carrying this Offense even though he hardly had much of a run game to back him up or a better/healthier Oline). Dak pretty much carried this Offense from Week 1 through Week 18. He looked like another Aaron Rodgers out there. First time I've felt that about him fully.

 

[Streifenkarl]

I basically agree with the message of the video. It's not so much the stats (which have never concerned me anyway) but how he looks on the field. How quick he gets the ball away, how much in control he is of his offense. MM as the OC has been the right move, maybe it was KMs harakiri play style after all. You can't put it all on the shoulders of the QB even though he has to carry the biggest share. (KM did try to activate the rungame, just not in the right moments lol, always going for points Madden style)

Dak just has to bring it in the play offs now. A win against GB should have us ride the confidence train further into play off land against one of the real contenders waiting ahead. Man, you guys can't imagine how much I crave a win against SF. This last embarrassing loss almost sucked all my blue blood out of me. Time for a visit to the friggin blood bank.

 

[b0xZZ]

Dak had a stretch this year where he looked like his usual lost self also. I am hoping he proves me wrong and performs at a high level in the playoffs but my hunch is that when he has to make a play or two to help the team when it's all on the line, he wont. That is the Dak that has played here for eight years, over and over again the same story.

Again, I hope I am wrong and I will be the first to admit it if I am.

 

[TwoDeep3]

I have to wonder if anyone who makes comments supporting Dak will ever change their position on him?

Likewise, I wonder if anyone who posts negative points of view about Dak will ever admit he is better than they give him credit for?

The word adamantine comes to mind here.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

His leadership and confidence are night and day from this time last season or even since the 49ers loss. Hell, he always threw for a ton of yards and had a bunch top 5 stats but you could feel something was still missing. It's hard to explain but my confidence in him now when he drops back is on par with Romo and Aikman.

 

[Diehardblues]

Imagine if we had a running game. Our passing game had to take over. Amazing how effective Prescott was this season without a strong running game.

The difference was our defense which basically shut down all of the below .500 teams while we ran up the score.

But lack of turnovers was probably the biggest factor . When you lead the league in TD’s instead of INT’s the results will reflect.

I think he was more mobile this season , extending plays and occasional scrambles. And we must mention completely healthy as well for first time in several years.

Great regular season for Dak. Now it’s time to play his best ball on the bigger stages which will help change the narrative from the critics.

 

[Streifenkarl]

I have to wonder if anyone who makes comments supporting Dak will ever change their position on him?

Likewise, I wonder if anyone who posts negative points of view about Dak will ever admit he is better than they give him credit for?

The word adamantine comes to mind here.

"It's the ciiiiiiiircle of liiiiiiiife...."

 

[Hawkeye0202]

I have to wonder if anyone who makes comments supporting Dak will ever change their position on him?

Likewise, I wonder if anyone who posts negative points of view about Dak will ever admit he is better than they give him credit for?

The word adamantine comes to mind here.

I have always supported ALL Cowboy players but call them out if they need to step up their game, Dak is no different but the 49er loss left a scar. I didn't see the leadership, confidence or toughness in that game that the QB position requires. THEN........something happened the week after that game. We all know he took a brutal beating from fans ( even his strongest supporters), the media and I think privately some teammates. All I know it appears someone or a few trusted people in his circle had a long man-o-man, calling a spade-a-spade conversation with him. Whether it was a friend, coach, teammate, family member, mentor or hell could have been Zeke, but whoever it was, he's no longer playing timid likely he's afraid to run or throw certain passes. In other words, you see he is now leaving it all on the field.

 

[vicjagger]

 

[Hawkeye0202]

I think he was more mobile this season , extending plays and occasional scrambles. And we must mention completely healthy as well for first time in several years

This^^^^^^ is huge
He was timid about this before but now it's opened a level to his game.....we all been waiting for.

 

[calicowboy54]

Statistically, you are right. Dak did have better seasons 2 previous times. But for the very first time, Dak truly had command of the whole Offense (from knowing every receivers' routes, reading opposing defenses well, making proper changes at the line of scrimmage, having the proper footwork/armwork, and pretty much carrying this Offense even though he hardly had much of a run game to back him up or a better/healthier Oline). Dak pretty much carried this Offense from Week 1 through Week 18. He looked like another Aaron Rodgers out there. First time I've felt that about him fully.

i agree here, Dak has looked like that QB this year that can put the team on his back and carry them down the field. i know he’s been captain comeback before, but it just seems like you said he’s more in control of the reads knowing where to go with the football. i think the route concepts are simpler this year so he knows exactly where to go and is throwing ball with decisiveness and throwing WR open as a-posed to waiting on them to get open and then throw it. just seems to fit him better. KM offense is based on Garrett’s offense and the that was built for Romo.

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

Said it before, I'll say it again - he's had better seasons. Not sure why this season deserves MVP discussion more than the seasons where he threw for more yards or TD's didn't. The biggest difference is less interceptions, which needed improvement anyway.

Personally, I think CeeDee deserves to be in the discussion more than Dak.

It’s been a VERY weak QB year.

Lamar Jackson is gonna win it easily with incredibly pedestrian stats.

 

[doomsday9084]

I completely disagree that Dak has had better seasons. His throws this year are fantastic, frequently hitting players right in stride. His reads are quick, both pre and post snap and he makes the right one frequently. Beyond that, he has a clock in his head right now that he quickly goes through his progression and if there is nothing there, he moves around to buy more time. So many of his big plays or 3rd down conversions are off him buying time by running around.

Virtually all of the stats bear this out. Whereas in the past he was frequently around 10th for advanced metrics, he is second in QBR, second in passer rating and top 3 in a whole host of other statistics.

Dak has leveled up this year and I give him and McCarthy credit for that. I always thought Dak was a middle of the pack QB (around 10th) but this year he has been great. One of the best.

And for those who keep bringing up stats, I'm going to post his passer rating and QBR rating rankings by year:
2023: 2nd 2nd
2022: 16th 12th
2021: 3rd 11th
2020: DNQ
2019: 10th 4th
2018: 14th 18th
2017: 17th 4th
2016: 3rd 3rd

Only other year that was debatable was his rookie year but if you watched that season, it was a run first team that Dak played off of and that certainly isn't the case this year.

 

[Zman5]

It's the McCarthy effect. He's done this with other QBs. Favre led the NFL in INTS the year before MM got to Green Bay. The next year, he reduced his INTs in half. ARod drop like a hot potato in the draft until GB took him with the 24th pick. MM developed him in to what he is now.

Here is a snippet from the Wiki article on ARod.

"After the Packers' losing season, head coach Mike Sherman was fired and replaced by Mike McCarthy. Rodgers was then placed in McCarthy's "Quarterback school" for six hours a day several times a week. This focused on working on Rodgers' motor skills such as hand-eye coordination, finger dexterity, and mechanics. McCarthy also worked on Rodgers' release point, moving it from right beside the ear hole of his helmet to further below it, to give him a smoother release."

This is why I wanted KM gone ASAP so that MM could work his QB magic with Dak.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Good stuff everyone. Thank you for sharing. Jerry Jones would be an absolute fool to fire Mike McCarthy! He should keep him and take good care of him.

 

[acr731]

Statistically, you are right. Dak did have better seasons 2 previous times. But for the very first time, Dak truly had command of the whole Offense (from knowing every receivers' routes, reading opposing defenses well, making proper changes at the line of scrimmage, having the proper footwork/armwork, and pretty much carrying this Offense even though he hardly had much of a run game to back him up or a better/healthier Oline). Dak pretty much carried this Offense from Week 1 through Week 18. He looked like another Aaron Rodgers out there. First time I've felt that about him fully.

Valid arguments, but I think the difference maker was getting rid of KM.