Clarence Hill and Hellman nugget on Dak cracking under pressure

[McKDaddy]

Gee, I didn't know Helman had come around. Last things I had seen from him (which has been a minute), he was still flying the flag.

 

[Redsfan_83]

So what is the excuse for him being unable to hit his 3rd, 4th, 5th and at times 65th reads? This is not a playoff only issue with our QB it's game in, game out. He over throws, he under throws...he makes me throw up to be honest, lol. Sure, Dak is not alone with cracking in big games, I will never deny this nor will I blame Dak for his inefficiencies. How many times has the team gone back to basics with him...working on his footwork, etc? Dak was a 4th rd pick for a reason, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that wayyyyyyyyyyy too much was expected of him from Day 1.

 

[Zordon]

Clarence Hill carrying water for Dak...what is new?

Same guy talks tough about Jerry on Twitter then acts like a court jester in front of him.

DFW Cowboys media is the worst.

 

[kskboys]

I will say this........some say it's him, others say he doesn't have enough talent around him. I don't know which it is but can both be true? Here's what I do know.......he played the GB like a free-agent rookie when ALL the marbles were aligned in his favor. There was no excuse for that whether you have a good or bad team and frankly I'm not sure he will ever recover from that gam

No, it's not the talent thing. Dak is completely different when under pressure. Has absolutely nothing to do w/ talent around him.

 

[kskboys]

I don’t know that it is a wilting under the pressure kind of thing as much as these mediocre starters are not elite because they have flaws. Some of those flaws are fatal and good defenses and smart DCs pull out all the stops to expose those flaws in the playoffs.

Yup. That's why Dak is in the 8-15 range of QBs.

 

[DCreppinBoysfan]

Those SF games were not competitive. That’s very selective memory right there and it’s pissing me off. The score isn’t indicative of what really transpired those game

 

[Coogiguy03]

Calvin is sounding like a clown, and he's an ok dude, but Dak is 32 and hasn't got the job done. Blame everyone except him, but at some point he has to elevate the team like .Jayden Daniels and Hurts did when it mattered most, in the biggest games. Dak just doesn't have "it" and that's ok just adjust the team.

Shotty knows Dak isn't the QB ppl try to make him out to be, so he wants a run oriented offensive approach.

post of the morning

 

[Coogiguy03]

Yup. That's why Dak is in the 8-15 range of QBs.

there were rookie qb's better than him

 

[Vtwin]

He needs to get thst conservativeness out of his system because it’s not welling in the post season.

He can't. Playing even a bit more aggressively exposes his fatal flaws.

 

[visionary]

The problem is signing the largest contract in the league following the GB game. Jerry hangs him and McCarthy out to dry and then gets injured after a few games. A weird hamstring injury landed him on IR for the season. His pressure is now 100x greater than GB game IMO. I think this Jerry is why is aggressively determined to fix the run game.

I would not have extended Dak last year, as i had said repeatedly before the extension but when Jerry gave Dak that extension then he should have given him more help. With a limited QB like Dak you have to be able to take the ball out of his hands when (not if) he struggles in critical situations. So, signing Henry would have been a great option but if course Jerry is a moron

 

[Vtwin]

And that points to change, not inability. Change is here now.

Yes. Just like it was last February. And the February before. And the February before. And the..... Well, you get the drift.

 

[LonnieElam]

DFW Cowboys media is the worst

They are, and I can only listen to a few of them. Broaddus and his stuttering gets on my nerves. He honestly adds nothing. Shan and RJ are annoying. Gavin Dawson is good. Cory Majors is SUPER-ANNOYING. David Helman has the most smug, punchable face of them all. They're all soft little B's that got scared of Jerry. I miss Ben & Skin.

 

[Johannes44]

I love how there are excuses to be made for Dak's abysmal play against the better teams in the league but somehow no one wants to talk about how bad that Bucs team was.

 

[Creeper]

I absolutely think Dak wilts when he feels he has to perform. I also believe this psychology was not there when he first came to the Cowboys. As a rookie he went out and played better than anyone expected. He didn't wilt at any point. I first noticed him wilting in 2019. I am not sure what changed but It appeared something did. I suspect the change occurred and someone anointed Dak and put the onus all on him. Now Dak feels like it all comes down to him and that's when he chokes. When he plays loose, he is a very good QB. He makes quick decisions, spreads the ball around and the offense moves up and down the field. When he plays tight, he holds the ball too long, forces the ball into covered receivers, throws INTs, and loses some accuracy.

IMO, giving Dak $60 million per year just made the problem worse. Now Dak not only has to win every game himself, but he has to prove he is worth the money he got paid. He can never do either. But the pressure he feels from this thinking causes him to choke.

The best answer is to take the pressure off Dak. Get him a running game. Get him playmakers on offense - more than 1 (remember what happened when they acquired Amari Cooper?). Build some confidence in him for himself and his offense. Dak will never be worth $60 million. Jerry is an idiot for paying him that kind of money. But I do think if they take the pressure off him he can play better than he did in 2024. The question is, can they get enough good players around him given his contract. Even though his contract pays him $60 million, his CAP value due to previous restructures is $90 million this year, then $66.7 million, $61.7 million and $71.7 million for each of the next 3 years. They took stupid and figured out a way to make it even more stupid. If they restructure Dak in 2025, then his CAP will be over $70 million for each of the next 3 years. As bad as $60 million per year sounds making it $70 million or more is worse.

At this point I am not even sure it is possible to fix Dak's problem. Therefore, they should start preparing to move on from Dak, and it starts by not restructuring his deal this year.

 

[ChronicCowboy]

Clarence Hill is one of the least talented journalists I’ve ever had the pleasure of following. He’s a borderline idiot.

 

[Johannes44]

I also believe this psychology was not there when he first came to the Cowboys.

His Rookie year there was never a real instance where things were put on his shoulder until maybe that GB game. Remember his rookie year it was run heavy with Dak playing a very secondary role in operating that offense. The more they added to his plate the worst he got.

 

[WillieBeamen]

Heading into year 10 and this is still a topic?

12-5, 2nd seed in the NFC, at home with a 16-game winning streak against a team who wanted to, and actually did fire their DC immediatley after the season. The same team that Tommy Devito beat a few weeks prior. This guy threw some of the most boneheaded INTs ive seen Nd couldnt move the ball until GB went into Prevent.


Theres nothing else that needs to be said

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Those SF games were not competitive. That’s very selective memory right there and it’s pissing me off. The score isn’t indicative of what really transpired those game

This is what I’ve been saying. I don’t put GB on Dak nearly as much as SF playoff game #1

In GB, it was an entire organizational failure. The Oline wasn’t ready to play, the receivers weren’t ready to play, the Dline wasn’t ready to play, the DBs weren’t ready to play, the linebackers weren’t ready to play. Yes Dak had a bad game, but would it have mattered if he had a good game?

Whereas SF 2021 wildcard round, the problem there was the score was 23-7 with 12 minutes left. The 14 second Dak scamper that ended the game was only an issue because you didn’t have enough time to come back due to the offense basically being asleep for the first 3 quarters. That was a very winnable game. I can’t remember the exact number but I think Dak had something like 100 total yards toward the end of the third quarter. It’s a tough defense but you gotta do something; the team ran out of time to play catchup from the hole they dug

 

[Coogiguy03]

I would not have extended Dak last year, as i had said repeatedly before the extension but when Jerry gave Dak that extension then he should have given him more help. With a limited QB like Dak you have to be able to take the ball out of his hands when (not if) he struggles in critical situations. So, signing Henry would have been a great option but if course Jerry is a moron

You had to because like everyone on here thought and it got to Jerry that "who are you going to replace him with!!?????

 

[MarcusRock]

the less the ball is in his hand, the better.

The same was true of Romo. It's not coincidence that he had his best season as a pro with Murray putting up the most prolific season ever for a Cowboys RB.