Dak Is Back?

[Jkyle]

I think we should be optimistic about seeing a better Dak this season.
Many forget or refuse to acknowledge that many of his struggles were due to him coming off a catastrophic injury. He never seemed right and was lacking that mobility he demonstrated in previous years. I'm sure he had physical and mental limitations as a result of the injury.
Being a full year removed, we should expect to see a better conditioned and less hesitant more confident Dak.
Now, will he finally beat teams with winning records more consistently, we'll see. But that will be due to his overall abilities as a QB, he won't have the injury to fall back as an excuse.

 

[ChronicCowboy]

He is what he is. Expecting him to turn into a butterfly is setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

[thunderpimp91]

I’m not sure the injury was really an excuse last year? The guy was lighting teams up early on, then fell off a cliff the back half of the year with the rest of the offense. It could be partially the injury he had during the New England game, but the 2020 injury seemed to be almost a non factor other than him running a little less, no?

 

[jazzcat22]

I think we should be optimistic about seeing a better Dak this season.
Many forget or refuse to acknowledge that many of his struggles were due to him coming off a catastrophic injury. He never seemed right and was lacking that mobility he demonstrated in previous years. I'm sure he had physical and mental limitations as a result of the injury.
Being a full year removed, we should expect to see a better conditioned and less hesitant more confident Dak.
Now, will he finally beat teams with winning records more consistently, we'll see. But that will be due to his overall abilities as a QB, he won't have the injury to fall back as an excuse.

I’m not sure the injury was really an excuse last year? The guy was lighting teams up early on, then fell off a cliff the back half of the year with the rest of the offense. It could be partially the injury he had during the New England game, but the 2020 injury seemed to be almost a non factor other than him running a little less, no?

I don't think Dak never did, nor, never will use that as an excuse.

However, it very well could have been subconsciously there. Then the calf injury, therefore compounding this.

 

[USArmyVet]

Dak had issues well prior to his injury so while 2021 may have seen him in his head a bit due to the injury recovery and new injury, the question marks have always been there.

 

[thunderpimp91]

I don't think Dak never did, nor, never will use that as an excuse.

However, it very well could have been subconsciously there. Then the calf injury, therefore compounding this.

And you may very well be right that it could have been there subconsciously. Dak never used it as an excuse and the way he shredded offenses early on I struggle to give it much thought that it was an issue.

 

[nalam]

I’m not sure the injury was really an excuse last year? The guy was lighting teams up early on, then fell off a cliff the back half of the year with the rest of the offense. It could be partially the injury he had during the New England game, but the 2020 injury seemed to be almost a non factor other than him running a little less, no?

Injury is part of the story, the other teams had enough film to game plan, and Denver showed the way. When the WRs are covered by intelligent zone coverage, Prescott went conservative and started dumping off.

Zekes injury didnt help either. We couldnt take advantage of non stacked boxes.

 

[bonafidebanter]

I think it's going to be more of a challenge to even get the ball off this year. Young WR and OL will have him struggling at times. I hope those Jordan cleats transform into track spikes because he's going to be running for his life. I wouldn't be surprised to see a decrease in his stats and wins this year. I'm not one to ignore the deficiencies up front and out wide. Let's hope Kellen Moore will continue to improve and be even more creative in our offensive approach. I'm looking for a lot of our production to come from 12 personnel and run game. We're going to need more of our young guys to step up and show out. God, I'm ready for this season to start already!!!

Go Cowboys!

 

[thunderpimp91]

Injury is part of the story, the other teams had enough film to game plan, and Denver showed the way. When the WRs are covered by intelligent zone coverage, Prescott went conservative and started dumping off.

Zekes injury didnt help either. We couldnt take advantage of non stacked boxes.

This sounds more right to me. A very simplified version of the issues, but I think a more accurate one. In addition this offense struggled mightily with post snap reads and missed blocking assignments. A lot of correctable issues I believe, but not as injury related as some remember. The Dak injury during the new england game probably was an issue, but those are the types of injuries you are almost always going to have to deal with half way though the year. No one makes it through 17 games without some strains, bruising, etc.

 

[Big D]

He never left.

 

[Rockport]

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

Yes, by all means get your hopes up.

 

[thunderpimp91]

He never left.

Back half of last year he did….but so did lamb, zeke, KMs brain, and half the oline.

 

[glimmerman]

He should be more mobile. He was coming in at the end of last year. Remember we had a good streak going until the OT win against the pats. He had that injury to the bad leg. Likely made him cautious for a while. And we also had Jarwin and Elliot and other injuries after that.

 

[USArmyVet]

He should be more mobile. He was coming in at the end of last year. Remember we had a good streak going until the OT win against the pats. He had that injury to the bad leg. Likely made him cautious for a while. And we also had Jarwin and Elliot and other injuries after that.

In 2021, Dak's rushing stats:

Games 1-6 (Dallas was 5-1 in those games): 22 rushes 80 yards

Games 7-16 (Dallas was 6-4 in those games): 26 rushes 66 yards 1 td

For the season, Dak's ypc was only 3.0 so was it in his head with having recovered from an injury, suffered a new injury, or a design to limit his rushes?

 

[Proof]

Dak had issues well prior to his injury so while 2021 may have seen him in his head a bit due to the injury recovery and new injury, the question marks have always been there.

sure. i think the point though is that we saw him playing the best football of his career for a stretch last year, preceding the injury. so regardless of issues there's also demonstrated greatness as well. we'll see which bears out.

 

[75boyz]

Dak peaked as a rookie as did Zeke.
They both were a product of THAT oline.

That version of Dak or Zeke or that o-line ain't coming back.

 

[JJHLH1]

The troubling thing is that Dak regressed as last season progressed.

The first half he played at an MVP level, at least according to online betting sites.

So coming off an injury can’t be an excuse.

I have no idea why Dak started playing poorly, but hopefully he can correct that.

 

[Iago33]

Back half of last year he did….but so did lamb, zeke, KMs brain, and half the oline.

Nope. I’m pretty sure that was Dak out there

 

[Crown Royal]

In 2021, Dak's rushing stats:

Games 1-6 (Dallas was 5-1 in those games): 22 rushes 80 yards

Games 7-16 (Dallas was 6-4 in those games): 26 rushes 66 yards 1 td

For the season, Dak's ypc was only 3.0 so was it in his head with having recovered from an injury, suffered a new injury, or a design to limit his rushes?

I don't think it had anything to do with Dak's rushing.

Denver realized that Dak is VERY good against the blitz, but that the running offense wasn't perfect. Stopped blitzing, dared the Cowboys to play small ball, and without a running game just couldn't do it. The Cowboys offense wanted to be a power run with deep passes.

I do think their roster is a bit better designed now to handle shell coverage. Still running attack, but the WR core more designed for YAC than it was this time last year.