News: DMN: HOF coach Dungy outlines how he beat rookie QBs

[NewsBot]

*** Message was removed by demand from DMN ***

 

[WoodysGirl]

Not a bad read..

 

[Zekeats]

******. I respect Dungy so much and he makes sense. Here is hoping Dak is the once in a lifetime rookie QB

 

[LatinMind]

The last time the Cowboys started a rookie quarterback on opening day, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy was standing on the sideline.

The other sideline.

His Tampa Bay Buccaneers provided the opposition for Quincy Carter and the Cowboys in their 2001 NFL season opener. The Cowboys were so excited about their new quarterback, a second-round draft pick out of Georgia, that they cut veteran Tony Banks in training camp to put the offense in Carter's hands.

"We were scared to death of Quincy Carter," Dungy said. "We didn't know what we're dealing with. You hear the guy is a tremendous athlete. You hear he's supposed to be this, and he's supposed to be that. But you haven't seen it. So we watched some of his college tape and all of his preseason tape, and you start telling yourself, 'There must be something that I'm not seeing.'"

Well, there wasn't. Carter lost his debut, failing to generate a touchdown in a 10-6 setback to the Bucs. Carter was 9 of 19 passing for 34 yards with two interceptions and two sacks.

Now it's Dak Prescott's turn. When Tony Romo went down in the third preseason game with yet another back injury, the Cowboys' offense became property of the fourth-round draft pick from Mississippi State. Prescott was spectacular in the preseason, completing 78 percent of his passes for 454 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.

But Prescott will be seeing a different game from the New York Giants in the season opener Sunday than he saw from the Rams, Dolphins and Seahawks in the preseason.

"There's a difference between professional football and college football," Dungy said, "and there's a difference between preseason and regular season. It's played at a whole different speed, a whole different intensity level. A rookie quarterback is going to see things for the first time. Defenses will be doing things differently, with more coverages."

Carter was one of four rookie quarterbacks to make their NFL starting debuts against a Dungy defense. They combined to complete only 30 of 75 passes for 287 yards with seven interceptions and 14 sacks. Dungy's defenses did not allow a passing touchdown to those four rookies and yielded only one touchdown of any kind in the four games -- and that came on a 20-yard drive after a turnover when John Elway handed the ball off on four consecutive plays.

Yes, John Elway.

Elway made his starting debut in 1983 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, for whom Dungy was defensive backs coach. He completed only 1 of 8 passes for 14 yards with an interception and four sacks. The Broncos wound up winning the game 14-10, but Elway was long gone by then. He was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with an elbow injury.

"You could see John Elway had talent," Dungy said. "You knew he was going to be good. But you also knew it was going to be a struggle [for him] that whole first year. It's a different game, and there's too much to learn."

Elway was the first pick of his NFL draft. So was Alex Smith of his. Dungy's Colts also provided the opposition for Smith's debut start in the fifth week of the 2005 season. He completed 9 of 23 passes for 74 yards with four interceptions and five sacks in a 28-3 loss.

"I watched Alex on tape and liked him," Dungy said. "I remember going up to him after the game telling him, 'Hey, you're going to be a good quarterback.' I told him I coached John Elway's first game, and he never got out of the first half. 'You did better than he did.'"

Dungy's Tampa Bay defense also provided the opposition in the debut start of Detroit's Mike McMahon in 2001. He completed 11 of 25 passes for 165 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and three sacks in a 15-12 loss.

The defensive game plan is simple, whether you're playing John Elway, Quincy Carter, Mike McMahon, Alex Smith or Dak Prescott.

"Play run defense early -- load the box on first and second down and make him throw the ball," Dungy said. "Put him in second-and-9s and third-and-10s. Try to get him in passing situations. Then take away the short passes and make him throw the ball down the field. Put the ball in the quarterback's hands, and make him beat you. Make him throw five times every drive. Most of them can't do it early on.

"The belief is if I can force this guy to throw 20 passes, we're going to win the game."

The stats bear Dungy out. Since 1980, there have been 133 quarterbacks who debuted as NFL starters in their rookie seasons. Only 26 of those rookie quarterbacks threw fewer than 20 passes in their debuts. They combined for a 14-12 record. The other 107 quarterbacks who threw 20 or more passes have a combined 29-77-1 record.

Only 43 of those 133 quarterbacks won their debut starts. Fifty-two of them failed to throw a touchdown pass, and 94 threw interceptions.

"Peyton Manning came into the NFL as prepared as you could possibly be to play quarterback," Dungy said. "He had [Hall of Famers] Marshall Faulk and Marvin Harrison ... and they won only three games.

"Unless you ride the running game, throw 14 passes and have a great defense to win low-scoring games, rookie quarterbacks don't win in the NFL."

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis.

On Twitter: @RickGosselinDMN

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Is Dallas playing against a dungy coached team? Or am i missing something? Wilson seemed to do just fine his rookie yr making div playoffs. Dallas has the OL and the running game to give Dak all the support you can ask for. Save all the its preseason crap, it didnt look like SEA was holding back, and Wilson held his own.

 

[CCBoy]

Dungy forgets a simple principal in confrontations...when you start under estimating an opponent, he'll kick your butt.

 

[Joe Realist]

Good stuff. I expect the praise to come crashing down this week...maybe....

 

[Nova]

Some good points.

But rarely do Rookies who are thrust onto the field so early have the kind of offense the Cowboys do.

Usually this is a situation for a team that is in clear rebuild... Aka the Eagles with Wentz.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Some good points.

But rarely do Rookies who are thrust onto the field so early have the kind of offense the Cowboys do.

Usually this is a situation for a team that is in clear rebuild... Aka the Eagles with Wentz.

We can keep it simple with an emphasis on the running game, short to intermediate passes, then when they least expect it, Boom! hit em with a deep pass. I'm sure our game plan is controlling the clock. A defensive turnover or two would help.

 

[Clove]

Rookies will do rookie things.

 

[Setackin]

Good luck stopping the run, and implementing that plan... There is no way zeke and Morris don't combine for like 35-40 carries lol

 

[SoBlue128]

Is Dallas playing against a dungy coached team? Or am i missing something? Wilson seemed to do just fine his rookie yr making div playoffs. Dallas has the OL and the running game to give Dak all the support you can ask for. Save all the its preseason crap, it didnt look like SEA was holding back, and Wilson held his own.

It's a copycat league and that's what worries me. Wilson had a standout D to win those low scoring games. We just have to hope that the supporting cast Dak has can get him over the hump. As for Dungy, he has always cone off as a know it all that somehow finds a way to retract when he's wrong.

 

[LocimusPrime]

I respect dungy. I wish he was the Cowboys coach. Good coach. Great leader. His logic is sound, and who am I to argue with his coaching philosophy. He has the skins on the wall and like 30 years experience lol.

With that being said, I really really hope we prove the exception to the general rule that rookie qbs suck in the regular season. Hope we win, and win big. But I've been let down so many times, my heart can't take it any more. Pleeeeeease win.

 

[Gameover]

Never speak in absolutes Mr. Dungy... There is more than one way to skin a cat.

And please don't compare 1983 or 1998 to 2016, it's a different game.

 

[slick325]

I sure hope people don't turn on Dakota if he doesn't play well against the Giants or in the games he starts. Hope they will remember he is a rookie and has a lot to learn. As long as he shows glimpses and progression, I'll be ok.

Would love for him to help win games without Romo and expect that Dallas does win games. I just don't expect it to be because of Dakota. #TemperedEnthusiasm

 

[Gameover]

It's a copycat league and that's what worries me. Wilson had a standout D to win those low scoring games. We just have to hope that the supporting cast Dak has can get him over the hump. As for Dungy, he has always cone off as a know it all that somehow finds a way to retract when he's wrong.

Wilson team blew teams off the field the last 4 games of that season and lost in a playoff shootout at Atlanta.

 

[Reality]

Yeah, rookie quarterbacks never win ...

• Andrew Luck rookie season .. Colts .. 11 wins, 5 losses
• RGIII rookie season .. Commanders .. 10 wins, 6 losses
• Mark Sanchez rookie season .. Jets .. 9 wins, 7 losses
• Colin Kaepernick rookie season .. 49ers .. 13 wins, 3 losses
• Russell Wilson rookie season .. Seahawks .. 11 wins, 5 losses

 

[kevm3]

How many of those rookies came into a situation like dallas with one of the best O lines in the league, two extremely solid RBs, one of the best WRs in the league, a hall of fame tight end and a solid #2 and slot receiver? If Dak performed like garbage in preseason, I wonder how much all of that 'it's just preseason' talk would be flying as opposed to people screaming how we should have traded up and gotten such and such qb or how we need to get a guy next year and we wasted a 4th.

In regards to Dungy, he knows what he's talking about, but on the other hand, Dak has poise and can make the throws and he has a ton of weapons. Dak has shown the ability to get the ball to his receivers, so if you focus on taking Elliott and Morris out of the game, which will be hard to do because of that big O-line, Dak will slice you up with Beasley, or lob the ball down the field to Dez... if he isn't throwing, he also has the ability to run.

Dak is in the unique position of not really coming into a true 4 and 12 dumpster team that is in the process of rebuilding. Last year's record was due to Dez being out and coming back earlier than he should have and Romo being out and with us having backup QBs that couldn't make things happen. Couple that with us losing Demarco Murray, and you have the recipe for a disaster... but Dez is back and healthy and we have Zeke to replace Murray. This isn't a rookie QB stepping in and playing with a weak Oline and nobody to throw to. He's taking the reigns of a well-oiled and proven offense.

Obviously the preseason and real season aren't a 1 for 1 translation, but a lot of those skills that Dak has shown can transfer over. I don't think he's going to be perfect or put on the show that he did during preseason, but I do think he's going to silence a lot of the 'it's just preseason' talk in his rookie year.

Now, there WILL be rookie mistakes and he will have times where he struggles with the things thrown at him in regular season, but the guy seems to have the smarts to be able to adapt.

 

[superonyx]

Dungy's defense strategy only works if you are playing an offense that plays into the fear of having a rookie QB and doesn't let him throw.
Dungy said to stack the box to stop the run on 1 and 2nd down which will get you beat deep if your Offensive coordinator doesn't call play action and let the QB throw the ball.

Basically what Dungy did was predict what the rookie QB and his OC would call. He was usually right and opposing teams played into his hands and paid the price.
I hope we let Dak play QB and not try to protect him to a fault. Let him play action and move the pocket ect.

 

[Little Jr]

That Tampa d was one of the best all time. We're playing the giants this week and they're not even close to those Tampa defenses. So this week I'm not that worried.

A lot if rookies don't have the #1 ol, the rbs dak has, top 5 wr, great veteran TE to work with either

 

[endersdragon]

One thing I have been saying for a while that he reinforced, we need to be willing to pass the ball on first and second down early to make them respect the pass. They are going to be daring Dak to beat them... So we are going to need to do just that early. We have Dez on the outside, Beasley running short routes on the inside, and Really Old Reliable in Witten, not to mention a good blocking RB and the best line in the league to give him some time to read defenses. Beyond all that if they show a blitz and decide to drop 7 we have a QB who can run on them... So let's let him try to beat them early rather than run into 7-8 men in the box for 2 yards.