The record should be 6-5, shouldn't it?
Also, one of the complaints from some of us about Dak is that he has not been seeing the field and he has been holding the ball too long at times. If he is holding the ball too long then it would be a reason why pressures and sacks would be up. I think it was obvious that some of the sacks he took were his fault and not the fault of the offensive line.
Increased processing time is certainly part of it. Defenses stopped blitzing him so much after Denver and played more coverage (rushing four). The loss of Blake Jarwin and 12 personnel made it tougher to run and do play-action off of it.
The running game was never the same after the loss of Jarwin. Kellen Moore inexplicably abandoned the run game in too many games. On film Prescott vacillates between holding the ball too long and checking down too soon...and the stiffer the competition the more it happens. He doesn't have a cannon for an arm and trying to beat Cover 4/3 deep becomes VERY difficult...especially with the type of pressure he faced against SF. The final long ball miss to Cedric Wilson illustrates this. Those shells are designed to eliminate the deep throw...and without a legitimate play action threat (hint...running game) it becomes even harder.
I think he was cognizant of the calf injury but I don't think it limited him physically. His rushes...
22 for 70 yds before injury
26 for 76 yds after injury
I'm sure the ankle and the calf probably are on his mind...but in the heat of the game I think instincts take over for a player...like the TD run he made vs. the 49ers. I think he might be more springy next year, now that he has a full season under his belt post injury. But I still don't think you will ever see him run like he did his rookie year. I do think that he is a guy who will
always have to keep on top of his footwork because that is tied to accuracy. It was one of the knocks on him coming out of college. Ankle and calf injuries definitely don't help in that area.
While I do critique Prescott...I don't see him as a quarterback who can't get the team where it wants to go. With a bruising ground game he can certainly put up the numbers and the points. He can play clean and limit turnovers. Do that enough and good things will happen. Too many quarterbacks of far lesser stature have gone to a Super Bowl to think that Prescott can't. But the offensive philosophy of the team under Kellen Moore will sink the ship...because you can't look at this team down the stretch and think that Moore did all he could to make Prescott comfortable, spare his offensive line getting pummeled and properly utilize the skill players...or make timely adjustments to the defensive coordinators he faced. I don't see how he makes Prescott a better quarterback next year if he doesn't change his approach to the offense. It could result in McCarthy being fired.
There simply isn't any more time for him to "learn on the job" as it were.