Is the Cowboys offense "overrated"?

[Kwyn]

I’m curious, how many INT did Prescott have in the red zone?

Here are his stats

Outside 20 vs red zone
INT: 7 vs 3
INT Rate: 1.3% (elite) vs 3.33% (near bottom)
Comp: 70% vs 56%

Two of the three red zone INTs were inside the ten

Dak is an elite deep ball passer and the stats prove that, but when things get packed in tight he struggles.

One of the biggest reasons for this has nothing at all to do with his arm or his head, despite what his critics might say

It almost directly related to his lack of mobility

In his fist three years, Dak had 18 rushing TDs.

Last year he had 2

Post injury he simply doesn’t have that tool available so defenses are able to ignore the run option and when coverage is tight he has to either force it in or throw it away. Usually he throws it away, hence his low red zone completion percentage.

Combine that with the #1 problem I listed, the lack of effective red zone rushing from Javontae, and our entire red zone offense relies on Dak’s arm.

Compare to Josh Allen and the Bills. They had an absolute juggernaut of a ground attack in the red zone

Allen had 14 rushing TDS, which allowed Joe Brady to manipulate and control defenses.

James Cook was a much better tailback in the red zone than Javontae.

Combined they had a red zone cheat code

Dak’s not going to become mobile this year and that’s why it’s absolute critical that Javontae, Klayton Adams and the offensive line figure out how to run inside the twenty.

Do that and your not asking Dak to to everything by himself.

 

[big dog cowboy]

They need a vet swing that’s capable of starting in the worst way.

Stats from last year don’t much matter.

The backup OT's last year were Nate Thomas and Ajani Cornelius. They are still on the roster.

Stats from last year don't matter? I have no idea what that means. Because they matter considerably. Even in the first year of HC and OC they were a pretty proven offense. They should be better in year 2.

 

[big dog cowboy]

#16 in red zone scoring. That would be a good first thing to address.

The response was to a roster question.

You answered with functionality answer.

Apples and oranges.

 

[McKDaddy]

It's sad you struggle with such simple concepts.

 

[Rockport]

It's sad you struggle with such simple concepts.

What’s the simple concept?

 

[Whirlwin]

I specifically said we had the possessions, we just didn't get enough out of them. ??? not sure what more I can say.

I'm not defending the D if they couldn't do that & we had below average number of possessions.

My bad, if I didn’t read your post correctly

 

[Whirlwin]

Here are his stats

Outside 20 vs red zone
INT: 7 vs 3
INT Rate: 1.3% (elite) vs 3.33% (near bottom)
Comp: 70% vs 56%

Two of the three red zone INTs were inside the ten

Dak is an elite deep ball passer and the stats prove that, but when things get packed in tight he struggles.

One of the biggest reasons for this has nothing at all to do with his arm or his head, despite what his critics might say

It almost directly related to his lack of mobility

In his fist three years, Dak had 18 rushing TDs.

Last year he had 2

Post injury he simply doesn’t have that tool available so defenses are able to ignore the run option and when coverage is tight he has to either force it in or throw it away. Usually he throws it away, hence his low red zone completion percentage.

Combine that with the #1 problem I listed, the lack of effective red zone rushing from Javontae, and our entire red zone offense relies on Dak’s arm.

Compare to Josh Allen and the Bills. They had an absolute juggernaut of a ground attack in the red zone

Allen had 14 rushing TDS, which allowed Joe Brady to manipulate and control defenses.

James Cook was a much better tailback in the red zone than Javontae.

Combined they had a red zone cheat code

Dak’s not going to become mobile this year and that’s why it’s absolute critical that Javontae, Klayton Adams and the offensive line figure out how to run inside the twenty.

Do that and your not asking Dak to to everything by himself.

I seen the tight end drop a lot of footballs in the end zone last season
No, I’m not defending anybody, I’m just saying there’s a lot of reasons we didn’t put points up in the red zone
It needs to be fixed absolutely

 

[Kwyn]

I seen the tight end drop a lot of footballs in the end zone last season
No, I’m not defending anybody, I’m just saying there’s a lot of reasons we didn’t put points up in the red zone
It needs to be fixed absolutely

In order of impact

• Red zone rushing failure
• Dak INTs
• Pre-snap penalties
• 4th down failures
• Reliance on Ferguson targets

 

[Whirlwin]

In order of impact

• Red zone rushing failure
• Dak INTs
• Pre-snap penalties
• 4th down failures
• Reliance on Ferguson targets

First and goal from the five,
Oh, let’s fake them out and throw it left, no throw it right,

 

[Kwyn]

First and goal from the five,
Oh, let’s fake them out and throw it left, no throw it right,

When you can’t rush the ball and your qb isn’t mobile all you can do is throw it left right or middle

 

[Whirlwin]

I specifically said we had the possessions, we just didn't get enough out of them. ??? not sure what more I can say.

I'm not defending the D if they couldn't do that & we had below average number of possessions.

I think that’s what I said. Also, we didn’t get enough possessions, time of possession.
It’s a conundrum

 

[McKDaddy]

What’s the simple concept?

QB's in the same tier produce similarly.

 

[fivetwos]

The backup OT's last year were Nate Thomas and Ajani Cornelius. They are still on the roster.

Stats from last year don't matter? I have no idea what that means. Because they matter considerably. Even in the first year of HC and OC they were a pretty proven offense. They should be better in year 2.

Ok, let’s hope you are right.

 

[Vtwin]

Here are his stats

Outside 20 vs red zone
INT: 7 vs 3
INT Rate: 1.3% (elite) vs 3.33% (near bottom)
Comp: 70% vs 56%

Two of the three red zone INTs were inside the ten

Dak is an elite deep ball passer and the stats prove that, but when things get packed in tight he struggles.

One of the biggest reasons for this has nothing at all to do with his arm or his head, despite what his critics might say

It almost directly related to his lack of mobility

In his fist three years, Dak had 18 rushing TDs.

Last year he had 2

Post injury he simply doesn’t have that tool available so defenses are able to ignore the run option and when coverage is tight he has to either force it in or throw it away. Usually he throws it away, hence his low red zone completion percentage.

Combine that with the #1 problem I listed, the lack of effective red zone rushing from Javontae, and our entire red zone offense relies on Dak’s arm.

Compare to Josh Allen and the Bills. They had an absolute juggernaut of a ground attack in the red zone

Allen had 14 rushing TDS, which allowed Joe Brady to manipulate and control defenses.

James Cook was a much better tailback in the red zone than Javontae.

Combined they had a red zone cheat code

Dak’s not going to become mobile this year and that’s why it’s absolute critical that Javontae, Klayton Adams and the offensive line figure out how to run inside the twenty.

Do that and your not asking Dak to to everything by himself.

Good post. I would argue a couple points though. I think Prescott's rz struggles do relate to his head and arm to an extent. His cautious nature causes many of those throwaways where other QB's would be more confortable threading the needle. His decision making has always been on the slow side as well. In the tight spaces you need to be decisive and willing to let it rip.

His struggles also make it easier for defenses to pay more attention to the rg and take their chances on Prescott beating them with his arm.

His lack of mobility does make it easier on defenses. I'm not sure it matters as much inside the ten though. Allen is a nightmare for defenses down there. Dak will never be Allen and he doesn't have to be. He should pick his spots though. If for no other reason to give the defense something to think about.

 

[erod]

Maybe, lol, lotta quarterbacks choking in this league

Gotta be able to score more that 14 points in a big game.

 

[ChuckA1]

In order of impact

• Red zone rushing failure
• Dak INTs
• Pre-snap penalties
• 4th down failures
• Reliance on Ferguson targets

The offense was rated among the best last year. Can you imagine how good they'll be when they fix the problems you mention? Go Cowboys

 

[Johannes44]

Anytime they go up against a half way defense they struggle and remember, that's the stronger side of the football on this team.

 

[BLEU3ASY]

We keep on hearing how the Cowboy offense is elite, but yet there were games last season where they truly underperformed:

14 points at Chicago-yes they lost Lamb early, but if I remember Chicago had a banged up secondary
20 points at Philly-they were shutout in the 2nd half where their defense only surrendered 3 points
17 at home against the Cardinals-there is zero excuse to lay an egg at home against one of the worst teams.
17 at home against the Chargers-Chargers dominated them

These are just a few examples. Everyone keeps on talking about the defense cause it was so bad, but the offense deserves some criticism as well. They must be more consistent or it won't matter how the defense performs.

Keep hearing?? You didn’t witness them being the number 1 offense for the majority of the season?

 

[Whirlwin]

Gotta be able to score more that 14 points in a big game.

Gotta be able to keep the other team to at least 20 points or less

 

[Whirlwin]

Anytime they go up against a half way defense they struggle and remember, that's the stronger side of the football on this team.

But that’s what happens when you go against any good team with a decent defense, that’s football
You can’t be a one dimensional team