Comes down to one thing for me. Dak willingness to use his legs. He's a different player when he does. He's more into the flow of the game, more into rhythm. He gets confortable and makes plays. The fact we turned him into a strict pocket passer after he came into the league making plays with his legs is mind boggling to me.
Dak making plays with his legs because of planned QB option runs or bootlegs, yes. Dak holding onto the ball and trying to escape the pocket because the 1st two reads are covered, I worry about that over the long haul. Maybe on 3rd down when you need to make a play to keep the drive alive. Otherwise, especially with the Eagles Dee Line who are all pretty athletic and hard to escape, I'd rather Dak simply throw the ball away to avoid the sack. Sail it out of bounds over the receiver's head, or into the field 5 yards in front of anyone.
I want McCarthy to consistently get people open because of play design and playcalling, and I need Dak to consistently make the correct reads and get the ball out of his hands quickly, so the offense operates efficiently. If there's a drive when Dak needs to escape the pocket multiple times to make plays, then the offense is breaking down...whether that be the o-line getting beat at the snap, the receivers not getting open (yes, sometimes it's on them to read the coverage better and get open) or McCarthy lost the chess match and the defense was set to perfectly stop the play.
I'm glad Dak is athletic enough to make the occasional play, but once the offense relies on that, they're toast. And increases Dak's chance at an injury, being the hero...just like the QB he replaced. We loved Romo's athleticism, but it was never enough to be the difference-maker when the games counted late in the season. And the same will be for Dak. McCarthy's going to need to win the chess matches, and Dak is going to have to execute efficiently, for this team to stack wins and make a playoff run. I don't think Dak's feet are going to take this team over the top, Dak's arm and brain will.
