Prescott had a very shaky 4th QTR

[SteveTheCowboy]

Against the Eagles, Packers, and Panthers Dak had the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game. The highest paid player in history needs to come through more often in the clutch. Bryce freakin' Young lead a 6 minute, game winning drive when it was his turn.

This season is following the usual pattern with Dak - roll up big stats, but when you need THAT DRIVE to win the game he will fail far more often than succeed.

Mayfield did it ....FOUR times this year!

And his last game throwing TD's to WR5. Scrambling a busted play 3rd and 14...for the 1st down to keep the ball, control the clock...and score.

That's a guy elevating his team.

Screw the "QB's don't lead the team" people. They certainly DO.

Some of them.

 

[blueblood70]

Meanwhile Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield, and Sam Darnold are studs weekly. Careful what you wish for.

This defense is cheeks, and Dak has been playing lights out football with the world against him.

Shotty made some bad calls in the 4th trying to set us up for a field goal likely instead of going for 6. Instead their defense sniffed it out, and we are all left upset. At the end of the day, We're winning in two phases of the game, and are the worst in the league in the 3rd phase. Eventually 1 of those 2 phases will not be perfect, and you'll take a loss. This game is not on Dak.

I'm not sure how Eberflus still has a job. The NFC East is not out of reach. It will be with Jerry at helm.

Correct you can't blame really the offense but for sure you can't blame Dak he just did what the coach told him to run how about we blame Williams for not breaking breaking tackles I mean sometimes those plays do work but Williams sucked in this game I know it was mostly the offensive line.. Now we have a post about how blue isn't it and now we have a post about Prescott he's shaky in the 4th and this is funny this the irony here is ridiculous it's so thick they don't even know how to post my brain has exploded because the defense is the single worst thing that's come out of most of these games and we're finding things to make up so we can talk about something else...

But yeah I mean if you look at those two screens some of it's on Williams 'cause he didn't shake those tackles he's supposed to be big physical guy that's been breaking tackles all year and then all of a sudden he can't even break a tackle behind the line to scrimmage two straight plays for minus 15 yards 2.2 yards per carry But it's on deck it's shaky not not the play caller or Williams.. But yeah, three calls behind the line of scrimmage is very shaky but it's not on Prescott these were not dumped downs these were not checkdowns these were called plays.

I think Brian is gonna have to learn a lot from this they're starting to see how he does call plays there's enough now out there on they knew he probably was going to settle for a field goal they knew what was probably coming and he needs to change his nature he should have been more aggressive down the field and if he got a field goal out of it great but you can't be thinking field goal in your play calling. It's not a good way to call plays..

He should have been thinking positive plays only and going to your better players who've been all game making plays and that would be George Pickens And where's Ferguson I mean that guy may not be dynamic but he's good for 6 yards he can catch balls in traffic the behind the line of scrimmage stuff i've never liked anyway...

But yeah hopefully this is a learning lesson and not more things to come as teams learn his tendencies he's going to have to change It's like they were in his head and in his playbook and he needs to get out of his own head and do a different part of his playbook..

But the offense wasn't the problem It's funny Josh Allen's getting a lot of excuses for not having enough weapons he only scored 14 points all game seven in the first seven in the second and yet somehow they're not ripping him apart like they should..

 

[McKDaddy]

So what if our offense is "highly ranked"....#1 even. If you want the elite label...you HAVE to take that ball down the field and score

Great point. If our offense is #1, we should expect even more from them.

I haven't even blamed Dak. Just the offense in general for that last series. Too bad only Carolina's offense & defense could rise to the occassion.

Of course, its for the best in the long run. Let's get those resources. Who knows we might get lucky and hit on some of them.

 

[Vtwin]

Isn't it the offenses job to produce points every time they get the ball?

Isn't it the defenses job to prevent the opponent from scoring?

Both sides fail a significant % of the time but I don't understand why some fans don't think it's reasonable to ask each unit to do their job.

Exactly. One way to look at this game is that the defense did it's job 3 times, forcing 1 int and two punts. The offense failed to it's job 3 times leading to 3 punts.

Giving the offense a pass just because they look great when they are not failing is nuts.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Great point. If our offense is #1, we should expect even more from them.

I haven't even blamed Dak. Just the offense in general for that last series. Too bad only Carolina's offense & defense could rise to the occassion.

Of course, its for the best in the long run. Let's get those resources. Who knows we might get lucky and hit on some of them.

Right.....I know I been talking QBs....but Tampa's "other guys" are completely stepping it up too.

 

[cowboys1732]

Hmm...did Mahomes throw a pick 6 against Jags that essentially cost them the game? How did Allen look last night? Or Hurts that matter for the last two games. I would love to get a rookie qb for the future and move on from Dak. I was also frustrated with the offense and Dak on that last drive. And no doubt Dak has not played well in the playoffs. But anyone with any football intelligence can see buy the numbers he is not the problem right now. Dak and the offense is the only reason they are not 0-6 and have been somewhat competitive in these games. The defense did it's job??? Wow, can't argue with insanity.

 

[Cmac]

Perhaps......but outside of a gifted Justin Fields & Jets appearance and an opening rust game with Philly.....the D been shaky ALL SEASON. Now what do we do?

 

[tomokawan]

Isn't it the offenses job to produce points every time they get the ball?

Isn't it the defenses job to prevent the opponent from scoring?

Both sides fail a significant % of the time but I don't understand why some fans don't think it's reasonable to ask each unit to do their job.

Which side of the ball is doing their job for the most part??? It is not reasonable to question the offense (QB] as much or more than this defense.

 

[blueblood70]

Which side of the ball is doing their job for the most part??? It is not reasonable to question the offense (QB] as much or more than this defense.

It's sad whenever a offense can only punt twice put up 24 points get the lead back three times and then be signaled out for being shaky in the fourth quarter when the defense was bad all game....

News flash the offense is not always going to be perfect you got the job done by putting up 24 points and yes the last two drives were questionable play calling but our offensive line was getting beat up all day and then being able to put up 24 points was a miracle on the road where your offensive line was getting kicked in the teeth all day we lost in the trenches once again and yet we put up 24 points would the defense do just spit the bit as usual...

We got post about Prescott was shaky in the 4th Jaden Blue after 15 snaps in the NFL he's not getting it done so we need to replace him there's all this talk about the offense should have never even been started we lost because of bad defense that is it let's talk about something else...

There's a game Sunday against Washington in case anyone missed it let's move on talk about Washington..

 

[blueblood70]

Hmm...did Mahomes throw a pick 6 against Jags that essentially cost them the game? How did Allen look last night? Or Hurts that matter for the last two games. I would love to get a rookie qb for the future and move on from Dak. I was also frustrated with the offense and Dak on that last drive. And no doubt Dak has not played well in the playoffs. But anyone with any football intelligence can see buy the numbers he is not the problem right now. Dak and the offense is the only reason they are not 0-6 and have been somewhat competitive in these games. The defense did it's job??? Wow, can't argue with insanity.

That's crazy right they punted only twice in that game against Caroline on the road and their offensive line was getting destroyed they had no run game and we have a post about Prescott being shaky after putting up 24 points with a bad defense no run game and a weak offensive line.. They found a way to put Prescott's name in headlines once again in the last 3 games he has like 11 total touchdowns no turnovers over 70% completion percentage and in the first time in the history of the NFL someone with numbers like that has a losing record isn't that crazy... here we are signaling out our quarterback once again. .

 

[khiladi]

Am I supposed to criticize his current performance based on how he might perform vs. a tougher defense he hasn't played yet?

I think the point is pretty obvious. If our defenses let scrubs throw all over them, then the same can be said for the garbage defenses this team plays…

 

[McKDaddy]

Which side of the ball is doing their job for the most part??? It is not reasonable to question the offense (QB] as much or more than this defense.

But this thread is about the offense in the 4th Qtr. So forget about the D, we all agree it's trash.

But it doesn't change the fact that the offense did get the ball back with the score tied. They got an opportunity. They did nothing with it. Don't offensive players say they just hope they get a chance to win the game?

I am saying it's fair to be disappointed that they couldn't even give Aubrey a chance given their starting field position.

 

[Spottswoode]

Never understand why it has to be all the blame on one side and defend the other side at all cost.

Every game has moments that ultimately decide the outcome. Many games come down to the finish at which point all those previous moments no longer matter. There were moments when had the defense made the play, the outcome would have been different. Just one play at the right time would have made the difference. There were moments that had the offense made the play the outcome would have been different. Just one play at the right time. Those things didn't happen though, and it came down to the finish.

The offense had the ball and the game in their hands. They had a great opportunity to bleed clock and score. They Failed when it mattered most.

The defense then had the opportunity to stop the Panthers and get the ball back. They Failed when it mattered most.

Both sides of the ball FAILED when it mattered most. No passes given.

I agree with your premise and there is blame for both sides. I also agree that there are times in a game when the past is forgotten and it comes down to 1 play/series. But unless it’s a game deciding situation, you don’t really know when that singular critical moment will occur until after the fact.

If our defense would have held them on their last drive and we went to overtime, our last drive would not have been as critical as it turned out to be in hindsight. If Murray doesn’t hesitate and knocks the ball down, we would be focused on some singular moment in overtime instead of what turned out to be our last drive.

As you said, the bottom line is both our offense and defense failed in what turned out to be the most critical moments of the game. In hindsight, if either would have executed, the outcome might have been totally different.

 

[Spottswoode]

Exactly. One way to look at this game is that the defense did it's job 3 times, forcing 1 int and two punts. The offense failed to it's job 3 times leading to 3 punts.

Giving the offense a pass just because they look great when they are not failing is nuts.

The offense failed in what turned out to be the most critical time. But it’s unreasonable to expect success all the time. Failure is going to happen. That shouldn’t give a pass or excuse the failure, it just acknowledges that failure is an expected byproduct of the game. A baseball player can fail 7 out of every 10 at bats and potentially make the Hall of Fame.

The Cowboys scored on over 60% of their possessions in this game, more than 20% above the 2025 league average of 40%. Unfortunately Carolina was even higher. With the luxury of hindsight, we failed and Carolina succeeded when it mattered most.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

It's sad whenever a offense can only punt twice put up 24 points get the lead back three times and then be signaled out for being shaky in the fourth quarter when the defense was bad all game....

Not sure anyone said "al game, maybe they did.

BUT...

Yes...if you cannot score points late in the game...when you KNOW your defense is struggling...then...just...CHOKERS!

What good is a #1 offense if you can't put a nail in the coffin?

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

The offense failed in what turned out to be the most critical time. But it’s unreasonable to expect success all the time. Failure is going to happen. That shouldn’t give a pass or excuse the failure, it just acknowledges that failure is an expected byproduct of the game. A baseball player can fail 7 out of every 10 at bats and potentially make the Hall of Fame.

The Cowboys scored on over 60% of their possessions in this game, more than 20% above the 2025 league average of 40%. Unfortunately Carolina was even higher. With the luxury of hindsight, we failed and Carolina succeeded when it mattered most.

Crunch time. Like Michael Jordan. Gimme the ball.

So we can do it when things are easy going...but when the pressure is ON...what now? Aginast an inferior NFL team.

I know...any given Sunday. but look...the #1 offense. Can't score in crunch time. I'd say that's as close to choke as you can get.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Hmm...did Mahomes throw a pick 6 against Jags that essentially cost them the game? How did Allen look last night? Or Hurts that matter for the last two games. I would love to get a rookie qb for the future and move on from Dak. I was also frustrated with the offense and Dak on that last drive. And no doubt Dak has not played well in the playoffs. But anyone with any football intelligence can see buy the numbers he is not the problem right now. Dak and the offense is the only reason they are not 0-6 and have been somewhat competitive in these games. The defense did it's job??? Wow, can't argue with insanity.

Um....Aubrey?

 

[tomokawan]

But this thread is about the offense in the 4th Qtr. So forget about the D, we all agree it's trash.

But it doesn't change the fact that the offense did get the ball back with the score tied. They got an opportunity. They did nothing with it. Don't offensive players say they just hope they get a chance to win the game?

I am saying it's fair to be disappointed that they couldn't even give Aubrey a chance given their starting field position.

But your making it seem like that was the main reason we lost. Which is not even close to being correct. Why focus on the offense stalling for once, more than the defense losing leads and not getting off the field and allowing a 6 minute drive that resulted in a field goal. It also could have been a TD if Carolina did not settle for just the field goal??? When you frame your argument on one bad offensive series vs the whole game and 6 minute defense debacle, it seems weak and biased.

 

[McKDaddy]

But your making it seem like that was the main reason we lost. Which is not even close to being correct. Why focus on the offense stalling for once, more than the defense losing leads and not getting off the field and allowing a 6 minute drive that resulted in a field goal. It also could have been a TD if Carolina did not settle for just the field goal??? When you frame your argument on one bad offensive series vs the whole game and 6 minute defense debacle, it seems weak and biased.

Please show me where I said or even implied it was the main reason we lost?

I specifically said in one post that both sides are going to fail a significant % of the time.

Let me repeat my stance. I am saying it's fair to be disappointed that they couldn't even give Aubrey a chance given their starting field position.

Again, I'm only talking about the offense. I am not saying the D could have held the lead if we had gotten it.

 

[tomokawan]

Please show me where I said or even implied it was the main reason we lost?

I specifically said in one post that both sides are going to fail a significant % of the time.

Let me repeat my stance. I am saying it's fair to be disappointed that they couldn't even give Aubrey a chance given their starting field position.

Again, I'm only talking about the offense. I am not saying the D could have held the lead if we had gotten it.

This tread was about Dak's so called Shaky 4th Quarter. Read the title. It was a dumb thread to begin with.