Re-watched the Tampa Game-thoughts/opinions

[Thrill99]

Stopped reading here.

Of course you did, because it didn't work. I'm saying at the time I like the call for the reasons I stated. I will never win this debate under hindsight.

 

[diamonddelts]

Of course you did, because it didn't work. I'm saying at the time I like the call for the reasons I stated. I will never win this debate under hindsight.

I appreciate you being a stand up guy and admitting that you like the call, even though it did not work out. As for me, I do not believe in placing more pressure on a offense which is not that good. The mere risk of not getting the conversion would all but doom what little momentum and confidence the offense was building at the moment.

Also factor in Christmas poo playcalling which further hinder an overrated offense. It took them a while to get the ball rolling. Take the points on the board while they're there. I would only worry about a 2 point conversion if you have the ball in hand with two minutes or less to go paired with a defense or special teams unit you absolutely do not trust in overtime.

And that is not hindsight 20/20 from me. That is using plain common sense in my opinion. I yelled "this is stupid as hell" at the tv as soon as they were going for 2 after scoring. I was disgusted then, and I still am now.

 

[conner01]

Should have kept Al Harris. He got the most out of secondary players

 

[exciter]

When Quinn was here were we playing more Man than Zone and didn't Bland play the slot?

Bland played 8 games in the slot his rookie season.
He played 2 games in the slot the following season before Diggs tore his ACL and recorded most of his 9 ints playing outside at the right CB position!

 

[RonWashington]

Re watching Tampa game should fall under the Geneva Convention rules of torture . Having said that I will say at 24-16 going for 2 was right up there with buying a ticket on the Hindenburg . Oh the humanity !

 

[StarW]

Bland: His skillset to play CB was barely good enough. After his injuries, it's simply not good enough anymore.

He's washed. Chronic foot problems and NFL CBs just don't mix well. Should've never signed the guy long term.

 

[kramskoi]

QBR is an imperfect metric meant to measure a slice of the quarterback's performance. It does not take into account game situation, game management, throwing a fastball in traffic because you're jittery, etc...

RAMBLING. BABBLE. The point we were discussing was not your Dak apologetics, it was whether or not Dak was legitimately confused by Tampa's D.

Bobby Belt said that around the league Dak is known as "the best" at presnap reads and getting guys "in the right place" - sound like formation to me but what do I know. Anyway, HE SAID that after viewing the tape Dak was legitimately confused by Bowles.

Brian Broaddus went FURTHER. He said that after viewing the end zone copy that Dak had trouble with Cover 3, 4 and 6 specifically and it matched his struggles last year vs Arizona against the very same coverages.

Now listen boy...I'm not your garden variety Cowboy fan to troll or debate if you're gonna be stupid and disrespectful at the same time.

"HE SAID"..."but what do I know."

Tampa didn't use cover 6 against Dallas. They have used it only once this year so far. They only used cover 4 eight times...only twice in the first half (2nd quarter on (2) 1st and 10 plays where Prescott went 1-1 for 2 yds). In the second half they used it once in the third quarter (on a 4th and 3 that failed). The other five times they used it was late in the fourth quarter at 24-10...in principally a prevent effort. Prescott went 3 of 5 for 28 yds with one incompletion and the ball Ferguson flubbed for an INT. Tampa mostly used cover 3 (55% of all snaps), exclusively on third down. No cover 4 on any of the third downs Prescott faced.

So their use of cover 4 was not "methodical". They used it only 3 times in 54 minutes of play. And even then Prescott has a positive EPA this year against both cover 3 (1 TD, 0 INTs) and cover 4 (5 TDs to the 1 INT on the Ferguson ball). It's actually his best year vs. both...so far.

What happened against the Bucs was less about recognition/confusion than it was about concept dogma and shotgun abuse (like we saw with Romo). They ran only TWO slants in the first half (and neither of them were targeted). 14 in the second half. Only 25% of the snaps featured horizontal-type concepts. The majority were vertical (go and intermediate). No bunch sets. One stacked set. The routes were simply too long for the sustained pressure they were facing. Many times the Bucs defenders were sitting on them. Many times Williams was lost to blocking and not available as a safety valve. At times he was aligned shallower than Prescott, which telegraphed to the defense that no run was coming. The Bucs were able to get consistent pressure up the middle, which didn't allow Prescott to climb or step up. This game plan looked like one that put a premium on talent and not scheme...and it "might" be related to the time available to prepare on a short week...plus player/coach fatigue. At least I'm hoping that this was the case. Otherwise, we will see this happen again as the year goes on...especially if the running game isn't featured more.

Neither the Tampa game nor the Arizona game were/are an indictment on Prescott's processing of coverages. Mahomes is currently having a bad year vs. cover 3, while the team sits a 4-0. Horrible defense and fumbles had far more to do with the outcome than "confusion" about coverages.

As to the rest?

I certainly don't owe you "respect". Reads like some internal "compensation" on your part. I critiqued your argument. If you can't handle it then ignore the post. "Bobby Belt said. Brian Broaddus said." Your appeal to authority is not as impressive as you think it is. They are not the last word in pro football.


Prescott 2026 vs:

Cover 3:

Games	5
Drop backs	45
Completions / attempts	29 / 44 (65.9%)
Passing yards	350
Yards per attempt	7.95
Touchdowns	1
Interceptions	0
Sacks	0
EPA per drop back	+0.246
Total EPA	+11.08

Cover 4:

Dropbacks	73
Completions / attempts	46 / 66 (69.7%)
Passing yards	479
Yards per attempt	7.26
Touchdowns	5
Interceptions	1 (Ferguson flub vs. Bucs)
Sacks	2
Scrambles	5
EPA per dropback	+0.185
Total EPA	+13.48

Mahomes:

Season	Coverage	Dropbacks	Comp/Att	Yards	Yds/Att	TD	INT	Sacks	EPA/dropback
2025	Cover 3	160	90/133	1,181	8.88	3	2	13	+0.216
2025	Cover 4	96	55/79	506	6.41	0	1	6	−0.005
2026	Cover 3	43	21/36	233	6.47	0	1	4	−0.354
2026	Cover 4	11	7/9	50	5.56	1	0	0	+0.591

Prescott:

Season	Coverage	Dropbacks	Comp/Att	Yards	Yds/Att	TD	INT	Sacks	EPA/dropback
2025	Cover 3	157	110/149	1,124	7.54	8	2	5	+0.192
2025	Cover 4	96	57/85	613	7.21	3	3	6	−0.005
2026	Cover 3	45	29/44	350	7.95	1	0	0	+0.246
2026	Cover 4	73	46/66	479	7.26	5	1	2	+0.185