When Dak throws 28 or fewer passes in a game he is the best QB in the league.
Under these circumstances the Cowboys are 27-1, a winning percentage of 96.4%. Roethlisberger comes in 2nd at 93.3% and Mahomes 3rd with 91.3%.
Dak completed over 72% of his passes with a 5 to 1 TD/INT ratio for a passer rating of 115.4. In these 28 games he had thrown 47 TD's and 9 INT's.
Of course, this implies a productive running game that forces defenses to respect that element of the offense.
It is also means that the defense can take advantage of their offenses long drives to be rested enough to give maximum effort each play The combination of less clock time combined with a tenacious defense will frustrates opponent offenses. Due to less opportunity, this creates pressure for the opponent by increasing the urgency to score, particularly in the 2nd half.
Dak was never a naturally gifted strong arm blue chip passer and it is ridiculous to compare him to those types of QB's. Dak has a different set of skills that emphasizes leadership, consistency and ball protection. The greatest flaw in Kellen Moore's offensive philosophy was trying to force Dak into being something he never was.
Dak was never a 1st round top 5 pick but he was perfect for the type of offense that the Cowboys used in his rookie season.
This philosophy is nothing new. Most recent teams that have won multiple Super Bowls used the same concept. The Ravens, Steelers, and Patriot teams early in Brady's career was based on the same concept, dominant running and opportunistic passing. In Brady's first four seasons as the starter the Patriots won 3 Super Bowls. In half of the regular season games, Brady threw 30 or less passes.
This is the secret to the success of QB's like Russel Wilson, Kirk Cousins, and Andy Dalton. The only QB's that were highly successful throwing the ball more than 30 times a game were guys like Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, and Mahomes. Again, these are the guys with the elite arms.
It is true that there were circumstances in which the Cowboys were forced to throw more often, like being down late in the game by a large margin. However, quite often, the Cowboys passed far more often than necessary. There were only 33 games in which the Cowboys were down by 10 or more points at halftime. However, they passed for more than 28 attempts in 59 games.
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I would say that those circumstances will be rare this upcoming season due to the defense and it's ability to keep the score lower.
The only issue I see was the Cowboys were not aggressive enough in acquiring superior talent at the RB position. With 17 games in the regular season it was critical to obtain real talent at the RB position. The "warm body" approach will fail. I was disappointed when the Cowboys didn't draft another RB in day #1 or day #2. This should have been the #1 priority because you then have a 1-2 punch with legitimate talent. Don't get me wrong, I still would have taken Vaughn in the 6th but the Cowboys should have dedicated more resources to prevent their season from being destroyed by an injury at that position.
In order for the Cowboys to be successful and go to the Super Bowl, they must restrict the number of passes each game. The defense must be consistent and , most importantly, the Cowboys must discover another effective RB within their ranks. One of these young guys must have a dominant preseason.
