Why does Dak play so great against the Eagles yet so bad against the Commanders?

[RomoIsGod]

That's what I don't get about Dak. He can play really really well at times. Several instances where he has done that this season and throughout his career. So why does he play so God awful at times? Let's hope we get the good Dak against the Bucs and hopefully in the divisional and beyond.

 

[G2]

Who played good vs. Washington?

 

[Texas All-Star]

I think the team just simply didn’t have it Sunday. I think it was a combination of Dallas not showing up mentally and Washington being much better than they are given credit for especially on defense.

I’m confident the Cowboys will play good football Monday night.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

That's what I don't get about Dak. He can play really really well at times. Several instances where he has done that this season and throughout his career. So why does he play so God awful at times? Let's hope we get the good Dak against the Bucs and hopefully in the divisional and beyond.

the whole team, coaching on down was unprepared for the commanders. they played like they didn't prepare. didn't care. had no sense of urgency. weren't focused. the whole team , offense, defense and special teams sucked. coaching was very very sub par and I am not just talking about Moore. that was a pathetic display of a football game by the cowboys.

 

[stinkface]

Dallas played like a team that had zero to play for against the commodes. I think Dak was so concerned about getting hurt he was bailing out asap because he didn't want to get hit. Reality is Rush should have played the game and Dak do nothing but study Tampa film.

 

[zrinkill]

Because Dak is Dak

Good Dak top 10 QB
Bad Dak bottom 10 QB

Depends on which one shows up.

The multiple int's are a new thing that's very disturbing. He cannot let that happen in playoffs.

 

[PAPPYDOG]

That's what I don't get about Dak. He can play really really well at times. Several instances where he has done that this season and throughout his career. So why does he play so God awful at times? Let's hope we get the good Dak against the Bucs and hopefully in the divisional and beyond.

That's how elite QB play.
P.S. Eagles were totally indifferent in this one and if we manage to make it to Philly in the Div round blind Dakko will be back in full force!

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

Because he is an inconsistent mess that can't even put together 4 good quarters in a row at this point.

 

[Mk2_Cowboys]

Because he’s a 4th round draft pick playing way out of his depth and thus is super erratic.
great guy, good leader , a gamer , competitive , likable , trustworthy all those things describe him well , but you also need to add inconsistent and erratic.

 

[Mk2_Cowboys]

the whole team, coaching on down was unprepared for the commanders. they played like they didn't prepare. didn't care. had no sense of urgency. weren't focused. the whole team , offense, defense and special teams sucked. coaching was very very sub par and I am not just talking about Moore. that was a pathetic display of a football game by the cowboys.

That speaks to bad coaching as you mentioned.

 

[RonnieT24]

The OP is factually incorrect anyway. Dak has a better record as a starter against Washington than he does against Philly. He's 8-3 against Philly and 9-2 against Washington. That said, I think we need to come to terms with the fact that as a passer Dak is simply behind other QBs who have been raised up in passing systems with better passing coaches than Dan Mullen. Or whoever his high school coach was. Like I keep saying, in high school and college Dak was used a lot like a single wing tailback. He had a lot of games with 20+ carries. Which was great for his teams but did nothing to get him ready to play QB in the NFL. Then he comes to the NFL to be tutored by the greatness that was Jason Garrett... Yeah.. I know.

We have seen that when he is on Dak can throw the ball as well as anybody. He is deadly accurate to all parts of the field and he is one of the best if not the best throwers on the run that I've ever seen. But he can get knocked off kilter at times and it sometimes seems difficult for him to get back "on" when that happens. It's like when a pitcher loses his release point and can't throw a strike to save his life in the middle of the game. In most cases they can't get it back DURING the game and have to be pulled. Dak usually does but what typically happens is that by the time he pulls it back together his receivers have now gone into the tank and Kellen Moore, in his usual oblivious fashion, starts just calling any old plays from all over the play sheet without any rhyme or reason. And we know he isn't going to call a bunch of running plays until Dak can get back on track.. I mean you can't do that can you? I'm sure there's a league rule against it.

I think when Dak gets knocked off track the QB coach or Kellen Moore or Mike McCarthy need to see it and get with him on the sideline and work him out of it. There are key words that help you realign your technique in every sport at every position. So there has to be those for QBs too. Those guys need to whisper those words in Dak's ear on the sidelines between series.. even have him do some simple drills on the sidelines to get himself back aligned. The little hip wiggle drill, footwork drills, whatever it takes. I don't care if it looks silly on TV. Do we want to win the damn game or not?

 

[Cmac]

That speaks to bad coaching as you mentioned.

yep.......coaching gets graded too. HC......Coordinators.....Position Coaches. But we got guys being requested for interviews.

 

[Cowboy_svt]

The OP is factually incorrect anyway. Dak has a better record as a starter against Washington than he does against Philly. He's 8-3 against Philly and 9-2 against Washington. That said, I think we need to come to terms with the fact that as a passer Dak is simply behind other QBs who have been raised up in passing systems with better passing coaches than Dan Mullen. Or whoever his high school coach was. Like I keep saying, in high school and college Dak was used a lot like a single wing tailback. He had a lot of games with 20+ carries. Which was great for his teams but did nothing to get him ready to play QB in the NFL. Then he comes to the NFL to be tutored by the greatness that was Jason Garrett... Yeah.. I know.

We have seen that when he is on Dak can throw the ball as well as anybody. He is deadly accurate to all parts of the field and he is one of the best if not the best throwers on the run that I've ever seen. But he can get knocked off kilter at times and it sometimes seems difficult for him to get back "on" when that happens. It's like when a pitcher loses his release point and can't throw a strike to save his life in the middle of the game. In most cases they can't get it back DURING the game and have to be pulled. Dak usually does but what typically happens is that by the time he pulls it back together his receivers have now gone into the tank and Kellen Moore, in his usual oblivious fashion, starts just calling any old plays from all over the play sheet without any rhyme or reason. And we know he isn't going to call a bunch of running plays until Dak can get back on track.. I mean you can't do that can you? I'm sure there's a league rule against it.

I think when Dak gets knocked off track the QB coach or Kellen Moore or Mike McCarthy need to see it and get with him on the sideline and work him out of it. There are key words that help you realign your technique in every sport at every position. So there has to be those for QBs too. Those guys need to whisper those words in Dak's ear on the sidelines between series.. even have him do some simple drills on the sidelines to get himself back aligned. The little hip wiggle drill, footwork drills, whatever it takes. I don't care if it looks silly on TV. Do we want to win the damn game or not?

Last year before he tweaked his calf or w.e he was dare i say elite. Rewatching that 2021 tampa game and i was blown away how good he was. This year i dont think hes back to that at all yet. Maybe nagging injury or just mental block/pressure?

 

[Cmac]

The OP is factually incorrect anyway. Dak has a better record as a starter against Washington than he does against Philly. He's 8-3 against Philly and 9-2 against Washington. That said, I think we need to come to terms with the fact that as a passer Dak is simply behind other QBs who have been raised up in passing systems with better passing coaches than Dan Mullen. Or whoever his high school coach was. Like I keep saying, in high school and college Dak was used a lot like a single wing tailback. He had a lot of games with 20+ carries. Which was great for his teams but did nothing to get him ready to play QB in the NFL. Then he comes to the NFL to be tutored by the greatness that was Jason Garrett... Yeah.. I know.

We have seen that when he is on Dak can throw the ball as well as anybody. He is deadly accurate to all parts of the field and he is one of the best if not the best throwers on the run that I've ever seen. But he can get knocked off kilter at times and it sometimes seems difficult for him to get back "on" when that happens. It's like when a pitcher loses his release point and can't throw a strike to save his life in the middle of the game. In most cases they can't get it back DURING the game and have to be pulled. Dak usually does but what typically happens is that by the time he pulls it back together his receivers have now gone into the tank and Kellen Moore, in his usual oblivious fashion, starts just calling any old plays from all over the play sheet without any rhyme or reason. And we know he isn't going to call a bunch of running plays until Dak can get back on track.. I mean you can't do that can you? I'm sure there's a league rule against it.

I think when Dak gets knocked off track the QB coach or Kellen Moore or Mike McCarthy need to see it and get with him on the sideline and work him out of it. There are key words that help you realign your technique in every sport at every position. So there has to be those for QBs too. Those guys need to whisper those words in Dak's ear on the sidelines between series.. even have him do some simple drills on the sidelines to get himself back aligned. The little hip wiggle drill, footwork drills, whatever it takes. I don't care if it looks silly on TV. Do we want to win the damn game or not?

RonnieT24......let's cut to the chase........any strengths or weaknesses Dak has..........is attributed to and linked to KMoore. It works hand in hand, Kellen Moore has to be looked at too, regarding any improvements or regressions that Dak has. They've been together too long and meetings on a daily basis.

 

[lukin2006]

Most of the team and coaches were bad against Washington...I'm not so sure the players are particularly happy with Mike McCarthy. There seems to be a real disconnect...and McCarthy strikes me as the kind of coach that causes players to tune out...I hope I'm wrong but this team has been very inconsistent in the last 1/2 of the season...not just Dak.

 

[RonnieT24]

Last year before he tweaked his calf or w.e he was dare i say elite. Rewatching that 2021 tampa game and i was blown away how good he was. This year i dont think hes back to that at all yet. Maybe nagging injury or just mental block/pressure?

I agree.. I don't think he has made it all the way back to where he was before the injury last year. Certainly missing 5 weeks didn't help .. Like I said, he's not as natural with mechanics as some other guys, so he's got to work harder at it. Which you obviously can't do when you're not even allowed to throw the ball. The other issue is the mental shift towards being more aggressive with the ball and "trusting his receivers" this year. He has made far more aggressive and anticipitory throws this year with mixed results. Yes they have led to the offense being ridiculously explosive and efficient at times but obviously the flip side as been the INTs. When you throw in or out breaking routes before the receiver makes his break you're at his mercy. If he gets to the spot where you threw it, it's a great play.. If not it gets picked and everybody's looking at the QB. I would say easily a third of Dak's INTs have been of that variety then another third have been volleyballed.. The last third are just his own brain farts and mis-reads.

If not for the other two groups we could live with 5-6 brain fart INTs over the course of a season. It's when you add the others that it becomes a problem. Obviously there is nothing he can do about the ones the receivers keep knocking up into the air. But he CAN control the anticipation mistakes. Both he and Kellen Moore need to understand who the receivers are. CeeDee Lamb aint winnin a lot of contested balls over the middle. Michael Gallup can win some of those but he cannot reliably get out of his breaks when planting on the damaged knee. And Noah Brown is not getting separation against any decent corner. We don't know what Hilton is yet but I'm not counting on him to win a lot of 50/50 balls either. The play calling and route combos need to take these things into account and quit acting as if all receivers are the same.

 

[RonnieT24]

RonnieT24......let's cut to the chase........any strengths or weaknesses Dak has..........is attributed to and linked to KMoore. It works hand in hand, Kellen Moore has to be looked at too, regarding any improvements or regressions that Dak has. They've been together too long and meetings on a daily basis.

Oh I am not absolving Moore.. far from it. Ultimately he's the one calling the plays.. He watches the tape of these plays falling on their face and still keeps calling them. He's there on the sideline after Dak misses a throw or a read and seems altogether disinterested in correcting whatever went wrong. That's why we get all the shots of Dak sitting there on the bench either staring into space or looking at the Pad. Why isn't there a coach over there with him talking through stuff? Just because Dak has been in the league 7 years doesn't mean he no longer needs coaching and adjusting. Hell Usain Bolt had a sprint coach his entire record setting career.. Nuff said..

 

[CowboyRoy]

That's what I don't get about Dak. He can play really really well at times. Several instances where he has done that this season and throughout his career. So why does he play so God awful at times? Let's hope we get the good Dak against the Bucs and hopefully in the divisional and beyond.

Thats pretty much all QB's buddy. Thats called football.

Horrid Oline play was certainly a big part of it. Horrid coaching. And then you have to give credit to the Washington D. Can you name on player on offense that had a good game? Anyone?

And then of course he also had a bad game. Its not like WR's were open much. Did you watch the game? They all seemed covered even when he threw it.

 

[Cmac]

Oh I am not absolving Moore.. far from it. Ultimately he's the one calling the plays.. He watches the tape of these plays falling on their face and still keeps calling them. He's there on the sideline after Dak misses a throw or a read and seems altogether disinterested in correcting whatever went wrong. That's why we get all the shots of Dak sitting there on the bench either staring into space or looking at the Pad. Why isn't there a coach over there with him talking through stuff? Just because Dak has been in the league 7 years doesn't mean he no longer needs coaching and adjusting. Hell Usain Bolt had a sprint coach his entire record setting career.. Nuff said..

Exactly.....I rarely see KMoore over there with him......going over what transpired. I don't get the immunity or dismissal of KMoore.....the QB play is his product, as the OC.....just like Big Mike's product for the lack of accountability with this team.

 

[CowboyRoy]

RonnieT24......let's cut to the chase........any strengths or weaknesses Dak has..........is attributed to and linked to KMoore. It works hand in hand, Kellen Moore has to be looked at too, regarding any improvements or regressions that Dak has. They've been together too long and meetings on a daily basis.

You can pretty much trace 80% of Dak's performances tied to the play of the Oline. Thats just about any QB.

If the Oline gets dominated the run game doesnt work, its 3rd and long, we become one dimensional, and the QB is under pressure on 3rd and long.

Not rocket science.