Dak Prescott has struggled significantly in the last three games, but should the Cowboys fans and coaching staff be worried? This is Prescott’s second season in the NFL, and during his career, he has had a lot of good games and few bad ones. One of those came in a loss to the Denver Broncos early this season, but the entire Dallas team played poorly in that match.
However, in the last three duels, Prescott was pretty much invisible, and his numbers show it clearly. Against the Atlanta Falcons, Prescott had a passer rating of 82.1 only to drop to 30.4 and 60.6 in the games against the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers, respectively. To make matters worse, in those three duels, he threw five interceptions, suffered 14 sacks, and he has never managed to throw more than 180 yards. We cannot help but wonder what is happening to Dak Prescott?
Dallas Cowboys made a decision to give Dak Prescott a chance last season even though Tony Romo was healthy. This meant that the Romo era ended and they committed to Prescott as their future quarterback. Dak had an impressive season in 2016, but could it be that he has already worn out after two seasons?
We need to give Prescott the benefit of the doubt because, after all, this is his second year in the NFL and having slumps like this one is nothing unusual. Moreover, Prescott has set the bar high, and we always expect him to play an amazing football, which is not always possible. Even though he has led the team through some difficult games and learned a lot in the previous year, he is still an inexperienced quarterback.
This season has been a nightmare for the America’s Team. They lost Ezekiel Elliott, who got suspended for six games and his replacements Alfred Morris and Rod Smith were unable to bring that level of play to the field. We all know that Dallas’ entire offensive scheme is based on the running game and with Elliott out, the opponents can focus on the passing game more than they did before. Prescott is forced to pass the ball more now that Elliott is not playing and he has not been accurate as we expected him to be. Moreover, the defensive linemen are putting pressure on the young quarterback who has been hit a lot in the last three duels.
Furthermore, Tyron Smith had to sit out a couple of games due to injury, but now that he did come back, Zach Martin suffered a head injury, and he is questionable for the match against Washington. The offensive line is still good, but both Chaz Green and Jonathan Cooper are far from being Ron Leary at the left guard, and from time to time, Prescott could only protect the ball and wait for the sack.
However, Dak is not the only one to blame. The Dallas Cowboys organization has known since August this year that Elliott would be suspended at some point during the season and they haven’t adjusted. Now it is quite clear that the whole offensive scheme is designed to revolve around Elliott, but they should have prepared a game plan that would work without Elliott as well. Currently, the entire Cowboys team is shaken up, and there are so many issues on and off the field that need to be addressed.
As for Dak, he needs to find the strength and confidence to carry this Dallas squad, which is easier said than done. But if we have learned something about Prescott in the 2016 and 2017 season is that he is mentally tough, and he will not allow himself to perform poorly. The burden has fallen on his back, and while the entire Dallas team needs to step up, he will be the one who leads them. We are positive that Prescott will overcome this crisis.
