On Sunday afternoon in AT&T Stadium, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott returned to thunderous ovations among the fans. He lit up the field in a decisive Cowboys victory and Jerry Jones awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom afterwards while Rihanna sang “God Bless America”, and everyone clapped.
How the Cowboys’ offense was different with Dak Prescott’s return
Dak Prescott returned as the Cowboys signal caller on Sunday, but did the offense look any different?
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Ok so that really didn’t happen, but Prescott did come back under center for the Cowboys against the Detroit Lions. If there was a word to describe Prescott’s performance on Sunday, it would be rusty. Prescott missed some throws both on the move and in the pocket that are really just signs of rust over anything else.
However, I do think the structure of the Cowboys offense in their game against the Lions was interesting, and was a little comparable to the Cooper Rush offense in a few ways.
For starters, the offense used significantly more play action in Week 7 than any Dak or Cooper Rush led offense since 2021. This could be because Dak was working back from an injury and the Cowboys run game was working well, but getting Dak on the move could be a part of the formula moving forward.
The Dak Attack
Time Period | Play Action Percentage | Early Down Pass Rate | EPA/pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 Dak | 16% | 46.2%(26th) | -0.406(32nd) |
| Cooper Rush | 25% | 45.4%(27th) | 0.011(19th) |
| Week 7 Dak | 43% | 51.4%(15th) | 0.216(7th) |
| 2021 Dak | 26% | 56.3%(8th) |
The benefit to this is easing the burden on Dak’s shoulders in the passing game. The Cowboys were 15th in rushing EPA while Prescott was out, and the Cowboys’ offensive line played considerably better. With offensive coordinator Kellen Moore helping Dak see the picture, it helps Dak just go out and execute, and he’s one of the best in the league in execution. This seam route to Dalton Schultz was pretty sick on his first day back.
Where Dak was different than he was late last season or even this season was using his legs in the passing game more. Last year, Prescott suffered a calf injury after a week six win over the Patriots, which hampered his ability to throw on the move. On Sunday, the Cowboys used his movement skills to get him on the edges of the defense in play action, while also putting defenses in a bind.
This throw was a bit inside, but you can see the process behind it. Heck of a catch by CeeDee Lamb as well.
The Cowboys also threw in a pretty cool speed option play that got RB Ezekiel Elliott on the edge. The end has to freeze on Prescott’s movement, which means Elliott has the edge and green grass to run in.
Now this isn’t to say that Dak Prescott should become a game manager a la Jimmy G or Ryan Tannehill, but Moore and head coach Mike McCarthy can mesh what Dak does well with how the offense has worked, in order to elevate both at the same time.
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