Dallas Cowboys: Pressure, Poor Mechanics and Anticipation: A Film Study of What's Wrong with Cowboys QB Dak Prescott

Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys offensive were punished in the first game of the 2018 season. The Carolina Panthers stole the Cowboys' lunch money, and despite his efforts, Dallas could do nothing to do it.

The Cowboys scored just eight points (the third worst in the NFL) and earned only 232 yards, averaging only 4.1 yards per game (fourth worst).

Prescott was not much better. The Mississippi State's product finished 19th out of 29, a 65.5 completion percentage, for 170 yards with 19 rushing yards in five races. Prescott averaged 8.9 yards per completion (29^e) and 5.9 yards per attempt. In addition, Prescott threw 3.94 yards (23^rd), the passing statistic most correlated to victory.

Unfortunately, the inferior performances are not new to the Cowboys 'offensive, since Prescott has only counted 200 yards in two of his last nine games, and that Dallas' attack is not enough. has scored more 21 points in his last four games.

The teams charge the box against the Cowboys, choosing to focus the majority of their attention on stopping the race while taking their chances against the Dallas offense. Until Prescott can make the defenses pay to sell to stop the race, the Cowboys offensive is going to be struggling.

So, what went wrong with Prescott and the Cowboys who attacked the Panthers? We will take a look:

"Look, throw it"

Anticipation is one of the traits that distinguishes good quarterbacks from the elite. Since passing windows are so small in the NFL, the ability to anticipate launch windows before the receiver is opened allows the quarterback to succeed. It requires a thorough understanding of course concepts on a given game as well as defense coverage. The possibility of "throwing in" is not a characteristic feature of quarterbacks, especially those with huge arm strength, but it's certainly a huge bonus.

Prescott has always struggled to launch with anticipation. Instead, he is known as a quarterback, which means that he usually needs to see the receiver open before cutting it rather than anticipating it. This leads to small projection windows and fewer opportunities for post capture capture for the recipient.

This became a problem against Carolina because the receivers failed to create a great separation with the defenders with their routes. The Cowboys' offensive staff failed to adapt their game plan and plan to pave the way for Carolina defense.

Here is an example of Prescott's lack of anticipation:

On this game, the Cowboys face a critical fourth and tenth midfielder with 2:18 in the fourth quarter. After the ball has broken, Prescott reads, quickly identifies the single-high security and immediately locks to Deonte Thompson, who makes a deep return back just beyond the sticks.

The route back in depth is one of the most difficult routes to defend, but it is also extremely difficult to achieve. A quarterback needs not only the anticipation to perform the pitch before the receiver is out of the break, but it also requires considerable arm strength to drive the ball into a tight window.

Instead of throwing it as Thompson slows down for a break, Prescott holds the ball and waits for Thompson to be out of the break before throwing himself, making a tight close toss with the sideline as an extra defender . In the end, Prescott takes a good look at the tiny window, but it's still a bit too high and outside for Thompson's outstretched arms.

The jet would have had more margin of error if Prescott started his run when Thompson got ready.

Here is an example of Oakland Raiders Quarterback, Derek Carr, who has anticipated a comeback:

Notice how Carr launches his throwing motion as Cooper descends, maximizing his launch window and giving Cooper a chance to take a few yards after the catch.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, "see it, run it" QBs are not usually early pitchers. Again, the lack of anticipation is not the key to success for a QB in the NFL, it makes things easier. Many QBs have seen success in the NFL, including QB Kirk Cousins ​​of the Minnesota Vikings and quarterback Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams.

However, in case of doubt, this will likely prevent Prescott from joining the first group of QB NFL.

Lazy mechanics lead to poor accuracy
and ball placement

Among the most disturbing trends of Sunday's loss was the Prescott Mechanics. Last week, we discussed how Prescott's bad job prevented Dallas from creating explosive games in the passing game in 2017. These problems do not seem to be solved.

Even more alarming was Prescott's tendency to be lazy with his mechanics, forcing him to rely solely on the talent of his arm, which resulted in some overtaking. Here is an example:

Here, the Cowboys are in a second and 15th near midfield with 3:23 in the fourth quarter and 16-8 on the scoreboard. Dallas is in a shotgun training with 11 people (one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers).

After the ball has broken, Carolina's cover will collapse as the corner half of Michael Gallup is wrongly playing the zone blanket while the rest of the defense plays cover 1. This allows Gallup's Open on the short crossing.

Of course, Gallup drops the pass, but Prescott's ball placement is terrible. He placed the ball behind Gallup, forcing the rookie receiver to slow his momentum and make a 180-degree turn to try to catch the ball.

The lazy mechanisms led to Prescott's misplacement of the ball, as he failed to get out of his midline, locking the hips and eliminating his ability to transfer his weight effectively. This forces him to rely solely on his arm to aim the pass and generate speed on the throw. In addition, the throwing motion of Prescott leaves much to be desired, as it launches a 3/4 version, which makes the ball behind Gallup.

As a rule, Prescott has a perfectly fine throwing motion, with his footwork at the heart of his problems. but failing in both areas led to the bad placement of the ball on this throw.

If Prescott has used the proper mechanisms and placed the ball in front of Gallup, allowing him to catch the ball in stride, the receiver will probably not be touched until he is in the field.

The Cowboys were instead bailed out by an illegal contact penalty. However, Dallas lost 13 yards in the next three games and was forced to beat. The Prescott failures almost certainly cost the Cowboys points and a chance to draw.

Some quarterbacks have the arm talent needed to offset some problems with their throwing mechanics, especially on short passes. Prescott is not one of these quarters. It must rely on appropriate projection mechanisms to make accurate throws, regardless of distance.

Prescott feels the pressure

Prescott was under fire all the party against the Panthers. He was under pressure on 41 percent (10^e higher) of its fallout from Week 1, by Pro Football Focus. Of the 16 delays on which Prescott was pressured, he was fired six times (37.5% of the time, the third plus).

The pressure has greatly affected Prescott. He managed 25% of his passes when he was squeezed (32nd out of 35 eligible QBs), passing two of eight (with a fall) at 17 yards (2.1 yards per attempt). Having not been under pressure, Prescott completed 85% of his passes (eighth among 37 eligible QB), or 17 out of 21 for 153 yards (7.3 YPA), by PFF.

After Carolina began to exert more pressure on Sunday, Prescott's internal clock had to accelerate. This led him out of the pocket prematurely on the occasion. The Cowboys must do a better job of keeping Prescott clean in the pocket so that it can be effective.

Sunday was not an aberration. Prescott experienced difficulties in 2017, finishing with a score of 68 (27^e best in the NFL) and a completion percentage of 47.4 (34).^e) under pressure, by PFF.

Prescott showed a unique ability to fight for pressure yards, finishing in the top seven in QB rushing yards, but he fights violently when he is forced to win with his arm down. pressure.

The Cowboys offensive line and training must do a better job of keeping and planning Prescott's own opportunities in the passing game. If they do not, the first week will be the first of several ineffective days for the Cowboys offensive.

John Owning writes about the evaluation of NFL players for SportsDayDFW.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnOwning.