Welcome to another Monday Moment!
I know, Monday’s are trash and you’re probably back at work reading this and procrastinating, but that’s okay. I’m glad to take you back down memory lane and provide some happy offseason thoughts while you’re stuck at work.
This week, we re-visit the Cowboys miraculous overtime victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Dak/Wentz One went right as planned for Dallas, as Prescott found Jason Witten in the end zone to put the Eagles to bed.
Let’s check out the All-22 from this game winning touchdown.
With the ball on the five yard line the Cowboys come out in 11 personnel, with tight end Jason Witten inline and in a three point stance.
After the snap of the ball, Dak Prescott immediately looks to his left. On that left side the Cowboys run Ezekiel Elliott out into the flats, and Dak believes he can exploit that one on one match up. On the same side he also has Terrance Williams on a slant route. Both routes are covered well, however.
After realizing both Elliott and Williams are covered, Prescott sees the gap between center Travis Frederick and guard Ronald Leary opening up. For a split second, you can see Prescott considering running through that hole, before that hole closes as well.
Instead of panicking, Prescott goes full Tony Romo, spinning outside the pocket and re-squaring his shoulders while analyzing the action downfield.
The Eagles defenders have their eyes on Prescott, and once they see him start to run right, they clearly over-pursue. Because of this over-pursuit, two defenders run into each other, and Jason Witten roams into the end zone wide open.
Plays such as this one speak to the advantages of having a mobile quarterback. The Eagles must respect Prescott’s threat to run, whether it be his move to the middle at first or to the right a bit later. This respect turned to over-aggressiveness, which allowed Witten to run free.
Had the Cowboys had a stationary quarterback in their pocket, this play most likely would’ve ended much differently, and worse for them. The Eagles did a good job of covering up each receiving threat the first few seconds of this play, and if it weren’t for Dak’s ability to extend the play and create offense, the play might have been doomed.
Mobile quarterback play is a must.