Sunday night felt better than any night has felt as a Dallas Cowboys fan this season. Coming off of a gigantic road win over a division rival, the second win in a row for the Cowboys, Dallas was in firm control of their own playoff destiny.
Since their debacle in Denver, the Cowboys had improved each week. Now they looked to finally be hitting their 2016 groove and appeared ready to make a run in the NFC East.
Monday night, however, their world was shook.
With the suspension of Ezekiel Elliott putting the team’s star running back and (arguably) best offensive player out until mid-December, most fans believed it was time to cancel the season. Yes, just end it.
At 4-3 and with plenty of season ahead, the Cowboys looked to be done in the eyes of many. But while most of Cowboys Nation panicked, my mind went somewhere else.
To the quarterback of America’s Team, Dak Prescott.
Despite what some on the outside may say, Prescott has had himself a hell of a season. Not only are his numbers and his analytical value better than they were during his fantastic rookie season, he also looks more comfortable during this sophomore campaign.
Prescott is the leader of the Cowboys’ prolific offense, though he rarely receives the credit. “They” point to his offensive line, ignoring that with two new starters in the line-up this season that same offensive line has struggled.
“They” point to his receiving weapons, while still attempting to argue that Jason Witten is washed up and Dez Bryant has lost a step.
And, of course, “they” point to Ezekiel Elliott, the league’s reigning rushing champion who enters his suspension third in the NFL in yards this season.
While Dak Prescott ran away with Rookie of the Year honors a season ago, and is one of (if not the) most promising young quarterback in the entire NFL, some still reach for ways to discredit what he has done.
In some ways, Dak Prescott has been perceived as being in the exact opposite light as his predecessor, Tony Romo. While Prescott has been surrounded by one of the league’s top offenses, Romo’s supporting cast was not nearly as impressive for much of his career. Where Prescott has “relied” on his elite running game, Romo was often asked to make things work by himself.
At least, that’s what his detractors would tell you.
But now, with Ezekiel Elliott out and the Cowboys schedule as daunting as can be, he has a chance to silence all doubters. If Dak Prescott can be the quarterback he has been his entire life, and play the way which we believe he can, those same critics will be left with no ammunition.
Dak Prescott doesn’t need to prove anything. He is a great young talent, and will be the Cowboys quarterback for a long time. But by stepping up over these next six games, he will not only save the Cowboys’ season, but also put his stamp on this franchise once again.
Spoiler alert: he is going to show everyone just how special he is.
PREACH!!!!!
Over these next 6 games we gotta go 4-2, with a W over the eagles. As much as we all love Dak, 144 passing yards ain’t gonna cut it. Now is the time Dak and Dez get this connection going because they aren’t gonna give us anything. The o line has to get better and the defense has to get better because to have a realistic shot of winning the east or a wild card we have to go 7-2 these last 9 games, worse case 6-3, I believe in our team but this is the crossroads of our season
144yds won the game didn’t it? He didn’t have to go crazy throwing the ball given the conditions, because the running game was working great. He made the throws when he had to, ran when he had to, and helped us secure a win. At the end of the day, the win was what mattered most, not his passing yardage.
Tell that to the chiefs, falcons and eagles the next 3 weeks because if you think Dak throwing for 144 yards is gonna beat any of the aforementioned teams you’re sadly mistaken
The weather called for that particular game plan. Pound the ball with Zeke, (33 carries) move the chains, and limit mistakes. If you think Dak’s performance at home will be anything like in that monsoon, you’re sadly mistaken
I know Dak will ignite the offense at home
High confidence in Dak, Morris and McFadden.
With Elliott starting i really believe it’s a great move to throw on 1st down in the 1st quarter. Boxes are either overloaded or keying on Elliott, you get easy hits and that backs the secondary the hell off of Elliott. We saw it work in DC, even in the rain.
It’s different for however many games Elliott is out. Dallas will not face the same overloads on early downs. I still like the approach, since in theory it will loosen the defense for Morris whether it is 7 up or 8 up. But if Dallas returns to the predictable 1st down hand off, that will work better for Morris than for Elliott – defenses just will not be as worried about him gashing them.
So you can strap the offense to Dak for 6 weeks, or change nothing and I think either works out pretty well. For comical value I would not mind seeing Dallas open in 4 WR and Morris. Now the defense is buying pass, you’ve got 5 or 6 in the box and Morris finds plenty of running lanes.
You’d have to get out of it at some point, but I’d like to see that. I also think the 6 weeks will be decisive for McFadden. He just turned 30, has low NFL miles and is not likely satisfied with going inactive every week. If not mistaken he becomes the 3rd down RB now. If he breaks a draw or swing pass for a long score, we’ll have an RB controversy and McF will either want a promotion or want out.
They should also do a lot of RPO with Morris since the best season of his career was his rookie year with RGIII. They ran that play like 90% of the time, resulting in big runs for whoever ended up with the ball