The Dallas Cowboys looked to have found something truly special in last year’s fourth-round draft pick, Dak Prescott. He had arguably the best rookie season in the history of the NFL for a quarterback and looked like Superman at times on the field last year. But, one team in particular seemed to be his kryptonite in 2016 and that’s the team the Cowboys will square off against in Week 1, the New York Giants.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably understand the kryptonite and Superman reference. But just in case you don’t understand the reference, kryptonite is the only known substance that zaps Superman’s powers and weakens him to the point he is vulnerable to just about any enemy. In 2016, the New York Giants defense was Dak Prescott’s kryptonite.
Much like Superman, Dak Prescott has to find a way to circumvent the effects of kryptonite in order to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a victory over the New York Giants. It’s certainly no easy task to accomplish, but if we know anything about Prescott, it is that he doesn’t back down from a challenge.
Not much was expected of Dak Prescott when he was drafted in the fourth round by the Dallas Cowboys a year ago. He was thrust into action when Tony Romo was injured in the third preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks and rose to the challenge. But, his biggest challenge now might be figuring out a way to beat the New York Giants and their defense.
In two games against the Giants last season, Prescott only managed 42 pass completions on 82 attempts for a measly 51.2 completion percentage. He also only managed one passing touchdown, but threw two interceptions in the two meetings. The Giants defense did such a good job limiting Prescott, that he only managed a 58.6 QB rating, the lowest among any team he faced in 2016.
If we are to believe these numbers, then the New York Giants defense is absolutely Dak Prescott’s kryptonite to his Superman. There is no doubting the Giants have a talented and highly paid defense. But, for Prescott to truly become the Superman we all believe he is, he has to find a way to overcome his kryptonite.
I personally think he will be able to do just that. Prescott’s first professional game was against the Giants last season and unfortunately, the entire team looked rusty and out of sync the entire game. But, Prescott still gave them a chance to win due to his performance, but Terrance Williams’ boneheaded decision to stay in bounds and let time expire ended the game.
The Dallas Cowboys lost both games to the New York Giants last season by less than a touchdown. Prescott had them in the game both times, but one or two plays sealed their fate and allowed the Giants to come away with the victories. I don’t think that will happen again this season.
Prescott has had an entire off-season to prepare himself for the upcoming season and has a year of experience under his belt. He will also have his entire offense at full strength to start the season, which wasn’t the case year ago. I might be jumping out on a limb here, but I think Prescott will be much improved this year, which is scary considering what he was able to accomplish last season.
I know the New York Giants and their defense won’t admit it, but if they want to win this meeting with the Dallas Cowboys, they absolutely have to limit Dak Prescott’s effectiveness. It may seem like a simple thing to accomplish, but I’m going to make a bold prediction and say the Giants defense falls short this time around.
I believe Dak Prescott will once again become Superman, and the kryptonite the Giants defense had a season ago no longer affects him. Fortunately, only a few more days remain until we actually find out if I am right or not.
I’m also a glass half full type of Cowboy’s fan and a long-term fan (50 plus yrs) and since Dakota seems to be the type of guy who studies, practices and works hard, I agree with you. I believe that he’ll be even better this season than last. If our Secondary can improve, which I believe it will, I foresee a better season this year than last. People may think I’m too optimistic about the Secondary but the players we lost were average at best so I’m looking for a second coming of “Thurman’s Thieves”. Thanks for the article, Brian. I enjoy reading positive things about the Boys or really ANYTHING positive nowadays.
I think Dak will be better against the Giants this year. His work on making throws accurately from in the pocket and the more open play book will help him greatly. I also think Dez is determined to have a big game to get his year started, and the growing relationship between Dak and his receivers will show huge dividends this season. No more Kryptonite, this time Superman takes the villain down!!!
I think we’ll be better as the year goes on as far as the secondary goes. These little Giants love talking. They beat us in two by a total of 4 points. I expect Zeke to see Roger Goodell running the ball. The Giants offense is a Odell YAC TD or nothing else. We must make them sustain long drives and not like OBJ beat us! Take him away we’ll be fine.
Last year the Giants had essentially gone out & bought a premiere defense, and Linehan had not had a chance to square it up, much less Dak. They have faced it twice now.
There’s always a risk that multiple imported players will fail to gel. That didn’t happen to the Giants. It is a defense to reckon with.
And as you say Brian the Cowboys offense figures to be more together than it was to start last year. The one ? is LG, but a good way to help that is to run the ball. The Cowboys want their defense off the field, and they have the talent to beat up opponents & chew up clock.
Dez is healthy and Witten looks fleet. I think Butler will see significant downs, more spread sets, and it’s too much firepower overall for any defense to hold down. Cowboys 31 Giants 27
I think we’ll be better off this time also, simple reason, while the giants say they have had a year to study Dak, well it works both ways, also, it’s not like it was 100 percent on Dak, there were missed TD catches that were flat out dropped, along with the running game, I feel Zeke was also less patient in game 1 which is why he was held in check to 51 yards, now granted he did get a touchdown, but game 2 he was also allot more patient and still got 100 yards, in both contests it seems both defenses came to play, our secondary is allot more talented then in recent years, granted allot more raw also but I am excited to see what the entire team does this go around
Pay attention to how well the CBs stick to our receivers. I firmly believe this is a game that Switzer could tip the scales. Not sure if he will play much in this one though. It might end up being the game later in the season, but most teams don’t have the personnel to handle Beasley, but having Switzer and Beasley on the field at the same time will give the Giants fits. One of the Giants tactics on Beasley was to double-team him near the line of scrimmage, but that only worked due to Bryant not fully being himself. That won’t be the issue this week. Still, NY’s CBs were the reason they could keep Dallas down and only have to rush four each down. Hopefully our WRs outnumber them now and Dak’s ability to see everything pre-snap and go through his progressions much faster this year will expose their secondary.