Scott Linehan said Dak Prescott changed runs to passes at goal line

Four days have passed since the Dallas Cowboys’ 19-3 season opening victory against the New York, and the team is squarely focused on Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos

But the questions over the team’s decision to throw three passes from the 3-yard line in the first quarter have not yet subsided.

Why would the Cowboys, facing first-and-goal from the 3-yard line, not rely on their great offensive line and star running back at least once?

Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan understands the sentiment and would have the same questions himself, if he was on the outside looking in.

He said quarterback Dak Prescott changed the first two run calls to pass plays because receiver Dez Bryant was being covered one-on-one on the outside.

The first one was a fade to the corner that Bryant caught over cornerback Janoris Jenkins but couldn’t get both feet inbounds.

Bryant was wide open on the slant, but Prescott was inexplicably high with an errant throw.

The third was another off-target pass too high for Bryant.

Linehan said he had no problem with the decision-making even though the Cowboys were forced to settle for a field goal. He just would have preferred better execution.

Linehan said if the ball was at the 1, it would have been different; a run to Elliott would be the call no matter what if the run/pass option was on.

“The first two [play calls] were run/pass options, so that’s a run call,” Linehan said. “We took two shots to Dez Bryant. We consider those long foul balls. So, yeah, I sit there and it’s easy afterwards, you say, ‘Look, if we would have hit one of those two, we wouldn’t be talking about this.’ They were close. The second one, we missed that one. The first one he’s covered, but he’s always open 1-on-1. He caught it and didn’t come down, it wouldn’t have been a catch.

“You look back and you go, ‘Well, maybe the next time you take the [run/pass option] off the next one and you give us a chance to run.’ We throw the second one and he’s open. I’d rather not talk about it.”

What he doesn’t want to talk about was Prescott’s early inaccuracy that included several high balls and errant passes that Linehan blamed on being too pumped up in the first game.

But the decision making was on point, per Linehan. As the Cowboys believe in their passing game as much as their running game.

“All the social media-ites probably thought I agreed with them after it’s over, but I didn’t,” Linehan said. “We aren’t changing our approach. We’ve been one of the better red zone teams because of our weapons so we use them all.”

Linehan said Dak Prescott changed runs to passes at goal line and he has no regrets

Four days have past since the Dallas Cowboys 19-3 season opening victory against the New York but the furor over the team’s decision to throw three passes from the 3-yard line has not yet subsided.

Why would the Cowboys, facing 1^st-and-goal from the 3-yard line, not rely on their great offensive line and star running back at least once?

Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan understands the sentiment and would have the same questions himself, if he was on the outside looking in.

He said quarterback Dak Prescott changed the first two run calls to pass plays because receiver Dez Bryant was being covered 1-on-1 on the outside.

The first one was a fade to the corner that Bryant caught over cornerback Janoris Jenkins but couldn’t get both feet down in bounds.

Bryant was wide open on the slant but Prescott was inexplicably high with an errant throw.

The third was another off target pass too high for Bryant.

Linehan said he had no problem with the decision making even though the Cowboys were forced to settle for a field goal.

“The first two [play-calls] were run/pass options, so that’s a run call,” Linehan said. “We took two shots to Dez Bryant. We consider those long foul balls. So, yeah, I sit there and it’s easy afterwards, you say, ‘Look, if we would have hit one of those two, we wouldn’t be talking about this.’ They were close. The second one, we missed that one. The first one he’s covered but he’s always open 1-on-1. He caught it and didn’t come down, it wouldn’t have been a catch.

“You look back and you go, ‘Well, maybe the next time you take the [run/pass option] off the next one and you give us a chance to run.’ We throw the second one and he’s open. I’d rather not talk about it.”

What he doesn’t want to talk about was Prescott’s early inaccuracy that included several high balls and errant passes that Linehan blamed on being too pumped up in the first game.

But the decision making was on point, per Linehan. As the Cowboys believe in their passing game as much as their running game. He said if the ball was at the 1-yard line, it would have been

“All the social media-ites probably thought I agreed with them after it’s over, but I didn’t,” Linehan said. “We aren’t changing our approach. We’ve been one of the better red zone teams because of our weapons so we use them all.”

This story was originally published September 14, 2017 at 7:51 PM with the headline "Scott Linehan said Dak Prescott changed runs to passes at goal line."