What has happened to Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys passing game?
The Dallas Cowboys can no longer hide behind the excuses of poor field position or being behind the chains. The end result is all that matters.
Quarterback Dak Prescott and the passing game have fallen and seemingly can’t get up.
In the 24-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Prescott completed 19 of 34 passes for 168 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
For the third straight game this season and the ninth time in the last 11 games dating back the last year, Prescott passed for under 200 yards.
“Yeah I mean we just weren’t able to get that part of our game going,” Prescott said. “I’ve got to be more accurate. I’ve got to be more consistent making throws. We’ve got to get open. You can go all the way across the board. We’ve just got to do a better job as an offense but it starts with me.”
“Yeah, it’s frustrating but we’ve got to go back and spend these next couple of days figuring out or trying to hone in on exactly what’s the problem and get better at it.”
The numbers are downright ugly.
Prescott has two touchdowns and two interceptions this season and the Cowboys average of 166 passing yards per game is the second worst in the league behind the Arizona Cardinals. He averaged just 4.94 yards per attempt against the Seahawks.
“That’s it, we have to do a better job in the passing game,” Garrett said. ”It starts up front. You also have to make good decisions, throws and catches. We have not done a good job of that. We are doing everything we can to look at ourselves and how we can execute better.”
The Cowboys converted just 3 of 13 third-down chances, dropping them to 8-of-34 for the season.
The Cowboys have scored the second-fewest points in the NFL through three games and are averaging just 15.3 points over the last 11 games.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott took the blame Sunday because of a fumble, a dropped pass and the mistake of running out of bounds and negating a touchdown. But he had 127 yards rushing against the Seahawks and is again among the top five rushers in the NFL.
Blame goes squarely to a lack of efficiency and explosiveness in the passing attack in an era in the NFL where is it’s easier to pass and score in the history of the sport.
“We were efficient in the running game,” Garrett said. “We ran the ball well throughout. That wasn’t the issue. It was being efficient through the game throwing the football and being efficient throwing the football. Overall, the pass efficiency and explosiveness was not there.”
And this was after an overhaul of the offense and the passing game in the offseason that included the unceremonial release of former No. 1 receiver Dez Bryant and the addition of three veterans in Allen Hurns, Deonte Thompson and Tavon Austin and rookie third-round pick Michael Gallup.
The Cowboys changed offensive line coaches yet Prescott has been sacked 11 times in three games after going down five times against the Seahawks.
The Cowboys changed receiver coaches and brought in Sanjay Lal to make them more technically proficient and precise route runners yet no receiver ranks in the top 40 in the NFL in yards or catches and the pedestrian tight end Geoff Swaim led the team in catches against the Seahawks with five for 40 yards.
Beasley leads the team with 12 catches for 132 yards. Thompson has nine for 83, Austin has five for 81, Hurns four for 51, Gallup three for 31 and Terrance Williams two for 18.
The Cowboys have just three pass plays for 20 yards or more, including a 64-yard touchdown to Austin that now sticks out like an anomaly. He had just three catches for 2 yards against the Seahawks.
“Yeah, I don’t think we’ve attacked that area enough, simple as that,” Prescott said when asked about the absence of the deep ball against the Seahawks and all season. “I don’t think they are taking it away as much as we haven’t tried it enough. You can put in on me. I guess I need to push it down the field more.”
Prescott is trying to say the right things and show leadership. But he is at a loss for answers as he’s ever been since taking over as Cowboys quarterback in 2016.
The sad part is so are the coaches.
The frustrating result of all the changes on offense is the Cowboys don’t have anything they can count on when they need it most, not a go-to player or a go-to play.
“We’ve got to find exactly our go to in the passing game and I’m not necessarily speaking on a player,” Prescott said. “I’m speaking to our go-to concepts or go-to beaters or whatever it may be that we didn’t get to. We always know that’s in our back pocket to get us some yards or when we are backed up to get us some space. That’s things we got to find out.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 8:42 AM.