Did Broncos provide blueprint on how to slowdown QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys?
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones tried to sum Sunday’s 30-16 loss to the Denver Broncos as simply a bad day at office and not indicative of a team that was considered one of the best in the league.
“It is what it is,” he said when asked if he was shocked by his team’s performance.
Jones said he was surprised by the Broncos’ ability to befuddle quarterback Dak Prescott and a Cowboys offense that was considered unstoppable because of its ability to run and pass equally well.
Did the Broncos offered up a blueprint to the rest of the league?
Don’t let the final numbers fool you.
Prescott finished 19 of 39 for 232 yards with two meaningless touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
He was just 5 of 14 in the first half (35.7%), the worst first-half completion percentage of his career.
He was 6 of 19 for 79 after three quarters before finishing 13 of 20 for 153 yards in garbage time.
Prescott came into the game throwing three or more touchdown passes in four straight games and had led the Cowboys to 35 or more points in eight straight home games.
This was easily one of the worst performances of his career.
Prescott was undone by some off-target throws, some dropped passes and poor protection up front.
But give the Broncos credit for having a good plan for Prescott, Jones said.
The Cowboys had an inkling of some trouble before the game because of the problems they had with the Los Angeles Chargers in a 20-17 victory in Week 2.
Prescott did not pass for a touchdown, the only game this season he did not have multiple TDs, though he completed 23 of 27 passes.
Chargers coach Brandon Staley got his start in the NFL under Broncos coach Vic Fangio and they share similar philosophies.
The Broncos took what they learned from the Cowboys performance against the Chargers and altered it a little. They didn’t blitz as much and played a lot of coverage. And they disguised coverage better than anyone had all season.
There were few open receivers and they let no one get deep.
“They were softer. They were a little more ‘read’, not as aggressive,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said about the difference in how the Broncos played compared to the Chargers.
Then he added the kicker.
“This is a plan that I’m sure we’ll see more of, so we need to make sure we take the time to address everything and learn from this experience.”
Fangio added insult to effort by saying that “no one played the Cowboys the right way” before Sunday.
The NFL is a copycat league.
Teams borrow and steal weekly.
There is no question opposing teams will try to duplicate the Broncos’ success, likely starting Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
According to ESPN, Prescott was blitzed a season-low 14% on his dropbacks. According to Next Gen Stats, he saw disguised coverage 26% of the time, the second highest rate of the season.
It forced Prescott tohold on to the ball longer, and proved to be something he was uncomfortable doing.
Prescott made no excuse. He said it had nothing to do with the calf strain that kept him out of last week’s 20-16 victory against the Minnesota Vikings.
He refused to blame it on rust.
He took ownership of his bad throws.
But he also categorically rejects the notion that the Broncos offered up a blueprint on how to stop the Cowboys for the rest of the league.
“I hope teams play us like this for the rest of the year, to be honest,” Prescott said. “This was just not a great game by us, this is not who we normally are. As I said, we’re going to learn from it, this isn’t — I think Coach said it great in the locker room: ‘This isn’t tape you just throw away. We learn a lot from it and move forward.’
“We’ve got to be accountable for our mistakes and not playing up to our standard and our expectations. We’ll make sure we get it cleaned up and get better.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 12:42 PM.
