Clarence Hill: QB Dak Prescott must stop being center of Dallas Cowboys woes
.jpg "Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws an interception pass during overtime in an NFL football game against Jacksonville Jaguars.")
Noah Brown should have caught the ball in overtime.
Dak Prescott’s throw in tight coverage was low on purpose. The ball hit Brown in the hands. A catch puts the Cowboys 15 yards from a possible Brett Maher game-winning field goal.
If you need another reason why the Dallas Cowboys signed T.Y. Hilton last week and are still hoping to add receiver Odell Beckham, look no further than the game-deciding play in Sunday’s 40-34 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Quarterback Dak Prescott’s pass on third-and-4 bounced out of the hands of a falling Brown into the waiting arms of Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins.
Jenkins then ran through the heart of the dejected Cowboys’ defense and into the end zone, ending their four-game win streak and raising renewed questions about whether this team has what it takes to win it all.
Brown, a former 2016 sixth-round pick who has survived in the NFL as a special teams demon and a personal punt protector, shouldn’t be the one tasked with crucial catches as the end of the game.
Never mind that he caught a 13-yard fourth-quarter touchdown from Prescott to put the Cowboys back in the lead. It should not be Brown’s role. He shouldn’t have been the one Prescott was throwing to on the final possession of regulation either.
But lead receiver CeeDee Lamb, who had seven catches for 126 yards, was triple teamed and Michael Gallup was a no show in the game with one catch for two yards.
Prescott wanted to give Brown a chance to make a play on 3rd-and-10 when running the ball and using the clock would have been a better option.
It would have forced the Jaguars to use their final timeout, one they wouldn’t have had to kick the game-tying field goal as time expired after a catch with :05 to go.
Brown shouldn’t be put in that position. The play call remains a head scratcher.
The one common denominator was Prescott, who went from seemingly playing out of his mind to being at the center of why the Cowboys have people questioning their championship mettle.
Prescott had two interceptions in the game. The first one came in the third quarter on a high throw to tight Dalton Schultz on a pass that should have never left his hands.
He was being sacked but rather than eat the ball or simply throw it away, Prescott found himself doing too much by trying to make a play. Jenkins picked off that one as well and it turned into the second of three straight touchdowns by the Jaguars as they rallied from a 27-10 third quarterback deficit to take a 31-27 lead in the fourth quarter.
Prescott completed 15 of 16 passes for 137 and two touchdowns in the first half. He was 3 for 6 in the third quarter and rather than finish in the end zone and possible put the Jaguars away, the Cowboys has to settle for two field goals.
And while Prescott gets credit for directing the Cowboys on a 13-play, 75-yard scoring, capped by the touchdown to Brown, putting the Cowboys back up 34-31, the inability to put the game away on the final position of the fourth quarter and the overtime interception lands as the feet of the team’s $40 million quarterback.
“I think that’s my job as a quarterback is to put us in positions to win, and eliminate the mistakes and the potential chances to allow them to score after turnovers,” Prescott said. That’s what’s frustrating about it, whether it’s a tipped ball, whether it’s an unfortunate interception, whatever it is. They all suck, and at the end of the day, I’ve got to do a better job, and that’s where it is. When I say I take them on the chin, that’s why I’m also trying to make those plays, to make those plays to put us in a better field position and give us a better chance to win.
“It’s tough when you lose, wanting to be in those positions, wanting to be in those positions having the ball in my hand, and when it ends up like that, yeah, it sucks. It’s a feeling that I don’t like, and I’ve got to learn from it and do better, put the ball in better positions, and be smarter with it.”
Brown should have caught the ball in overtime. The defense should not have given up a season-high 318 yards passing and four touchdowns to Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and should not have given up 192 yards on the ground.
A unit that is second in the league in sacks and first in sacks per play couldn’t get to the quarterback consistently and failed to get Lawrence on the ground when they did.
But when talk turns to the Cowboys being ready make a playoff run and possibly a Super Bowl bid for the first time since 1995 it always comes back to the quarterback.
Prescott has the Cowboys among the contenders with his play since returning from missing five games with a fractured thumb. No team has scored more points, gained more yards or been better on third down than the Cowboys under Prescott the past eight weeks.
But, no quarterback also thrown more interceptions during that time span than Prescott’s 10. That number is seven in the past four games.
All aren’t his fault. Some were tipped. Some were bad luck.
No one cares.
They are on his ledger.
Get another receiver so a misplaced Brown doesn’t have to be a go-to guy on third down. Find a way to stop run on defense and find a real replacement for Anthony Brown at cornerback.
Kelvin Joseph won’t cut it.
It still comes back to Prescott and it always will.
The Cowboys need him to be the reason why they can win games late and in overtime and can possibly win a championship, as owner Jerry Jones so richly believes.
He can’t be a reason why they can’t or won’t.
The interceptions and turnovers must stop.
This story was originally published December 18, 2022 at 6:48 PM.
