Science Lab: Dak needs to run more; here’s why

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FRISCO, Texas – Here’s the truth: if I hit the table hard enough to see the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott give me what I want in 2024, I’ll probably end up on injured reserve with a broken arm. Anyone who has followed my news for any amount of time knows that I have been one of the biggest supporters and advocates of Prescott using his legs more often.

It’s the title heading into Week 10 against the Atlanta Falcons, and I guess, welcome to the party.

This is something I wanted to see even before he suffered his season-ending ankle injuries in 2020, asking Jason Garrett and Scott Linehan (or Kellen Moore) to release “Mississippi State Dak” to force ts safety to play. off-balance – not unlike what Patrick Mahomes does or what Brock Purdy did to the Cowboys in the third quarter of the Week 8 matchup, a shift that ultimately sparked the 49ers’ offense.

Instead, in 2024, Prescott never, and I mean never runs that little.

His 10 rushing attempts through the first seven games is an average of just 1.42 runs per game. His average of 24 rushing yards drops to just 3.42 per game, and he has just one touchdown. from Week 10.

The All-Pro quarterback is currently on pace to finish the season with just 24 rushing attempts, 58 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. with 17 games to play.

For context, that would be six more rushing attempts, but also 35 fewer yards and one less touchdown in 2020. when he played in only five games the entire season.

He also has just three first downs in 28 innings.

• Between 1-5 quick attempts: 49-36
• 5+ quick tests: 26-9

That’s going to be concerning on its own, to be honest, but add in the fact that he’s been shut out from opposing defenses as the Cowboys’ line continues to work on finding stability to protect him, as he was oppressed. at one of the highest rates in the NFL and has been sacked 18 times so far.

He is averaging 2.5 sacks per game, leading to 44 sacks before the end of the regular season.

• Removed once or less: 41-11
• Fired 1+ times: 35-34

The 44-sack season would mark the second-highest mark since his 2018 season, when he had 56 sacks, during which Prescott used his mobility to helped lift the offense and the team consistently – 75 rushing attempts (career high), 305 rushing yards (second-most of his career) and six rushing touchdowns (tied for high performance) – overcoming pressure and a high sack rate to produce a 10-6 season that includes a fourth quarter comeback. and five sports-winning cars.

Fast forward to now and it’s almost as if there’s something that binds Prescott in the pocket, with head coach and offensive lineman Mike McCarthy characterizing that Thing as a play-by-play flow.

And then there’s owner and general manager Jerry Jones, who would prefer Prescott to stick around and not risk injury by cheating like he once did; and there is some evidence to take that, yes.

However, I live beyond it.

Given how many times Prescott has been pressured and hit, there is now too much risk, in my humble opinion, to choose to be a statue in the pocket, especially if you contribute the ability of quarterbacks to commit to the outside run. of the pocket. Granted, his injury in 2020 happened in a playoff game, but step back and watch the game before you use it as a judgment of a former Pro Bowler.

He chose to run at a defender for a hard-handed effort before being hauled down and breaking his ankle in the process.

If he turns up to the right of his base, then slides, he gains the same yards, if not a few more, and is said to be uninjured (barring injury to the slide itself). .

It was a decision made in a split second, so I’m very willing to present the result of achieving something that can be corrected – that is, making decisions in the open from someone who has gone back, at some point. in his work, he did not like to slide at all – more than anything but canceling the movement as a weapon completely.

There is no doubt that he learned that lesson, as evidenced by the fact that he has been skating ever since.

Additionally, until he creates a threat to pass the line of scrimmage, his coverage will continue to be ineffective at forcing linebackers and cornerbacks to drop coverage for fear of Prescott run.

In this case, they know he will not run and so they no longer think of falling down to try to stop him; and that creates another problem entirely:

Tough windows and forced throws have led Prescott to eight interceptions since Week 9, with just 10 touchdowns, and a career-low 84.5 completion percentage (63.7%) as a benchmark the second lowest since entering the league. in 2016.

As a related piece, I wonder if the reluctance to run carries over to Prescott’s mindset in this regard, as he also battled injuries in training camp — lest you forget. Bootgate – which suggests that there may be a relationship between age and the fact that Prescott will be forced to manage a surgically repaired ankle, in some way, shape or form, for the rest of his life.

“I have people for that,” he said in Oxnard.

However, the Cowboys, needless to say (but I’ll say it like that, because it’s my party and I’ll do science if I want to) are not the same team when his gifts start to go up.

• 0 INTs dropped: 51-14
• 1 INT thrown: 17-16
• 2+ INTs thrown: 7-16

To add more context to this discussion of Prescott’s effectiveness will reduce and reduce the sacks taken and cause more chaos in the matters leading to less separation and more plays, I will remind you that the point difference of the Cowboys is which in 2024, games where he threw at least one interception.

It’s an offensive 72-138.

The tums are in the medicine cabinet next to the Gas-X, if you were looking for them.

A lot of things feed into this weakness that has led to a 3-4 start, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention again that the Cowboys defense continues to be starved of possessions. with offensive suspense, and how penalties on both sides of the ball (often untimely and critical) make finding and sustaining success even more difficult.

That means, caught in a perfect storm of inefficiency, injury, self-inflicted wounds and miscommunication, the Cowboys need to use whatever they have to try to save time.

And if that means Prescott needs to run two more times per game, only twoto try and save time until and after the Avenger returns from injury to help level the playing field, so be it.

It’s like Captain America once said oh so eloquently when he yearned to change the course of the universe in Thanos’ face: