Watkins: Refining the deep pass formula

Cotton

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If Amari Cooper has brought one thing to this Cowboys offense, it’s his ability to capitalize on deep passes. Sunday’s 75-yard touchdown reception is memorable, but another completion was a strong play as well. Deep passes are tricky; a lot of things need to go right for a bomb to succeed. We take a look at a few of them here, with help from the Cowboys themselves.


Prescott has a clean pocket but he just overthrows Gallup down the left side of the field. This season, according to NFL Savant, Prescott has completed 32.1 percent of his passes to the deep left side of the field.

“We’re going to get there, honestly, maybe just a tad bit more air from me,” Prescott said. “It’s not much, that’s how close it is. And we’ve talked about it and we’ve said before, we’re getting close, just keep going, it’s going to hit when we need it most. He’s doing a good job, each and every day, practicing those as well. But we’ll connect.”


Gallup slowed up here as he ran down the field. Prescott has another good pocket to throw from, but the rookie receiver didn’t do a good job of finding the ball.

“After you’re past (the defender), if you’re not 20-to-25 yards down the field, don’t even look for the ball, that’s how its supposed to be,” Gallup said. “I have a problem with that. I look too early, you’re not supposed to look until 20-to-25 yards downfield. I have a problem looking back instead of looking up.”


Compare that play to this one. Cooper runs an excellent route here against zone coverage, and Prescott finds him for the long completion. Cooper is hard on himself when he runs routes, saying he needs to get ahead of the defender faster to become an open target.

“I like the deep ball he throws,” Cooper said of Prescott. “He puts it out there and lets you run up under it, and I think that’s something he’s good at. I like that. I like his delivery, the way he approaches the game (is) the same way I would want my quarterback to approach the game. So we’re on the same page in that aspect.”
 

mcnuttz

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The first two might have been "bombs", but the 3rd clip was hardly a 20 yard pass.

Cooper making Dak look legit with his YAC, let's not get carried away.
 

Cotton

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The first two might have been "bombs", but the 3rd clip was hardly a 20 yard pass.

Cooper making Dak look legit with his YAC, let's not get carried away.
Someone drank their hateraide this morning.
 

mcnuttz

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Someone drank their hateraide this morning.
Somebody's been watching this guy not make very good throws all season.
 

Cotton

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Somebody's been watching this guy not make very good throws all season.
He has definitely missed some, and he has also dropped some dimes.
 

mcnuttz

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He has definitely missed some, and he has also dropped some dimes.
He's made some great throws to a great WR, but little else to other receivers.

I do love how he dials it up late in the games though, no doubt about it.
 

Rev

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Dak is just frustrating. Can look so bad and so good in the same game. Don't really see that as a formula for success in the playoffs but just like Garrett he has Jerry on his side.
 

Texas Ace

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Somebody's been watching this guy not make very good throws all season.
Yup....and that's the problem.

Yes, he has made some great throws like the 1st TD to Cooper. But the problem is that he isn't consistent enough with those throws and far too often in the same game, he misses wide open guys at key points in the game.

For as great as that throw to Cooper was, had we lost that game, all anyone would have remembered would have been the throw he missed to Gallup to seal the win.

You absolutely cannot miss on a throw like that, and you certainly can't miss as often as he does because those are the ones that have a bigger impact than the ones he occasionally hits.
 

Cowboysrock55

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He's made some great throws to a great WR, but little else to other receivers.

I do love how he dials it up late in the games though, no doubt about it.
It is interesting that Cooper actually blames himself for the missed deep balls to him. Looks like Cooper and Dak have corrected that though.
 

Texas Ace

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It is interesting that Cooper actually blames himself for the missed deep balls to him. Looks like Cooper and Dak have corrected that though.
It doesn't make any sense to be so out of synch with Gallup on the deep ball.

I could understand a back shoulder throw or a fade, but this is just a straight line route and he has zero feel and timing on the deep ball to Gallup.

Vs the Redskins, he underthrew by 4 yards.

Vs the Saints and Eagles, he overthrew him to the point he couldn't even make a play on the ball.

You have to at least complete those passes. He's way too open to miss him completely, especially when each and every instance would've resulted in sealing the victory.

It's going to keep them up at night if they lose a close game in the playoffs where he misses him.

I hope he gets it figured out in time.
 

mcnuttz

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It is interesting that Cooper actually blames himself for the missed deep balls to him. Looks like Cooper and Dak have corrected that though.
It is interesting that we have a WR who isn't a diva.

He's humble and willing to incriminate himself rather than throwing his QB under the bus.
 

ravidubey

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It is interesting that we have a WR who isn't a diva.

He's humble and willing to incriminate himself rather than throwing his QB under the bus.
Cooper’s approach has been a breath of fresh air next to others over the years with similar talent. I have no idea what the Raiders were thinking (or drinking).

He has saved this season, and maybe Dak Prescott’s career.
 

Cowboysrock55

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It doesn't make any sense to be so out of synch with Gallup on the deep ball.

I could understand a back shoulder throw or a fade, but this is just a straight line route and he has zero feel and timing on the deep ball to Gallup.

Vs the Redskins, he underthrew by 4 yards.

Vs the Saints and Eagles, he overthrew him to the point he couldn't even make a play on the ball.

You have to at least complete those passes. He's way too open to miss him completely, especially when each and every instance would've resulted in sealing the victory.

It's going to keep them up at night if they lose a close game in the playoffs where he misses him.

I hope he gets it figured out in time.
I know at least on one of the overthrows against the Eagles Gallup had stopped on his route and then continued running. I wonder if to an extent he is slowing down sometimes, especially when he is as wide open as he is getting. Not an excuse for Dak, he should adjust and throw an easy ball instead of trying to nail it perfectly.
 

Cowboysrock55

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It is interesting that we have a WR who isn't a diva.

He's humble and willing to incriminate himself rather than throwing his QB under the bus.
I agree, I'm happy to see players who sort of take personal responsibility even if it isn't their entire fault. Players need to know that they can always do better.
 

kidd

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I know at least on one of the overthrows against the Eagles Gallup had stopped on his route and then continued running. I wonder if to an extent he is slowing down sometimes, especially when he is as wide open as he is getting. Not an excuse for Dak, he should adjust and throw an easy ball instead of trying to nail it perfectly.
Well Dak has underthrown the ball to him as well so he could be slowing his routes because of that. I really dunno. They both need to get in sync. It's very frustrating seeing potential TD's not happen because a WR & QB can't hook up.
 
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