Sturm: Decoding Linehan - Prescott's Command Of the Blitz Leads The Victory

Cotton

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By Bob Sturm, Special contributor

It seems like during this last month or so, it has been in fashion to pick apart young Dak Prescott to identify how he is not the best QB you have ever seen. It was once fashionable to wonder if he is the next franchise QB, but with the worst 3-week span in memory of offensive play, the questions of his future were increasing along with those waxing nostalgic for a time when Tony Romo could sit in a kitchen chair without his back locking up.

It is true, by the way. There are some things that Dak Prescott cannot do like Tony Romo could do. There are some things Dak cannot do that Troy Aikman could do. Or Roger Staubach. But, perhaps, we could concede that no 2 players are exactly alike, and that there are probably things that Prescott can do that Romo absolutely could not.

And, maybe there is more than one way to skin a cat, too.

On Sunday, Dak Prescott killed the blitz of the New York Giants. He did it so much that the rare situation happened where people were wondering why the Giants would continue to do something that was damaging their situation so badly. That doesn't happen much against young QBs - blitzes failing so badly that the defensive coordinator comes under fire for not realizing he is being taken advantage of by the kid, but that is what happened on Sunday.

The Giants would blitz and Dak would find the correct hot read and destroy him. It wasn't that hard, partly because the Giants certainly do not have 1-on-1 personnel that can handle their business these days and partly because Prescott had nearly a perfect mental day.

In fact, he has had a nearly perfect season. Would you believe that since they installed this statistic in 1991, this is nearly the best season in Cowboys history?

According to our friends at STATS, the 2017 version of Dak Prescott is only exceeded by the best year of Tony Romo's career. And, for that matter, considering that we are talking about 27 different seasons of Cowboys QBs - many of them run by Troy Aikman and Tony Romo, Prescott has already registered 2 of the top 4 in his first 2 seasons of his career. Based on the fact it took Romo until his last season as the starter to fully master the blitz, would it be ok to give Prescott credit for this?

It would seem in this NFL world that this is a rather important component. Prescott destroyed the Giants blitz on Sunday and by the looks of it - as he sits as the career leader against the blitz with a passer rating of 105 (Romo 90.0, Aikman 86.2, Drew Bledsoe 83.9, and Quincy Carter 62.6 are the other 4 Cowboys QBs with 200+ throws against the blitz in their careers) - he has done this since Week 1 of season 1 since he became a Cowboy.



You may remember Bill Parcells once telling Tony Romo a paraphrase of this: "someday, you will want them to blitz you because that is when you will get those big plays."

It appears that Prescott - whether you know it or not - is already at a level of performance where his numbers indicate he has a mental acuity that is very, very good.

I would argue it goes back to his calmness. That reminds me of another Parcells-ism which was from his QB rules that were posted on the locker of Romo once upon a time:

"Don't Panic - when all around you is chaos, you must be the hand that steers the ship. If you have a panic button, so will everyone else. Our ship can't have panic buttons."
The Cowboys were in a real fight on Sunday, but the QBs ability to kill the blitz was the way the Cowboys won the game. And in a season where he has been blamed for quite a bit, I think it worthwhile for his critics to be informed of this one attribute where he seems to take a backseat to almost nobody who has ever worn the shirt. You will not blitz him continuously and find success.

WEEKLY DATA BOX



It was the 2nd biggest yardage day of the year (at San Francisco) and the biggest yardage day through the air. Another solid day on 3rd down and those Yards Per Attempt up at 11.1 is ridiculous. But, they had 3 50-yard passes to really inflate production nicely. Also, 3rd Down Average Yards to Go was way down at 4.8 which is the 2nd best of the season (also At San Francisco). This is all good across the board, which is hard to believe since this was a 10-10 game midway through the 4th Quarter.

DAK PRESCOTT THROW CHART



The Cowboys took more shots on Sunday and the receivers let the QB down, but overall, you will take that rather than the throws not being good enough. On a tough day, Prescott responded well and stuck with it. Then, his receivers started making the plays, too.

PERSONNEL GROUPINGS



I really am interested in how 13 personnel (1 RB, 3 TE, 1 WR) is becoming more and more the offense on early downs. They like the matchups and below we will look at what it provides because they ran some different variations of the set that are worth discussing.

Let's do some film:



3rd and 1 on the first drive of the game. The Giants roll out the Cover 0 blitz - no safety available because you are blitzing Beasley's guy and Landon Collins has to roll downhill and get to him. I have no idea why you would try this on 3rd and short, but the Giants are feeling lucky. I love that later the Cowboys will come back to this and are ready if the Giants try it again. Look how easy Prescott sees this and how easy the 3rd down conversion is because, of course, Beasley needs just 36 inches to move the chains.

I am sure they said, next time, stay in bounds and make Collins catch you. It broke the game open.



Another 3rd and short - this time 3rd and 3. Here, the Giants rush 5, and then drop a rat in the hole to sit on Witten and Beasley underneath. So, Cover 1 - Rat/Robber - and this is where Prescott uses his escape to move the chains. Look at Rod Smith take out the blitzer. Beautiful stuff and fine awareness by Prescott. Also, notice the Beasley double-team. In breaking routes always bring a 2nd man on Beasley. He may not be helping your fantasy team, but he still is attracting a crowd.



Next play - 10:54 to go in the 2nd Quarter - 12 personnel - and they send Bryant to pull a double team to the post and slide Hanna underneath on a rounded-off DIG route. Prescott delivers a really nice throw and they are marching.



As you can see, the Giants are blitzing and Morris has to pick up the guy off the edge and Dak has to deliver a throw. This is when you got the feeling Prescott was trusting his arm today. Burn another blitz and carry on.



Prescott's next throw is 2 snaps later. 13 personnel and the Cowboys have the Giants off balance here. Look at all of the traffic those 3 TEs generate. Watch the congested middle and then see Dez Bryant 1-on-1 outside with a corner who is fresh off their practice squad 25-Dixon. There is nothing fancy here, as Bryant just runs right past him. The throw is fine and Dez just drops it. Perhaps he can't believe how open he is.



Dez Bryant is having a frustrating season and wants to make dominating plays every week. Unfortunately, there have been a few plays that he needs to make - TD versus Green Bay, Throw down the sideline against Philadelphia, and the pass here - that have been 100% on him. He is much better than this, but this does demonstrate that when an offense goes south, there is blame to be shared by all parties.



Here is the very next play and Prescott again is playing very well. Look at this nice job of extending the play and then putting the throw right on Beasley to the sideline. But, the sun makes the play for the Giants and the drive is killed. Two bad breaks end a really promising drive.



Full marks to Dez Bryant for getting back on the horse. I am not sure why the Giants want to roll the bones again and blitz 7 for another Cover 0, but the Cowboys are waiting. This is just too easy and Dixon is not tackling Dez Bryant on a slant and if he misses high, it is over.

You can't miss high, sir. This will fail 10 times out of 10. I blame the coaches for putting him in that spot, but he also should know who Dez Bryant is. Walk-in Touchdown.

But, again, it is just 10-10. Midway through the 4th. The Cowboys last four drives have seen no blitzes and have also seen no points. But, the Giants get antsy again.

3rd and 2. 8:07 to play.



The Giants have been torched on each blitz they have tried. Not only do they blitz, but they send the house again? And they ask Landon Collins to try to get to Beasley again? In space? I really wonder about the brain power of this Giants staff who made that call. Gracious. The Cowboys were begging them to do something stupid, and they obliged. There is simply no chance Collins - as awesome as he is - can make this play.



The very next play - with no Landon Collins - the Cowboys roll out 13 personnel again. They know that the Giants are going to be watching Dez (remember the throw down the sideline on 13 that was dropped?) so they have Witten run that seam route where he widens out his man to the sideline and then angles back in to gain leverage and to leave a spot to let Dak drop a dime in there. He does and this is a huge throw and touchdown to take the lead.



Finally, again, no Landon Collins deep, the Giants reserves are worried about Beasley and Bryant, which leaves a painfully slow backup LB on Rod Smith in the open field. No blitz here, just a basic man trying to run with a man who is too fast with no help over the top. Intramural plays don't often work, but the Giants have nothing left for Rod Smith so a stat-padder for all involved.

Easy work. Most against the blitz and some not. Prescott wins with his brain power and intelligence. If your strongest attributes are composure and intelligence, you can win with that.

Nice job against a reckless and undermanned Giants defense. Sound coaching would be to sit back and play conservatively when you don't have your guys. The Giants weren't doing that and the Cowboys executed the plan wonderfully.
 

Angrymesscan

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Nice job against a reckless and undermanned Giants defense. Sound coaching would be to sit back and play conservatively when you don't have your guys. The Giants weren't doing that and the Cowboys executed the plan wonderfully.
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Usually I agree with Sturm, but this reeks of Garrett. What for? so you only lose by 10? F that, if you are going to lose anyway gamble big, if some pan out you just might get what you need to pull the upset.
 

Genghis Khan

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Based on the fact it took Romo until his last season as the starter to fully master the blitz,

This is not a fact and it's actually a ridiculous assertion.
 
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