What on earth happened to the Cowboys offense and Dak Prescott? Decoding Kellen Moore

[Angrymesscan]

Cool, then 75%. That puts Dak in the top 8 QBs in the league. I'll take it and walk away smiling knowing I only gave up a 4th to get him.

The 4th was relevant when he was on his rookie salary, now it's completely irrelevant.

 

[shoop]

I know we are all kind of split on the issue, so, I'm curious.

Is the offensive struggle Dak, Kellen, or a mix of the two?

 

[Genghis Khan]

I know we are all kind of split on the issue, so, I'm curious.

Is the offensive struggle Dak, Kellen, or a mix of the two?

A mix of the 2, plus other things.

But I will also say, Dak can more or less solve it on his own, but I don't think the other factors like Moore or the running game can on their own solve things.

 

[boozeman]

We'd been shopping Texaco for pass rushers back then.

Hey! I think Selvie got a sack, man! You better check that shit!

 

[Cowboysrock55]

A mix of the 2, plus other things.

But I will also say, Dak can more or less solve it on his own, but I don't think the other factors like Moore or the running game can on their own solve things.

It's a mix of the two and a running game that's really been a struggle.

 

[Texas Ace]

My God..... that throw chart.

Of 39 attempts, 28 went less than 10 yards.

TWENTY-EIGHT!

Get your shit together, Kellen Moore.

 

[Sheik]

My God..... that throw chart.

Of 39 attempts, 28 went less than 10 yards.

TWENTY-EIGHT!

Get your shit together, Kellen Moore.

He loves forcing those WR screens, or Dak loves checking to them. Hard to know which it is.

 

[Sheik]

Also, what happened to the occasional Wilson toss pass? That thing has worked nearly every time used.

 

[lostxn]

Jimmah is not impressed.

If you watched the video, he didn't sound harsh at all. He just said you have to surround him with talent because he isn't an elite physical talent. That's just true. You could definitely say the same thing about Aikman. or Romo. or Staubach. There are few QBs who can truly elevate a team from decent to a SB winner. Brady, Rogers maybe

 

[mcnuttz]

I know we are all kind of split on the issue, so, I'm curious.

Is the offensive struggle Dak, Kellen, or a mix of the two?

If it's Dak, it's gotta be Moore as well.

If #4 is not reading his responsibilities properly, OC has to spot the trouble and correct it. Some help from Nussmeier would be great as well.

We definitely can't put it all on Moore. Dak has visibly regressed since the injury, the WRs have missed catchable balls, and the O-Line cohesiveness has been tested heavily. The worst part to me, though, is the loss of that dynamic run game from early in the season...still can't figure that one out. It's like they're not even trying anymore.

 

[Genghis Khan]

If it's Dak, it's gotta be Moore as well.

If #4 is not reading his responsibilities properly, OC has to spot the trouble and correct it. Some help from Nussmeier would be great as well.

We definitely can't put it all on Moore. Dak has visibly regressed since the injury, the WRs have missed catchable balls, and the O-Line cohesiveness has been tested heavily. The worst part to me, though, is the loss of that dynamic run game from early in the season...still can't figure that one out. It's like they're not even trying anymore.

There definitely seems to be a lack of imagination in the run plays. Just up the gut 90% of the time.

 

[Simpleton]

I'm re-watching the game and it's amazing how disjointed the offense is in general, Dak isn't there individually all the time but the offense as a whole is just discombobulated.

McGovern is part of it because he was horrific against the Skins, basically with a rookie Terence Steele-type performance where he single-handedly blew up about 7 plays all by himself.

But the biggest concern is that the WR's are all over the place. They dropped at least 3 balls that hit them right in the hands, 2 of which were complete no-brainers that an NFL WR should only drop like 2 out of 100 times (the Lamb bubble screen on the first drive of the game and Gallup on a quick out in the red zone towards the end of the 2nd quarter).

Not only that, but the timing/chemistry between Dak and the WR's is very off to where they're not on the same page on what route is supposed to be run, and while everybody kind of laughed at Jerry blaming the route running/spacing or whatever, there are plays where the spacing between the WR's is completely off and they're basically on top of each other. That stuff shouldn't be happening.

And then of course the running game has been stuck in neutral for a while.

It's all very strange, it's like some fucked up cocktail of poor offensive design (Moore), timing being off (maybe injuries, maybe Dak, who knows), the running game stuck in neutral (Elliott/Pollard injury plus maybe poor design) and just some straight up poor plays (dropped balls, Dak's brainless INT's).

 

[ravidubey]

McGovern is part of it because he was horrific against the Skins, basically with a rookie Terence Steele-type performance where he single-handedly blew up about 7 plays all by himself.

Credit the DL there too, Jonathan Allen is a tough assignment for anyone.

For the Connors or Biadasz it should have been a double team

 

[shoop]

If it's Dak, it's gotta be Moore as well.

If #4 is not reading his responsibilities properly, OC has to spot the trouble and correct it. Some help from Nussmeier would be great as well.

We definitely can't put it all on Moore. Dak has visibly regressed since the injury, the WRs have missed catchable balls, and the O-Line cohesiveness has been tested heavily. The worst part to me, though, is the loss of that dynamic run game from early in the season...still can't figure that one out. It's like they're not even trying anymore.

Where we as fans often blame the QB for everything, I am inclined to blame Moore at this point. It’s his job to adjust the game plan if the QB is struggling. I agree there are more issues than just the QB but it feels like instead of adjusting the game plan we just go “shucks, what do we do now?”

 

[UncleMilti]

I'm re-watching the game and it's amazing how disjointed the offense is in general, Dak isn't there individually all the time but the offense as a whole is just discombobulated.

McGovern is part of it because he was horrific against the Skins, basically with a rookie Terence Steele-type performance where he single-handedly blew up about 7 plays all by himself.

But the biggest concern is that the WR's are all over the place. They dropped at least 3 balls that hit them right in the hands, 2 of which were complete no-brainers that an NFL WR should only drop like 2 out of 100 times (the Lamb bubble screen on the first drive of the game and Gallup on a quick out in the red zone towards the end of the 2nd quarter).

Not only that, but the timing/chemistry between Dak and the WR's is very off to where they're not on the same page on what route is supposed to be run, and while everybody kind of laughed at Jerry blaming the route running/spacing or whatever, there are plays where the spacing between the WR's is completely off and they're basically on top of each other. That stuff shouldn't be happening.

And then of course the running game has been stuck in neutral for a while.

It's all very strange, it's like some fucked up cocktail of poor offensive design (Moore), timing being off (maybe injuries, maybe Dak, who knows), the running game stuck in neutral (Elliott/Pollard injury plus maybe poor design) and just some straight up poor plays (dropped balls, Dak's brainless INT's).

The more you watch replays of the game, the worse it actually is.

This team isn't doing shit in the postseason if Dak and the WR's don't start playing like they did the first 6 games.

They should also sit Zeke, let Clement run the ball. He did about as well as Zeke did against Washington.

 

[boozeman]

 

[Simpleton]

Dak and the WR's often look to not be on the same page, I'm fairly certain that's what led to the first INT of the game and nearly another 1-2 others.

 

[lostxn]

Honestly, people are looking in the wrong places. I think this is mostly a schematic issue. Teams are rolling coverage on Dak and it's screwing with him. He doesn't know what defense he's looking at and it's making him hold the ball. Yeah he's missing a few throws and receivers are dropping a few but those things can be overcome when you average 8 yards on first down.

Yes the running game is a serious issue but Dak has shown he can overcome that. I don't think his health is an issue. He's healthy. I also don't buy that Moore is suddenly turned dumb. Teams are figuring him out a bit but he'll adjust as well. However, right now it's hard to start adding shit when you team can't run plays they ran fine the first few weeks of the season.

The main issue is mental with our QB. I do think this is something he can overcome but right now he seems lost.

 

[ravidubey]

Honestly, people are looking in the wrong places. I think this is mostly a schematic issue. Teams are rolling coverage on Dak and it's screwing with him.

There are so many times where he just fails to let the play develop. Under fire he has the yips. There have also been blown patterns and drops, too but a lot more of the former than we’ve seen from Dak.

The team was ok in the first half Sunday when they used the quick passing game. Washington took away those routes, and Dak really struggled with that.

The second pick is all on him. We were not passing too much, protection was fine and a receiver was wide open.

 

[shane]

He's right. Once they opened up the playbook we looked like garbage until Cooper came in. He seems to rise to the level of the players around him but he doesn't seem to elevate anyone else's play.

I don't think that is a fair statement as I feel his rapport with Wilson and Gallup have elevated both players.

But yes, we will need more out of him if this team is going to make a deep run in the playoffs. We shouldn't be pissing ourselves though with how the defense is playing and how talented the offense is though. There is still a lot of potential for this season if a few kinks are worked out over the next few weeks.