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https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...ng-quarterback-that-leads-his-team-to-victory
Why Dak Prescott, not Jared Goff, could be the play-making quarterback that leads his team to victory
The Cowboys quarterback is heating up at the right time
By DannyPhantom
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=BK3ndScmQEo
If there is one thing we can be absolutely certain about on Saturday, it’s that the Dallas Cowboys season will not come to an end at the hands of Aaron Rodgers. The
Cowboys have been on the wrong end of some great performances by the
Green Bay Packers’ star quarterback. In 2014, he threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns, helping his team beat Dallas, 26-21.
Two years later, he threw for 355 yards and a couple scores en route to a 34-31 victory at AT&T stadium. His passer rating was 125 in both those games which rank as his second- and third-best postseason games of his career. Only a 48-21 win over Atlanta in 2010 tops it and that was the year he led the Packers to a
Super Bowl victory.
There is no denying that Rodgers has been the Cowboys kryptonite during the playoffs in recent years. He’s helped bounce them out of the Divisional Round in each of their last two playoff appearances. Even after a 4-6 start in 2016, Rodgers went on a tear as the Packers won their final six games of the regular season. He threw 15 touchdowns and no interceptions during that span.
Despite the Cowboys having a 13-3 record and a first-round bye, they fell short to Rodgers who just kept making plays when it counted.
Dak Prescott took the league by storm early that season, but it was the veteran Rodgers that got hot at the right moment. And that’s what it takes if you want to keep advancing in the second-season.
Fast forward to this year and it’s the
Los Angeles Rams who have the 13-3 record with a first-round bye. After winning their first eight games of the year,
Jared Goff’s name was coming up for MVP consideration. But that was then.
It’s the Cowboys that have been riding hot lately as they’ve won eight of their last nine games. A big reason for that is the improved play of their quarterback,
Dak Prescott. In fact, it’s Dak who is running around making plays of late as he’s been one of the best quarterbacks down the stretch. The same is not true for
Jared Goff.
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On Saturday when these two teams meet there’s going to be many talented players out there making big plays, but none will take on a more influential role than the quarterbacks. To advance to the
NFC Championship, it’s going to take a good performance by the QB.
Prescott is fallible and will make his mistakes, but he’s been delivering at the most crucial moments of the game. Against the
New York Giants in Week 17, he led the game-winning comeback, capping it off with a clutch throw on fourth down. And then against Seattle last week,
Prescott demonstrated his resilience. The
Seahawks went up 14-10 late in the third quarter, but then Dak took over and led two 60+ touchdown drives to give the Cowboys a 24-14 lead. Seattle would fight back with one score, but it wasn’t enough.
For all his shortcomings that involve missing wide open receivers, check downs on third and long, and taking unnecessary sacks that put his team out of field goal range,
Prescott has still found a way to deliver. He continues to show that he’s unfazed when things go awry. He shakes it off and is on to the next play. It’s what his teammates love about him because with him behind center, this team has a shot. Since entering the league in 2016, no quarterback has led more game-winning drives. No one.
Goff was the first overall pick in the 2016 draft and Prescott wasn’t selected until 134 picks later. Both have very comparable numbers up to this point in their career. Dak was quick out of the gate, then Goff came on, but in recent games - it’s been Prescott who is playing at a higher level. It should be a tough battle on Saturday, but Cowboys fans have to feel good that Prescott is their quarterback.
https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...allas-cowboys-can-defeat-the-los-angeles-rams
Four keys for the Dallas Cowboys to defeat the Los Angeles Rams
Get ready Rams, the Cowboys are coming
By Connor Livesay
There’s no denying the greatness of the 2018
Los Angeles Rams, but to think the
Cowboys have no shot this weekend in the Divisional round would be a huge mistake. When looking at the Rams in 2018, their offense was absolutely incredible. They finished the season ranked second in total yards (421.1), second in points per game (32.9), fifth in passing yards per game (281.7), and third in rushing yards per game (139.4). Scary right? Of course, but there’s reason to believe the Cowboys defense can overcome all of this with a good outing on Saturday Night.
1.
Put Pressure on Jared Goff
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
In the first six weeks of the season,
Jared Goff was an MVP candidate, and looked to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league. His numbers in those first six weeks were absolutely remarkable and his averages per game looked like this:
- 321.1 passing yards per game
- 2 passing TD’s per game
- 0.8 interceptions per game
- 68.5 completion % per game
- 105.7 passer rating per game
- 1.8 sacks per game
Those are remarkable numbers, but when we take a look at Jared Goff’s numbers the last six weeks of the season, they tell a much different story for the third-year quarterback. His averages over the final six weeks of the season look like this:
- 259 passing yards per game
- 1.67 passing TD’s per game
- 1 interception per game
- 60.5 completion % per game
- 86.7 passer rating per game
- 2.3 sacks per game
The question to be asked is what is the huge difference from the first half of the season to the second half of the season, and I think the answer it pretty simple. In the first half of the year, Goff was getting plenty of time to stand in the pocket, set his feet, and find the open man. Over the last six weeks of the season, Goff has dealt with much more pressure, and as the pressure came, so did his mistakes.
Play 1 - Play-action from a clean pocket
The first thing you’ll notice on this play is the play-action fake. The Rams are a heavy play-action team, and lead the league in play-action percentages with 34% of their passing plays coming off of the play-fake. The second thing you’ll notice is a squeaky clean pocket to throw from.
Due to the clean pocket, Goff is able to take his drop, hit his back foot, and deliver a beautiful ball to wide receiver
Cooper Kupp, which thankfully, the Cowboys will not have to deal with. Now let’s take a look at a similar play that happened later in the season.
Play 2 - Play-action with some pressure
The route-concepts, and defensive coverage is a little different on this play, but the point still remains the same. If you want Jared Goff to make mistakes you have to apply consistent pressure. Rod Marinelli and Kris Richard aren’t huge fans of blitzing, but this is a week we may see those dialed up a bit. With the amount of plays the Rams will run play-action, dialing up a blitz on those long developing passing plays can throw the Rams offense completely out of whack.
2. Getting Dak Involved in the Running Game Early
I feel like a broken record at this point, but the point still stands. DAK PRESCOTT DOES NOT RUN ENOUGH IN THIS COWBOYS OFFENSE. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s take a look at why the Cowboys need to incorporate Dak’s legs more come Saturday Night.
First off, in games that
Dak Prescott scores a rushing touchdown the Cowboys hold a 16-3 record. With zero context included, the Cowboys almost always win the football game when
Dak Prescott punches it in on the ground.
Second, in games in 2018 that the Rams defense faced a “mobile” quarterback, their record was 3-1 (CHI, KC, SEAx2), but in those games the quarterbacks involved combined for 21 carries and 143 yards. In those games, the Rams also gave up 31 against the
Seahawks twice, 51 against the
Chiefs, and 15 against the
Bears, that leaves them only outscoring their opponents 134-128.
One of the biggest reasons getting Dak’s legs involved early will be key is due to the way the Rams play defense. I’m sure you’re aware of how disruptive the Rams front seven can be against the pass, and that is in large part due to how aggressive they are getting up field. The Cowboys broke it out some in the Wild Card Round, but incorporating the QB sweeps and QB draws would be a great way to combat Los Angeles’ aggressiveness when rushing up the field.
If
Ezekiel Elliott is finding success running the football (which we should all expect him too), adding Dak’s legs to the game will not only slow the Rams pass rush down, but also give those undersized linebackers a little more to think about before they can flow to the football.
3. Do Not Get Run Happy
Everyone loves
Ezekiel Elliott, and everyone should. Zeke is without a doubt one of the best running backs in the game, along with
Todd Gurley. The one thing the Cowboys need to try and not do is overfeed
Ezekiel Elliott. Before you call me crazy, hear me out.
The Rams have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL according to the statistics. In 2018, the Rams rank 23rd in the NFL in total rushing yards given up (1,957), and 32nd in the NFL in yards per attempt (5.1). The last thing you want to do against a team that is bad at something, is tip your cap and let them knows it’s coming more often than naught.
No matter what the stats say, if the Cowboys go into this game with a “run it right at them approach” it’s not going to work. With Aaron Donald,
Ndamukong Suh, and
Michael Brockers standing on the other side of the ball, keeping them guessing will be a huge factor when deciding this game.
For example,
Ezekiel Elliott biggest run of the game last week against Seattle came at a time the Seahawks weren’t expecting the run. The Cowboys were in their two-minute offense and were looking to move the ball quickly hoping to at least get into field goal range before the half. On this drive,
Prescott out-touched
Elliott 6 to 1. Elliott’s one carry was the 44-yard run that set the Cowboys up for a 11-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup.
You could say the Cowboys passing attack lulled the Seahawks defense to sleep before a run outside for 44 yards. While I’ve heard a lot of people this week say they hope Zeke’s gets 30+ touches on the ground, and while the stats say that is exactly what they should do, that may be feeding right into what the Rams defense wants.
4. Containing Todd Gurley
Shutting down Todd Gurley is impossible, let’s get that out of the way right now. Containing Todd Gurley is possible and that is exactly what the Cowboys defense needs to try to do. In the Rams three losses in 2018, Gurley was held under 100 yards and 20 carries in each of those games.
Two of those losses came at the end of the year dealing with a knee injury, which is something he still is dealing with. But containing Gurley on the ground isn’t the only thing the Cowboys defense has to focus on. Gurley is one of the best receiving running backs in the NFL and he can completely take over a game not only as a runner but also as a receiver.
As we talked about earlier, the Rams use a lot of play-action to attack opposing defenses down field, they also use the screen game off of play-action. While applying pressure to Jared Goff is also one of the key factors in winning the game, not getting too aggressive and allowing Gurley to leak out on the screens is going to be just as important.
This game is by no means going to be a cake walk for either team, but the Cowboys matchup better with the Rams than most people want to realize. If the Cowboys defense plays a similar game that they did against the
Saints, the Cowboys will win this football game. That all comes with putting pressure on Jared Goff, containing Todd Gurley, and playing smart disciplined football.
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Very nervous about our offense in this game
I think turnovers will be the deciding factor.
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I’m more worried about the defense. They must pressure Goff for us to win.
The O has started a rhythm lately. Dak is playing better. There’s no reason to think the Rams can shut us down. Zeke will be rushing like a runaway train.
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Totally agree. And I could see Dak being a mess under pressure.
We need to keep him moving by design, not in reaction to chaos, and seriously disrupt the flow of their pass rush. We need Dak taking off a lot more by design and some perimeter plays, a gadget play or two at the right time. I think we will at least frustrate Goff, as we did with Brees and Wilson. I’m just worried they’ll do a better job of turning Dak into a reactionary, blundering mess and forcing more turnovers.
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There's a difference between the pressure of the moment
And tangible pressure up the middle by Suh/Donald.
I’m a thousand times more confident in Dak handling the former than the latter…
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Dak IS pretty awful under pressure
It’s vital we contain Darnold and Suh. I also think moving him around early may wear them down allowing for some more conventional passing plays in the second half
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SEA biggest plays were misdirections and/or playaction. It was a double gut punch because they moved the ball and were doing what the Cowboys offense was missing.
I totally agree with you. Where is the playaction?! The leading NFL rusher, use that to your advantage with playaction! Doublemoves will work on Talib and Peters since they gamble, but playactions can work well to open up the middle with LAR questionable LBs.
I also disagree with this article. FEED ZEKE. The best way to slow down and tire Donald and the LAR pass rush is to run at them early and often. They are not good at stopping it, and it will beat up the pass rushers to slow them down later in the game. This will also in turn make the playaction passing more dangerous.
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I agree with play action!
But as the article mentioned, it would seem like the Rams will go into this game scheming to stop the run since they know it is such a strength of ours. So while the metrics say they are weak there, stubbornly running the ball when they are gearing up to stop us from running the ball could prove futile. Wade Phillips is also a great defensive coordinator, and I’m sure he will have his team ready to play hard, and to play smart.
Additionally, considering how many big leads they’ve been able to build throughout the season, I’m not sure if their run defense metrics can be taken at face value. I’m sure at many points with big leads, they were more than willing to let the opposition run the ball and didn’t gear up too much to stop it considering they were sitting on a big lead. I could be wrong; DVOA has them ranked 28th vs the run, and that I believe takes into consideration down/distance/point differential, so who knows.
If we do stick with our run to open, I’m hoping Linehan has some really good run plays to start with, and is able to prudently mix in play-action passes (none of those super long developing ones though!). I think defenses have been able to recognize our screen plays recently, but I do think that could be a successful tactic as well
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According to FootballOutsiders...
Dallas offense ranks 18th in the league with 22% of pass plays being playaction.
This, to me, is a huge knock on Linehan. How can you have the NFL leading rusher and be below average in playaction usage?!
To make matters worse, playaction passes average 7.6 yards/play and other passes are averaging 6.3 yards/play. How can you not use playaction more when it is proven to be your more dangerous passing plays as well?!
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Biggest key is keeping it close
Dallas cant win against the rams if they fall very far behind. They either need to stay close or get a good lead and hold it.
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Rams will try to contain Zeke and force Dak to throw
That
is the blue print to beat the Cowboys. Our opponents (and most people) do not respect Dak as a great pocket passer and their best chances of winning is to make Dak throw from the pocket. The Rams have two great CBs that are great in man-to-man coverage allowing one more defender in the box. Look for the Rams CB to cheat towards slants and comeback routes which is Daks comfort routes.
Having said that, the Cowboys can counter with play action or take some chances with deep throws. Our WRs have to win their matchups.
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My 2 keys
Be who we are. We’re the best from the NFC East. We beat you up and take what we want. Don’t change.
Be more physical. Hit them all day long til the whistle blows. These cali wimps don’t want it with us for 4 quarters. No dumb penalties will be nice too
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It's funny because I think we know who we are and we know who they are
What most people don’t realize about the Rams is that they are a ball hawking D.
They are 3rd in the NFL when it comes to picking off passes.
If Dallas struggles to run the ball or goes down by 7-10 points and we have to throw to keep the game close, I think turnovers could absolutely be the story here.
We won last week even though we were on the wrong end of the turnover battle.
It’s hard to believe we will win this week if we don’t WIN that battle decisively.
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The Rams have beat up a lot of crappy teams. We've knocked out some heavy weights.
This is what gives me hope. They are the unstoppable force. We are the immovable object. And something’s gotta give. But defenses win Championships, right? I just don’t see us getting carved to pieces, but it’s the same issue for us in all these big games: Will we generate enough offense to take advantage of our defense keeping the opponent from scoring a lot?
But I’ve also seen games like this where it turns into a rout early because the game was over before it began – in the planning stages where the teams’ respective approaches were perfect for such a one-sided affair. I am worried we are more susceptible to this than the Rams. They can just do their thing if they’re careful. We’ll need to dial up something different, something special. But if we get too clever, it could get ugly fast.
I think we need to generate at least a plus-two turnover differential to have any chance of winning this game, preferably getting two extra possessions and not turning it over once ourselves. But game planning (and adjustments) is most critical here and any mistakes in that phase will be greatly magnified.
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What is up with bashing the Rams?
They are a good team that Dallas will have to work very hard and effectively to defeat.
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Gurley has played 6 games against teams in the top 12 rushing D, according to footballoutsiders
4 against the top 10
2 against the top 5. Dallas is No. 5
Against top 12: Gurley averaged 15 carries for 66 yards
Against top 10: 15 carries for 62 yards
Against top 5: 12 carries for 48 yards
Total touches and yards averages:
top 12: 21 for 109
top 10: 21 for 104.25
top 5: 17 for 69
I see a good chance of slowing Gurley down. It’s the rest of your offense that worries me.
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