Dak Prescott gets real in the aftermath of yet another Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Green Bay Packers
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback isn’t hiding from the harsh reality stemming from his sixth career loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Dak Prescott arrived at Lambeau Field looking for his first win over the Green Bay Packers since his rookie year in 2016.
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback entered the game 1-5-1 in career against Green Bay, including two playoff losses. Losing to the Packers? He’s used to it. What he is not used to, however, is it being mostly his offense’s fault.
Despite his negative record against the Packers, Prescott’s Cowboys have averaged 31 points per game in such matchups. The only problem is the Packers have averaged 37 points themselves.
But the Cowboys’ 23-13 loss on Sunday was different. And Prescott knows it.
Dak admits Cowboys loss is on the offense
“Defense, to me played a good enough game for us to go out there and win this, and we didn’t hold our own on offense,” Prescott told reporters postgame. “And that’s ultimately what sucks about it.”
Listen, I’m not here to defend the Cowboys’ defensive performance. In the first half, they allowed the Packers to go 9-of-10 on third down while giving up 17 points. But they did respond in the second half by giving up only six points (though I must say they did so with the help of the Packers’ mistakes, including a touchdown drop by WR Christian Watson).
Nevertheless, Prescott’s offense had a shot to push the Cowboys to a 3-3 record. But it failed to deliver as he attempted 54 passes on Sunday night. Dallas failed to run the ball but most notably, it failed to counter the Packers’ blitzes, just like it did against the Tampa Bay Bucs the previous week.
Blitz away, NFL defenses
There was a time when defensive coordinators were scared to blitz Dak. Now it seems like the bluepring to slow him down. On Sunday night, the Packers sent the pressure in 20 of his pass attempts, holding him to 79 yards in such plays.
To be fair, that falls on the offensive line and coaching as much as it does on Dak. In fact, I’d argue it falls more on head coach Brian Schottenheimer than anyone else, as this unit has no answers against the blitz despite Prescott’s strong track record in that department.
But the Cowboys QB was frustrated by it too, and it’s becoming a trend to monitor closely. I’m sure opposing defensive coordinators are.
Offense struggles beyond the blitz
Even when the Cowboys weren’t blitzed, Prescott and co. recorded a negative EPA/play mark, according to Sumer Sports.
The offense also failed to get the ball to its playmakers, with George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb picking up most of their yardage when the game was already away from Dallas. The Cowboys couldn’t run the ball well, either. Not to mention, down 17-0 at halftime didn’t help them get an opportunity to run it.
Long story short, the Cowboys offense simply got outclassed by a Jonathan Gannon-led defense. Even though such a defense was so banged up that it entered the game with four interior defensive linemen.
And it should sting for the Cowboys. They know about the defensive woes. The offense is supposed to be much better, though.
