Dallas Cowboys at Chargers: Is QB Dak Prescott Improving? Or Getting Worse?
COWBOYS WHITT'S END 10.13.23:
Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
*Say you got hired to do a job. First three years, you nailed it. Met goals. Exceeded expectations. But then over the next five … a slow, steady downward spiral in effectiveness and productivity. Despite your bosses giving you raises, customizing your co-workers and catering the entire company to fit your needs, you failed to improv. In fact, you regressed. You were better in Year 1 than in Year 8.
In the real world, your employer wouldn’t be publicly praising you and privately preparing a new contract offer.
In the Dallas Cowboys’ universe of fantasy football, however, Dak Prescott is afforded both.
After eight years on the job as quarterback – where experience is gold like no other position in sports – Prescott is worse in 2023 than he was in 2016.
As a rookie he threw 23 touchdowns to only four interceptions. In his last 20 starts, he’s thrown 23 picks.
As a rookie he made winning plays with his head, his arm and, yes, his legs. In his first three years he rushed for 944 yards and 18 touchdowns. In his last five years of declining mobility, he’s totaled only 743 yards and eight scores.
At age 30 and after injuries to his ankle, calf, thumb, etc., he is no longer a running threat opposing defenses have to prepare for. He’s shrunk into a pocket passer, rarely ad-libbing plays outside the lines, or the tackle box. Camouflaged by his athleticism, his decision-making and accuracy were never strengths. Now they are glaring weaknesses.
Then: Prescott the playmaker. Now: Dak the distributor.
All three of his interceptions in last week’s demoralizing loss to the 49ers were wrong reads compounded by woeful throws. Going long to Brandin Cooks despite a deep safety. Choosing for a slant to Michael Gallup though the linebacker was jumping the route. A rookie success story in 2016, Dak is making rookie mistakes in 2023.
The decline is alarming. In his career. In this season. In games. He completes 78 percent of passes in the first quarter, but only 60 in the fourth. He’s the NFL’s least efficient quarterback in the Red Zone and in the fourth quarter, when he has thrown three interceptions to zero touchdowns.
Prescott is a Hall-of-Fame human. The kind of person who’s impossibly easy to root for. But, in the end, his humanitarian work and on-field individual accolades fail to result in team success.
Dak is Michael Young on the Texas Rangers, Rolando Blackman on the Dallas Mavericks, and Jamie Benn on the Dallas Stars. Great guys, who as players weren’t quite good enough. Countless records. Zero championships.
The Cowboys will soon have to shell out big money to keep CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons. They would be making a mistake to award Prescott yet another long-term contract.
Dak isn’t the Cowboys’ lone problem. But it’s more clear than ever that he’s not their long-term solution.
*We can be dazzled by the ball-handling and shot-making wizardry of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving all we want, but there remains a haunting hole in the Mavs: Rebounding. Last year Dallas was the NBA’s worst team on the boards, by almost two per game. The addition of tenacious interior defender Grant Williams might help, but in a Western Conference littered with big men Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, Deandre Ayton, Zion Williamson, Victor Wembanyama, Ivica Zubac, Rudy Gobert, Steven Adams, Domantas Sabonis and Chet Holmgren, the Mavs will count on the bulk on their rebounds from rookie center Dereck Lively II. Thoughts and prayers.
*In recent years the Cowboys, as their nemesis, have the 49ers. Since 2020, the Rangers’ bully has been none other than the Astros. A rivalry that began in 2001 is almost dead even, with Texas owning an all-time edge of 134-132. But this decade Houston has pummeled the Rangers, going 42-19 en route to the last two World Series. In what should be an intense, entertaining ALCS starting Sunday at Minute Maid Park, the Astros have home-field advantage thanks in part to their Labor Day demolition of the Rangers in Arlington. Texas jumped to a 3-0 lead in the opener of that crucial three-game series, then was promptly outscored 39-7 and swept in games started by Andrew Heaney, Nathan Eovaldi and Max Scherzer.
*After three years mentoring him via Big Brothers Big Sisters, I finally discovered what makes Ja smile. Well, sorta.
*Past his “prime”? Megawatt Colorado coach Deion Sanders wants us to forget his Prime Prep Academy debacle in Dallas. But we, too, keep receipts.
*Hot.
*Not.
*Granted it’s a small sample size, but also an alarming one. Since Trevon Diggs’ season-ending ACL injury, the Cowboys in three games have the NFL’s 30th-ranked pass defense. And in two of those games they faced quarterbacks Joshua Dobbs and Mac Jones.
Has Cowboys owner Jerry Jones watched Dak Prescott decline since 2016?
Clutch Points
*Competing in a 13-mile, 30-obstacle Spartan race in Fort Worth on Oct. 21. Cost: $168. Not bad for … hey, what the what?! After add-on fees for taxes, parking, special events and administrative, the actual total is $228. In other words, an extra $60 in made-up bullsh. Fortunately, our government isn’t too busy to identify and hopefully rectify this fee epidemic.
*An annual rite of Fall is the NBA’s GM survey, an anonymous poll of the league’s 30 top decision-makers on the season ahead. A sign of what the “world” thinks of the Mavs: They are predicted to finish ninth in the Western Conference. And Luka is given only a 10-percent chance of winning MVP. A year ago he was the favorite with 48 percent of the GM vote.
*Lucky person in California bought a winning ticket to this week’s Powerball drawing worth $1.7 billion. I’m not great at math but in reading this – they will have the choice between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $1.73 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $756.6 million – wouldn’t they be giving away a billion dollars by choosing the latter? Also, I bought 20 tickets, each containing six selected numbers. Of those 120, I matched exactly one with the drawing. Feels like my level of ineptitude should somehow be rewarded as well. Finally, how does 2 + 2 and 2 x 2 both = 4? I did not major in mathematics.
*There have been 29 managers in the history of the Rangers. In the span of seven days, Bruce Bochy won more playoff games than 27 of them. Bochy’s team has five postseason wins, more than everyone except Ron Washington and his franchise-leading 18.
*White supremacists wearing Nazi emblems and shouting “White Power!” at Torchy’s Tacos in Fort Worth? Sure enough. In a related story, why is it always the middle-aged, bald, white dude with the salt-’n-pepper facial hair that’s up to no good?
*Sad to hear of the passing of former Cowboys’ great Walt Garrison. In the 1970s he was the man’s-man fullback, fearlessly plowing into piles as lead blocker for star running backs Duane Thomas and Calvin Hill despite being only 6-foot, 205 pounds. (For comparison, kicker Brandon Aubrey is 6-3, 215.) Raised in Lewisville and retired to Weatherford, Garrison was a true “Cowboy.”
Two memories: Spitting up blood with a cut tongue, while laughing on the sideline of Super Bowl VI; Being stopped inches from the goal line by Redskins’ safety Kenny Houston on the final play of a 14-7 Monday Night Football loss almost 30 years ago to the day. Garrison passed away in his sleep Wednesday night at 79.
*Saw a billboard this week touting the “Mesquite Gun Show!” Dumbfounding to me. Why? Because 1,300 Americans under the age of 18 – i.e., children – have been killed by guns so far in 2023. Firearms are now the No. 1 killer of children, surpassing car crashes. And before you come at me with the same, shallow “Then why don’t we outlaw cars, too?!” argument, take a second and please Google the difference “murder” and “accident.”
*A playoff run is always special, but it’s even sweeter when led by a home-grown star. Roger Staubach and Emmitt Smith, drafted by the Cowboys. Luka and Dirk Nowitzki, raised by the Mavericks. On a Rangers squad cultivated from other teams via trade-deadline deals (Scherzer) and free-agent signings (Corey Seager and Marcus Semien), latching on to original players is trickier.
Try Josh Jung, drafted by the Rangers in 2019 and now getting key hits and crucial plays at third base.
*Black cats. Walking under ladders. That hotel floor between the 12th and 14th. I’m not a big believer in karma, knocking on wood, or especially Triskaidekaphobia. In other words, Happy Friday Oct. 13!
*Oh, also Happy Birthday to Jerry Jones. He turns 81 today. Crazy to remember that when he bought the Cowboys he was only 46.
In reference to my Dak offering above, fair to question if Jerry has gotten better or worse as an owner in his 35 years on the job?
*Cowboys 23, Chargers 21: Mike McCarthy mutes Kellen Moore and Dak waves off the pallbearers. For now.
*This Weekend? Saturday let’s go check out the solar eclipse at the Dallas Arboretum. Sunday’s let’s run around White Rock Lake. Monday let’s watch Cowboys-Chargers. As always, don’t be a stranger.
