Dak Prescott has made some horrible mental mistakes

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over the last two weeks The Dallas Cowboys have split their last two games Authentic Cole Beasley Jersey , and in the NFL that’s generally considered a win. It’s an 8-8 league, as most would say.In that stretch of time some things have looked good, some things have looked bad, and the decision-making on critical fourth downs has recently been put under the microscope. These are some rocky waters.Much of the debate these two weeks, heck all season and then some, has centered around the quarterback of the Cowboys. Dak Prescott has had a few moments where he shined (J.J. Watt might agree) and he’s had times where he’s played quite poorly. This is never considered a win.While Dallas has a win to show for these last two weeks it’s worth noting that in both of them we’ve seen Dak make some terrible decisions. I’m not talking about more detailed things like his footwork or arm mechanics, this is basic stuff concerning field position and clock management that every quarterback (every player really) should know.3rd quarter, 3rd and long, Dak takes a sack against DetroitThe Cowboys, then leading by three, faced a third and almost impossible from the Detroit 34-yard line early on in the second half last week. We’ve come to learn and feel confident that this is in range for Brett Maher so most Cowboys fans were hoping to double the lead.Dak Prescott did the unforgivable in situations like this, he took a sack. While trying to make something happen the quarterback bounced behind the pocket and lost a huge chunk of yardage, knocking the Cowboys out of field goal range. That cost the team three points.You’ve got to know when to throw it awayAlmost a full quarter after Dak Prescott took a sack, he yet again failed to throw the ball away. To be fair this error is the most forgivable of the ones we’re discussing as the “loss” on it was minimal, but the point still stands.On first down at midfield we see Dak Prescott scramble and get to his right. He is on the same side of the field as the chains with them right in front of his face. When he gets near out-of-bounds instead of throwing the ball away and living for another down he tries to run despite the obvious difficult ahead of him. He actually loses yardage.Let me be clear in saying that this is hardly the most flagrant offense against a quarterback, but the fact remains that it’s a clear misunderstanding of the field position for Dak. The Cowboys won this game, but for all we know that lost yardage could have been pivotal. The point is that you have to avoid negative plays and he literally ran into one when it could have been easily avoided.Dak Prescott saved the Texans a timeout in regulation that could have been costlyObviously the game in Houston went to overtime, Jason Garrett chose to punt, and you know the rest. Not to live in a land of ifs, but the game could have ended well before that thanks to an egregious mistake by Dak Prescott.The Cowboys were facing a 3rd and 17 on their side of the field and elected to take the clock down to the two-minute warning. Maybe they used this time to plan, maybe they used it to talk about life, who knows Authentic Terrance Williams Jersey , the point is simply that Dallas had a great amount of time to discuss what was to happen next.What we saw did not look well-planned or thought out. What we saw was Dak Prescott make his reads and choose to run instead. To be clear that’s a decision that Dak should make if he feels confident with it, but a very important qualifier has to exist on top of it for him to stay in bounds.In the moment the Texans had one remaining timeout and as mentioned we were past the two-minute warning. Dak Prescott runs, dances, and gets out of bounds. Dak literally conserved the Texans their lone clock-stoppage right before handing them the ball with them only needing a field goal to win the game. You absolutely cannot do that. Dak’s flub became moot as DeMarcus Lawrence and Jaylon Smith helped get the ball back to the Cowboys in the game’s final seconds courtesy of Xavier Woods (ironically the Dak mistake then benefited the Cowboys), but again it should be noted that Prescott handed Houston an incredible gift with a conscious mind.Everybody makes mistakes, but Dak is making some basic onesNobody is going to act like there’s a single quarterback in NFL history that hasn’t ever done something that he shouldn’t. Mistakes happen. Some would argue they’re normal. Elite quarterbacks certainly make them.Dak Prescott is not an elite quarterback, though. Dak is trying with all of his might to be good right now, and he’s not getting a whole lot of help, but he’s also not helping himself. Things like knowing not to take a sack that will knock you out of field goal range or to stay in bounds to force the Texans to call a timeout should maybe be told to any quarterback by their coaching staff, but they absolutely have to be known by the quarterback himself. Dak Prescott is a third-year player now who has seen a lot of situations. He has to know these things.Mistakes may be common, they may happen to everybody, but right now Dak Prescott can’t afford to make them. He definitely can’t afford to make such basic ones.10 thoughts: Cowboys offense was a no-show against the Panthers Well, the wait is finally over and after a long tortuous layoff of football, Cowboys fans were treated to a terrible seasonal debut. Defensively, the team played well, only allowing 16 points, but on the offensive side of the ball - things just weren’t working. The Cowboys squandered a strong defensive effort by not coming through on offense. Dallas was shut out through the first three quarters of the game and by the time their offense started showing life, it was too late.Here are 10 thoughts on the Cowboys 16-8 loss to the Panthers.1. The offense was terribleIf there was a part of us that was feeling uneasy about the 2018 Cowboys team, it was the uncertainty of how their offense was going to perform. Well, so far it’s not so good.The Cowboys only had 232 total yards of offense. Just as a point of reference, Dallas only had one game last season where they had an offensive performance that low (the 37-9 blowout to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11). This is a significant feat considering the Cowboys had four games last season were the offense failed to produce double-digit points. The team just couldn’t string together any drives. In the first half, the Cowboys offense never crossed midfield Womens Allen Hurns Jersey , which was something the team hasn’t failed to do since 2002. The Cowboys were two for 11 on third down and just couldn’t keep the chains moving.You might say this could be some residual effect from keeping the offensive starters out of action during the preseason to preserve health, but that would just be wishful thinking. They did look a little better in the second half, but they only came away with one score and that’s just awful. Let’s hope better days are coming and that this isn’t closer to the new normal for the Cowboys offense.2. Playing behind the chainsThe first play of the game Ezekiel Elliott runs right in the belly of the Panthers’ defense - no gain. On the next play, Dak Prescott throws a bubble screen to Tavon Austin, but Tyron Smith decides to give a shove in the back - 2nd and 21. This would set the table for what would be a self-inflicted uphill battle for the offense.The offense struggled, but a big contributing factor was the amount of minus plays the team had. Whether it be penalties or sacks, the Cowboys put themselves in bad shape and couldn’t overcome the larger down-and-distance situations. Getting behind the chains didn’t allow them to get the running game going and the offense could never get into a rhythm.For a team that relies heavily on a sound running game, it’s really hard to commit to it when they’re facing 1st and 15 or 2nd and 20 situations. This might be the point where we mention that Joe Looney was filling in for All-Pro Travis Frederick and rookie Connor Williams was making his first NFL start. Williams wasn’t without his struggles as he gave up two sacks to Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short as well as two tackles for a loss.Those guys had some tough opponents lining up across from them so some of those challenges were expected. What is more aggravating is how the veterans out on the edge let the team down. Both Tyron Smith and La’el Collins had holding penalties, not once but twice. And it wasn’t just the offensive line committing the fouls. The Cowboys had two delay of game penalties in this game. Dak is not a rookie quarterback. That shouldn’t be happening.Carolina has a great defense led by a great front seven. You have to tip your cap to a strong performance from a unit that’s been playing well for a while now. But Prescott was under too much pressure and as we saw first-hand last season, he doesn’t do well under pressure. 3. Another quiet beginning for ZekeThere are some that will tell you that Ezekiel Elliott is a slow starter. They remember his 51-yard performance against the New York Giants in his NFL debut. And they remember his eight-yard performance against the Denver Broncos in Week 2 last season.Zeke only had 69 yards against the Panthers, which is the third-lowest rushing output of his career. Once again, the early season struggles surfaces. Is it possible Elliott is rusty from not seeing any preseason action? Or could it be that he’s coincidentally faced some really tough defensive fronts early in the season? Who knows, but hopefully Elliott can do what he’s done in seasons past after a slow start, which is pretty much go on a roll shortly thereafter.4. Where was that separation?The Cowboys revamped the wide receiver group during the offseason in order to help strengthen the passing game. With an emphasis on creating separation, this new unit was supposed to provide Dak Prescott with some open targets. What happened?Cole Beasley had a decent game, catching seven passes for 73 yards, but after that - there wasn’t much to be happy about. Deonte Thompson played a lot more than expected considering how much time he missed in the preseason. He had three catches, but Allen Hurns, Terrance Williams, and Michael Gallup all had one catch a piece.It’s tough to say without seeing the tape, but were the receivers just not getting open or was Prescott just not seeing them? Whatever the root cause, there was absolutely no presence of a downfield passing game. The longest play of the game for Dallas was a 20 yard catch by Hurns. There wasn’t a single deep pass even attempted by Prescott. Not one.The passing game just wasn’t there.5. The defense struggled to contain CamThe Panthers offense don’t have an overabundance of weapons. There is not a whole lot of mystery of who they need to stop in order to stifle the Carolina offense. All things run through their playmaking quarterback http://www.dallascowboysteamonline.com/kavon-frazier-jersey , Cam Newton, so the key is just stopping no. 1, but unfortunately, the Cowboys weren’t up for the task.Newton would lead the Panthers in rushing, racking up 58 yards on 13 carries. The defense wasn’t able to keep him contained as they were always biting on the fake allowing Cam enough room to get going.6. Bad day for GregoryFirst, there was the early morning news that Randy Gregory could be in trouble after some type of “relapse.” It’s unclear what that really means so us fans will just hold tight as we sit around and wait to see how all that plays out. Gregory’s agent, Steve Weinberg issued this statement Sunday morning...Gregory would deal with an on-field issue as well as he left the game after colliding with fellow edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence.7. The Dan Bailey regret beginsNew kicker Brett Maher didn’t waste any time getting on the bad side of the fans as he came up empty on his first ever kick attempt.The dream of him going a perfect 30 for 30 on field goal attempts can now be filed in the trash. Sure, nobody expects him to be perfect, but missing his first ever regular-season kick at a time where the team could’ve really used the points is not doing a whole lot to help people get over losing Dan Bailey. Oh well, what are you going to do?8. The defense looked goodIt wasn’t all bad as the defense did pretty good, holding the Panthers offense under 300 yards. Christian McCaffrey only had 50 yards rushing. The Cowboys corners did a great job as they didn’t allow a single Panthers wide receiver to catch a pass over 15 yards.Defensive tackle Daniel Ross showed why he made the roster with a clutch strip of McCaffrey near the goal line. Kavon Frazier had eight tackles and showed no ill effects from his injury. And veteran DeMarcus Lawrence picked up right where he left off last season with some splash plays.It feels good to have a defense playing this well, but they still need points if they’re going to win football games.9. Missed opportunitiesJeff Heath had a shot to intercept a Newton pass, but couldn’t come down with the ball. Sean Lee got his hand on the ball just enough to deflect it to Heath’s path, but unfortunately, Heath wasn’t able to secure the catch.But even more disappointing that that was how tight end Blake Jarwin got open deep, but Prescott’s pass was short. Had Dak put that ball out in front of him, Jarwn is off to the races and the Cowboys get a touchdown there.10. They got them right where they want themLooking for a reason to be happy after watching this first-game madness. Well, you came to the right place. Over the last six years, whether or not the Cowboys have gone to the playoffs has been inversely related to the outcome of the team’s first game of the season. When they win, they miss the playoffs. When they lose, they get in.
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