It’s fair to say that some of the Dallas fanbase had high hopes for Dak Prescott’s return. After missing five games due to a broken right thumb in Week 1, some expected the Cowboys’ quarterback to put in a stunning performance upon his return to action. This, of course, taking into account that he was facing the (in theory) weak defense of the Lions.
However, this was not the case. Against Detroit, Prescott had a more conservative, “complementary” performance that the Dallas offense had with Cooper Rush over the last four games. Despite this, Dak completed 76% of his passes (19 of 25 attempts), throwing for 207 yards and a touchdown.
Unsurprisingly, criticism of Prescott flooded social media. However, a former teammate in the quarterbacks came to his defense. This is Ben DiNucci, the Cowboys’ 7th round pick in the 2020 Draft, who was cut by the team at the end of August. On his Twitter account, the James Madison product criticized some fans’ hatred of Dak after his performance against Detroit.
“I am surprised at the lack of respect against Dak here”DiNucci said Monday on Twitter. “He completes 80% of his passes without turning the ball over, and people act like he has to complete 47 of 51 passes for 537 yards and 6 touchdowns in his first game back since his thumb fracture.”
It amazes me the disrespect Dak gets on here ????
Completes 80% of his passes with no turnovers and people act like he’s supposed to go 47/51 for 537 yards and 6 Tds his first game back after breaking his thumb
— Ben DiNucci (@B_DiNucci6) October 24, 2022
It is true that Dak Prescott has been heavily criticized by fans and the media, even more so after the game against Detroit. However, those who defend him do so with arguments, just as DiNucci did on Twitter.
Such is the case with KD Drummond of USA Today Sports, who notes in a recent article that Prescott had a good performance against the Lions. To do this, Drummond isn’t relying on Dak’s basic Week 7 stats, but on advanced metrics: passer rating, passing yards, percentage of completions over expectations, among others.
Besides, there’s also the factor of how “rusty” Prescott may have been in his two games so far. In Week 1, Dak came from no preseason action, and that’s something that affected a lot of quarterbacks who did the same. Meanwhile, in week 7, there is the obvious: Dak had just been out for six weeks after breaking his thumb. Also, let’s not forget that the Cowboys’ current receiving corps is different than it was in 2021.
???? Dak Prescott was back to command Dallas.
???? The QB participated in the beating over Detroit Lions 24-6 with his first TD of the season.
????The Cowboys were strong defensively with 4 fumbles to make it 5-2.pic.twitter.com/rQS7plR4E7 [Vía @NFL]
— Wanabet ⚽⚾ (@wanabet_es) October 24, 2022
Dallas kept the same offensive scheme used with Rush
Another factor influencing Dak Prescott’s performance against the Lions has to do with the offensive scheme. It was abundantly clear that the Cowboys’ offense kept the same approach used in the previous four games with Cooper Rush at quarterback: putting more weight on the running game and having few snaps with the quarterback coming out of the pocket.
For Nick Eatman de DallasCowboys.com, this may be due to the team’s schedule change last week. Considering the Cowboys arrived at 4 am in Dallas after the Week 6 game in Philadelphia, coach Mike McCarthy cut practice sessions prior to the game against Detroit to two. With this, there wasn’t enough time to readjust the offensive plan, let alone whether or not Dak would play against the Lions remained to be seen.
That said, it remains to be seen if the Cowboys readjust their offense to Dak Prescott’s playing characteristics for this week. Or if they decide to play conservative again against the Bears and make the readjustments during the bye week. In theory, the soonest we could see Prescott in his best form would be in Week 10 against the Packers. But if this takes a long time to happen, the criticism of the quarterback will increase … and they will have many base arguments.
