Dallas Cowboys: How Dak Prescott bests the vaunted Patriots defense

The Dallas Cowboys face their biggest test of the season this week when they face the NFL’s top defensive unit – here’s how Dak Prescott and company come out on top

The Dallas Cowboys have faced their share of criticism this season. Their suspect game-plans, self-sabotaging play-calling, and boneheaded mistakes have prevented them from beating a single team above .500 this season. This week doesn’t just represent a measuring stick for the Cowboys, but it offers the benchmark of all benchmarks.

The New England Patriots boast the NFL’s top-rated defense. The 9-1 franchise is No. 1 in multiple power rankings and typical favorites to visit yet another Super Bowl. To beat them, the Dallas Cowboys will have to do what only one team has been able to do – dominate the Pats defense.

The lone team that beat them is none other than the 2019 NFL darlings, Baltimore Ravens. This analytics-based attack uses deception, odds, and a dynamic play-making QB to drive their offense. Earlier in the month the Ravens didn’t just hand the Pats their only loss, but they beat ‘em down to the tune of 37 points.

The Ravens applied a steady doses of read-option/zone-reads that made Lamar Jackson a rushing weapon. He ran 16 times for 61 yards which included 2 touchdowns. Now, 61 yards is hardly a big day for the duel threat dynamo who averages 78.1 yards/game and has three 100 yards games on his resume this season. But those runs were timely and game-changing. He only needed that plus 167 yards passing to tattoo the NFL’s best defense.

Now ask yourself this – “can Dak Prescott do that?”

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Well, obviously the passing isn’t going to be a problem. Dak Prescott leads the NFL in passing, yards passing per attempt, he has the highest pass play success rate according to ESPN tracking, and he’s doing it without the benefit of a strong rushing attack. According to Five Thirty Eight, Dak is only facing eight or more defenders 5.3 percent of the time. Opponents aren’t afraid of the Dallas Cowboys rushing attack. It’s the passing attack they fear.

So to fully disprove the popular narrative, teams are not stopping Ezekiel Elliott and daring Dak to beat them. They are trying to stop Dak and failing miserably in that endeavor. The only entity capable of stopping Dak seems to be the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff who insist they make good on their investment and feed the ball to the often-ineffective, Zeke.

Where Dak must channel his inner Lamar, is in his own personal running. Unlike Lamar, Dak doesn’t like to run often, he’d much prefer to throw. But like Lamar, when Dak runs the ball, he’s ridiculously effective and often leads the team in EPA per play.

Dak doesn’t need to carry the rock 16 times, but he does need to carry it more than his current 3.3 carries per game average.

A Run-pass option remains a regular staple in the Dallas Cowboys playbook but this may in fact be the week to avoid it. RPO’s often rely on putting opposing linebackers in “conflict” to succeed and New England might just have the smartest and most gifted linebackers in the NFL.

But option plays that make Dak a running option like the zone read and read option may be just what this offense needs to beat the best. When Baltimore employed that attack, it stopped the Pats from blitzing and opened windows downfield.

It stands to reason, the threat of Dak running the ball will open rushing opportunities for Zeke (like Lamar did for Mark Ingram) and open opportunities downfield (again, like we saw from Baltimore). Dak’s not half the runner Lamar is (and nobody is), but he’s a savvy ball carrier with a knack for the big play.

Beating this New England defense is going to be tough. Luckily Dallas has an MVP candidate running the offense and he’s personally equipped to execute the only attack that’s worked on them to-date.

• Published on 11/22/2019 at 13:01 PM
• Last updated at 11/22/2019 at 12:46 PM