Cowboys Dak Prescotts playing best football of NFL career Jerry Jones says QB should be in MVP conversation
Cowboys Dak Prescotts playing best football of NFL career Jerry Jones says QB should be in MVP conversation
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FRISCO, Texas -- The hottest, most in-the-zone, locked-in quarterback and offense the last five weeks of the 2023 season are and the . Prescott , becoming the first Cowboy with 300 or more pa sing yards (404) and three touchdowns (four) in three consecutive games. He also became the first Cowboy with 400 or more pa sing yards (404), four or more pa sing touchdowns (four) and one rushing touchdown (one) in a single game. Prescott did all of that in three quarters of work by the way.His prolific production in tandem with Pro Bowl wide receiver , the , acro s the last five weeks has launched his 2023 season totals into the realms of top-five quarterback play by league-wide standards, a distinction that chews up hours worth of debates on sports talk shows and social media alike."He's all football," head coach Mike McCarthy said postgame. "He loves everything about it. The training. When you look at this game, Sundays are really for free. What he does Monday through Saturday is so so impre sive, and it's important because we made changes from last year. These guys have worked hard to do the things that they've been asked to do, and it's nice to see it come together. Nice to see the succe s they're having because they definitely put the work in. We're really finding our stride with the game plans and things like that. He is definitely playing at a high level."NFL QB RANKCompletion Pct70.7%1stPa s Yards/Att8.15thPa s TD17T-5thTD-INT17-66thPa ser Rating105.13rdExpected Points Added/Play0.144thThe line of demarcation for his and the Cowboys' jump in performance can be drawn back to the tweaks they made and the comfort they settled into following the face plant against the ."It goes back to the offseason work that we put into this, we're nine games into this," Prescott said. "The first couple, we were feeling it out. Coach Mike and me probably will be the first to tell you that the first game him calling some plays, trying to do this and trying to do that. For me, just really listening to my feet, me being bought into protection, bought into the reads. Allowing my feet to talk to me, whether one's there, two's there, whatever, for the double hitch, you start to run. I really just think that it's all coming together, but it just all goes back into the preparation way back into the spring. We've continued to talk and communicate. Something that has been huge is the play-calling purpose. I understand what he wants and what he's trying to get after on each and every play. With that, I know that I have the freedom to get us out of something else to get us in this, if it's that look. Or allow me to play my game, allow the read to come to me and then use my feet to move. It's been really fun." DAL QB #4 CMP%70.7YDs2415TD17INT6YD/Att8.05 The Cowboys lead the NFL in points per game (31.5), total yards per game (443.8) and yards per play (6.5) since Week 6, the week following their 42-10 debacle on "Sunday Night Football Penny Hardaway Jersey " at the 49ers. A couple of the things they have tweaked schematically have been their increase in motion rate and significant increase in shotgun formations (up by almost 12% since Week 6 in comparison to Weeks 1-5), spreading out opposing defenses, which has allowed Prescott to quickly discern and then di sect opposing defenses. It's also led to him going deep more succe sfully, as his 23 completions of 20-or-more downfield since Week 6 lead the league.The two-time Pro Bowl pa ser maintains their offensive shift isn't a phase; it's who they are now."It's a good question, I think it's who we are, and I think that's what makes it (feel like) we're in the zone," Prescott said Thursday when asked about if this is what their offense was going to be going forward or if it's just an all-time heater. "When you're really feeling like yourself, I feel like if anybody individually, you get your hair cut, you put on your outfit, you're going to be in a zone because you feel confident and when you look in the mirror, when you talk to other people, that's how you feel. And so for us, that's what it's been. Obviously even in a lo s (at the in Week 9), there was succe s and we weren't going to get down on ourselves. ... We're going to get right back at it and go fishing again." WEEKS 1-5WEEKS 6-10Offensive PPG21.2*31.5**Total YPG327.4*443.8**Yards/Play4.9*6.5**Air Yards/Pa s Att6.6*9.5**Motion Rate45.6%*48.3%Shotgun Rate55.3%*67.2%Run Pct47.1%**39.1%*Third Down Pct49.3%**44.2%**Red Zone TD Pct36.8%*65.0%**Time of Po se sion32:16**33:05**"I really think it's just all coming together, honestly," Prescott added. "Going back to the spring and everything that we've wanted to do coming into the season, having the first few games to really figure out, I gue s you could say, who we are. And I just think after the tough lo s out there and getting back together on that Monday night and then going into the bye week, we had a great sample size of this is what we're doing well, these are the things we need to build off of. Obviously, I love the motions. I love, love being, I don't want to say nece sarily in the shotgun, but the ball in my hands, being able to spread it out, being able to throw it to guys, get it to these guys in space, allow them to go make (defensive) players mi s. It's been fun, honestly. Obviously I've talked about it before, my feet just being in sync with the reads and the guys understanding the footwork. Everything is just really coming together."While there is a considerable sample size gap, Prescott has thrived when throwing out of the shotgun formation, a formation that McCarthy has leaned on at a much higher rate over the past five weeks. The move makes sense considering Prescott's 71.8% completion percentage, 109.6 pa ser rating and 0.29 expected points added/play (EPA) when in shotgun leads the NFL in 2023.ShotgunUnder centerComp Pct71.8% (173/241)*66.1% (39/59)Pa s Yards/Att8.5*6.0TD15*2TD-INT15-5*2-1Pa ser Rating109.6*86.5EPA/Play0.29*-0.36Another critical component of the offensive schematic changes has been an uptick in the Cowboys' motion usage, something that can be seen springing Lamb open in a variety of ways on Sundays." Motion just stre ses the defense at the end of the day," Prescott said. "We're running things that we're really good at just finding different ways to dre s them up. From there, we're putting stre s on guys with the slower motion, whether it be the fast motion. Breaking in and out formations, getting to other formations, making those guys communicate quickly on the fly. That just puts us at advantage."While the schematic changes have played a role, the Cowboys coaching staff believes Prescott's execution of McCarthy's scheme has never been higher."I think it's the decision-making," offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimerwhen asked what the difference in Prescott's play has been. ... "He's really seeing the field well. He's going through his progre sions, he's being decisive, he's not putting the ball in harm's way very often. The decisions and the way he is seeing things is just very clean. It starts with his preparation early in the week. ... The way he drives our protection series with (center) Tyler Biadasz, that stuff doesn't go unnoticed. To play quarterback in this league has to be the hardest thing to do in sports, I believe it is. Against the , he Al-Farouq Aminu Jersey was magnificent with protection adjustments and the run-checks. He's just in total command."One of the more recent times Prescott has played at this high of a level over sustained period of time was his 2021 season in which he threw 37 touchdown pa ses, a Cowboys single-season record. Entering his 10th game of the season, Prescott is out-pacing his numbers from that year in nearly every major statistical category because his confidence in the Dallas offense and what it is running has never been higher.2021**2023Completion Pct69.6%*70.7%*Pa s Yards/Att7.88.1*Pa s TD2017*TD-INT20-717-6Pa ser Rating103.9105.1*Expected Points Added/Play0.120.14*"I've never been a statistics guy," Prescott said. "I can tell you that I've never been as confident, as free, and as connected with other guys on the offense, play-calling and just this whole system and what we're trying to get after as I am now. Credit to those guys, credit to Coach McCarthy, credit to Schottenheimer, (quarterbacks coach Scott) Tolzien and the rest of the offensive staff. Being able to communicate exactly what we're trying to get what we're getting after. Showing me looks and preparing me. But then, obviously, the work that me and these guys have put in. Whether it be on our own or film study, whether it be individually or together when coach and them go over everything. It feels good honestly. Great chemistry. We're just going to continue to build. This isn't about me, rather than that. This is about this team. We have a hell of a defense, and we need to make sure that we continue putting up points. Allow those guys to hunt the other quarterback and be tough."Prescott's chemistry has never been higher with Lamb, whoacro s Dallas' last three games. That's because this is really their first time both being en fuego for an extended amount of time. Prescott mi sed the final 11 games of the 2020 season with a fractured ankle, Lamb's rookie year. He shared top receiver responsibilities with four-time Pro Bowler in 2021. Prescott suffered a right thumb injury that caused him to mi s five games last season. Now, both are healthy and fully in-sync in their fourth season together in 2023. "We've been together for four years now, and we've always got like spurts of each other, the best of his was like my rookie Anfernee Hardaway Jersey year when he came out throwing for 400 (three times) in the first five games," Lamb said Thursday. "Second year didn't have him much in the first half. Third year, same thing kind of thing on the back end, but now we just kind of putting this season together, and then we're starting to get hot at the same time, both of us. So, that's amazing for the offense. Amazing for us and we just got to keep moving, keep adding in our pieces.""When you got a guy like that, he makes our job easier," Prescott said of Lamb. "The more trust, more we're talking, working together, getting reps at practice carries over into the game. The trust goes up, you're going to see the production go up." Prescott's 0.28 (EPA/play) has skyrocketed and leads all qualified QBs since Week 6 by a wide margin. The next closest quarterbacks are (0.18), (0.16) and (0.15). For context, 2022 NFL MVP led the NFL at 0.25. Prescott has +2200 odds to be the 2023 NFL MVP, , tied for the seventh-best odds in the league at the moment.NFL QB RANKCompletion Pct72.1%2ndPa s Yards/Att9.71stPa s TD121stTD-INT12-23rdPa ser Rating125.11stExpected Points Added/Play0.281st"I do, I certainly do," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones on Tuesday when asked if Prescott should be considered for NFL MVP. "He's put together a series of games that are the best of his career in my view. It's the fact that he's doing them back to back. ... Boy is he really in a position where it's not only physical, but it's mental. He's really showed us that the hard work and time he has put in and frankly the adjustments that have been made over the past year, we're really seeing the fruits of that."
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