Tag: dak prescott interceptions

Dak Prescott’s interceptions vs. 49ers had precedents in the regular season

Dak Prescott’s two first-half interceptions against the 49ers had regular-season precedents. It’s never good when you have repeatable types of interceptions.

If you thought that Dak Prescott’s interception issues were behind him after he torched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round… well, think again. Prescott, who tied with Davis Mills of the Houston Texans for the regular-season lead in interceptions (15) and pick-sixes (three) in the regular season, managed to throw four touchdowns and no picks against a Bucs defense that didn’t seem to want to be on the field.

The 49ers’ top defense had other ideas early on, and when you look at Prescott’s two first-half interceptions in this game, they’re frustratingly similar to interceptions Prescott threw in the regular season.

Let’s start with the pick Prescott threw to 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir with 5:55 left in the first quarter.

It looked as if receiver Michael Gallup ran a curl route with an option to go more vertical based on the coverage. Which Gallup did. Unfortunately for all involved with stars on their helmets, Prescott threw the comeback, and Lenoir was eager to jump that one.

Now, let’s head back to Week 13 against the Indianapolis Colts, when Gallup was once again Prescott’s backside target on an intermediate route with a clear stop. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore ran Gallup’s route better than Gallup did, and the results were pretty much the same.

Now, Prescott’s interception to linebacker Fred Warner with 1:24 left in the first half. Here, Prescott tried to get cute on a throw to CeeDee lamb, throwing it low to his target on a little whip route. Safety Jimmie Ward was first on the scene, tipping the ball to his esteemed teammate.

It was as if the 49ers expected Prescott to throw low in this situation. Perhaps they saw the interception Prescott threw to Jacksonville Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins in Week 15. Prescott tried to go low on a crosser to receiver Noah Brown, and in this case, it wasn’t a defender who tipped the ball to the defense; it was Brown himself. Jenkins returned that interception for the game-winning touchdown in overtime.

It’s never good for a quarterback when said quarterback has thrown enough interceptions to have repeatable types of interceptions in a season, but we’re to the point with Prescott where opponents can pick and choose how they’d like to… well, pick and choose.

Why is Dak Prescott throwing so many interceptions?

Dak Prescott absolutely insisted on throwing pick-six vs. Commanders

Dak Prescott gave Kendall Fuller one chance at a pick-six. Fuller didn’t respond, so Prescott did it again. This is a problem.

Coming into Sunday’s game with the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was tied with Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings and Derek Carr of the Las Vegas Raiders for the NFL’s most interceptions with 14. Cousins didn’t throw any picks in Minnesota’s Week 18 win over the Chicago Bears, and Carr isn’t even with the Raiders after he was benched two weeks ago, so Prescott was going for the lead in this unfortunate category.

It didn’t take long for Prescott to do what he’s done all too often lately — throw a back-breaking interception. He did so to cornerback Kendall Fuller with 12:38 left in the second quarter, and Fuller topped it off by returning the interception 29 yards for a touchdown that put the Commanders up, 13-0.

The real indignity of this play is that on the previous play, Fuller would have had another pick-six to the same side had he not stumbled on the field, losing any chance of catching the ball.

This was also Prescott’s third pick-six of the season, breaking a tie for first he held with several quarterbacks. In a recent tape study, I hypothesized that Prescott’s recent penchant for picks could end the Cowboys’ Super Bowl hopes before they really get going, and this would once again appear to be the case.

Why is Dak Prescott throwing so many interceptions?

Why is Dak Prescott throwing so many interceptions?

Why have Dak Prescott’s interceptions become such a problem this season? Multiple reasons, and here they all are.

The Dallas Cowboys have won 12 games for the second straight season, which is something they haven’t done since the 1994-1995 NFL seasons. The 1995 NFL season was the last in which Jerry Jones’ team won a Super Bowl, so if you’re looking for good omens, Cowboys fans, there’s that.

A not-so-good omen is the interception rate of quarterback Dak Prescott. Before this season, Prescott had been one of the league’s safest quarterbacks when it came to throwing interceptions in bunches. His interception rate of 1.7% (50 picks on 2,889 attempts) from 2016-2021 is tied for fifth-lowest with Alex Smith among quarterbacks with at least 1,000 passing attempts over that time. And it’s not as if Prescott has been risk-averse over that period — his yards per attempt of 7.6 over his first six NFL seasons ranks seventh in the NFL.

This season, however, has been very different. Prescott is tied with Derek Carr of the Las Vegas Raiders and Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings for the league lead in interceptions with 14, and that’s despite the fact that he’s missed five games early in the season with a fractured thumb. His interception rate of 3.9% is more than double what it’s been in any of his previous seasons except for 2017 (2.7%). Prescott has thrown multiple interceptions in five of his 11 starts this season, and in four of his last six.

It’s not that Prescott has been bad or a specific liability to his team outside of these alarming trends — he ranks sixth in DVOA and 11th in DYAR among quarterbacks this season — but as the playoffs approach, the air gets thinner, and every mistake can mean more, it’s certainly a concern.

The Cowboys would like to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 27 seasons. If they are to do that, their quarterback will have to throw the ball at a higher rate to his teammates, and at a lower rate to his opponents.

Seems obvious, but when it’s been going on this long, it’s worth getting into what Prescott and his coaches are also doing — grinding the tape, getting to the roots of the problems, and trying to solve them.

“I can promise you, we’re coaching it,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said after Dallas’ 27-13 Week 17 win over the Tennessee TItans, in which Prescott threw two interceptions to safety Kevin Byard. “We’re emphasizing it. He’s wired the right way. Our players are wired the right way. So, unfortunately, you go through ups and downs in this league. That’s the beauty of how competitive this league is. This was a game we needed to get and we got it done. So whether we don’t get any style points, that’s OK. But we’re still at 12 wins.”

Style points are not the point, and McCarthy knows that. But he’s got to help his quarterback get to the other side of a worrisome problem.

So, here it is: Why the heck, after so many years as one of the NFL’s more efficient quarterbacks, is one Rayne Dakota Prescott barfing the ball all over the field in such unusual ways? Or, is there more to the story than Prescott himself?

[mm-video type=video id=01gnwcpesg2bxcedarz1 playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gnwcpesg2bxcedarz1/01gnwcpesg2bxcedarz1-74b62344c2d3cccbfde62b6eee41d51b.jpg]