FRISCO, Texas – All-pro Dallas Cowboys who re-signed All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott (four years, $240 million) and All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (four years, $136 million) this offseason pace was so They may continue to generate the fireworks that will be released in 2023.
Dallas led the NFL in scoring offense (29.9 points per game), with Prescott leading the league in touchdown passes (36) and Lamb leading the league in receptions (135) en route to a third consecutive 12-5 season. The start of 2024 hasn’t been as explosive with the Cowboys averaging 21.4 points per sport, 2nd in the league amid a 3-4 slide on the season.
The drop is well explained because the offensive ecosystem is dramatically different now. Dallas now starts two freshmen at arguably the two most impressive offensive sequence positions in left first-round pick Tyler Guyton, who predominantly made an adequate grab at Oklahoma, and middle third-round pick Cooper Beebe , who did not rush into a center. in the middle in a sport in Kansas Situation.
His increasing pains in the verbal exchange prior to the offensive sequence, and the team rolling with veteran undrafted independent agent Rico Dowdle and the final versions of Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook have resulted in the Cowboys having the worst running game in the league. league, averaging 74.1 rushing yards depending on the sport. That mark is Dallas’ lowest in seven games since the 1989 season, Jerry Jones’ first possession year and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman’s rookie year. That Cowboys team went 1-15. Failure to have a sufficiently threatening running game and premature inexperience are the main reasons Prescott has struggled so far. He has recorded just 10 touchdown passes and eight interceptions, his most interceptions in seven career games. Prescott ranks 10th in the NFL in completion rate (63.7%, 22nd in the NFL), touchdown-to-interception ratio (10-8, 24th in the NFL) and passer rating (84.5, 24th in the NFL). this season.
“I have to be better. It’s that simple,” Prescott said Thursday. “Take it as it is, look at those plays independently, look at the other ones that probably could have been or could have turned out a different way than they did. But you’re never going to ruin my confidence. Some of it for them, most of it is decision, so I go back and think a couple of years ago, risk versus reward. That’s something that just worries me watching the film this week, like I said, get off the picket, make other plays happen when you’re weighing that one. “You know, when I have the ball in my hands, it’s not just about that play, it’s about the team, the game, the momentum of the game, and I just have to be better.”
What did pick up in Generation 8 was his reference to Lamb heading into a difficult start to the season in which there were some instances where he and his target manager were no longer on the same page with Lamb working on a direction and Center of Prescott that goes to any other. That can certainly be attributed to Lamb’s resilience in the offseason before receiving his trade intact in late August at the upcoming training camp. After all, Dallas’ dynamic duo rediscovered their chemistry in Generation 8 against the San Francisco 49ers in a narrow 30-24 loss that came much closer to Prescott’s next attacker, Lamb, for two fourth-quarter touchdowns. . He completed 146 receiving yards and two touchdowns with 13 receptions on 17 targets.
Those 17 targets on his 35 routes run in the Cowboys’ first game back from their bye against the 49ers resulted in a career-high 48.6% scoring rate for Lamb, plus 20 points. percentages more than his goal rate in Weeks 1. 6 (25.6%), according to NFL Pro Insights. That still lines up with the post-age break participation for him to finish the season. Lamb targeted just 22.3% of his routes run from Weeks 1-6 before seeing his targeting skyrocket to 34% from Weeks 8-18, when he ended up being important to the NFL all season in goals (181), receptions. (135) 2d time score in receiving yards (1,749) and 0.33 in receiving touchdowns (12).
“Yeah, I found CeeDee,” Prescott mentioned when reflecting on Lamb’s escape inside Bay Branch. “He did a good job getting open, running all his routes hard no matter where he was, whether he was the one or whether he was on the back end of a concept. I loved his intentionality in the game. He said something like that to me during the game, midway through the game, like ‘Yeah, we’re back.’ And that was before, I think, his two touchdown drives, so just the fact that he’s playing with that confidence, communicating it, gives me a lot of confidence.” .
“We found our rhythm, we got our stride back and I was definitely getting open and getting the ball, so I feel like it goes hand in hand and I hope to continue doing that,” Lamb said Thursday.
|
Receptions/Recreation |
5.3 |
13* |
|
Reception/Recreation Courtyards |
77.8 |
146* |
|
Receiving TD |
2 |
2* |
* Fourth professional sport with 10 rec, 100 rec yds, 2 rec TD (highest in Cowboys history)
A star-studded Falcons secondary is difficult
To ensure high-flying production from Lamb, Prescott must navigate one of the most star-studded secondaries in the entire league as Dallas heads to Atlanta to face the 5-3 Falcons, the leaders of the NFC South section. . Pro Bowl Defense Jessie Bates III, Pro Soccer Focal Point’ 10th highest-rated guard (73.8 PFF defensive grade), minimum 100 snaps, and two-time Pro Bowl defenseman Justin Simmons, whose career-high 31 interceptions amount in the NFL since he and Prescott entered the NFL in 2016.
“Just being aware of where they are,” Prescott mentioned Thursday when mentioning dealing with Bates and Simmons. “Great, like you said, guys who sell balls and have been here for a while. The veterans know how to read concepts. I guess you could say they played a lot against this defense, and just the point of the scheme. Understand that they are I’m going to having vision above me, but giving me things below, doing that, and then when they come out, taking advantage of it, being able to move them with my eyes. It begins with being aware of where. [Jessie] Bates and [Justin] Simmons both are.”
Lamb may be preparing to face a fellow 2020 first-round draft pick, Falcons cornerback AJ Terrell, despite failing to face him in their two previous meetings in the 2020 Class 2 and Generation 10. Terrell hid against the opponent. Lamb on five of his 60 routes, 8.3%, in those two conferences, according to NFL Pro Insights. Lamb had 200 yards and two touchdowns with receptions on 12 of 16 targets in these matchups. Atlanta had him line up at left cornerback correcting 85% or more of his plays in those two games, but in 2024, he has been more flexible in his fifth NFL season with a nearly 50-50 spit at each right corner ( 51.1%) and left corner (48.7%), according to NFL Pro Insights. The 26-year-old’s selection in the sport has produced strong early-season effects: Terrell’s 54.1 rating as a defensive primary defender is ninth-best in the NFL among 60 players with at least 35 passes thrown. approach.
“The kids are nice,” Lamb said Thursday. “They have a young group there and Jesse Bates is playing his best ball obviously. Being in the same class as AJ Terrell and he’s an unbelievable cornerback, tall, long, has ball skills, very aggressive. I think they got Justin Simmons if “I’m not wrong, he’s a hawk himself. We have our hands full, but I’m sure we can handle it.”
Dallas has started to find a rhythm by playing faster: its 32.2 seconds between plays is the fastest average time between plays in the NFL. That’s something Lamb believes will ultimately allow the Cowboys to look more like they did in 2023.
“We play confident and fast, we can score against anyone, and I feel like that’s been our thing,” Lamb said. “We got to the red zone and didn’t put up enough points, so we just finished our drives and finished the drives with seven, not so much with three. We love Brandon [Aubrey] “But he’s taken care of us a lot, so I try to give him a day off.”
