The Dallas Cowboys are off to a 1-2 start to the season entering Thursday night’s contest with the New York Giants, and a lot of criticism has been pointed in the direction of Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott, especially considering the contract extension he secured before the start of the regular season.
Through three games, Prescott has completed 60.7% of his throws for 851 yards and four touchdowns to two interceptions. Prescott has played OK, but the Cowboys offense as a whole has struggled to consistently put the ball in the end zone.
For ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, the finger can’t be pointed entirely at Prescott. In fact, he believes the coaching staff has done their star quarterback no favors.
“I don’t think there’s an offense in football that sets their offense up to fail more than the Cowboys with Dak Prescott,” Orlovsky proclaimed. “The fundamental ways to get your quarterback to play better or to make it easier to play better are to run the football, the Cowboys can’t. You use play action. The Cowboys don’t. You use motion. The Cowboys don’t. You throw screens. The Cowboys don’t. They’re bottom three or four in a couple of them, and bottom 10 in a lot of them. In many ways, they’re saying, ‘Dak Prescott, we want this to be as hard as possible on you.’,” Orlovsky added.
Perhaps Thursday is the night that the Cowboys offense gets off the runway and begins producing at a level that matches their talent.
Time will tell.