Grading the Cowboys: Until Dak Prescott fixes his issues, little else goes for Dallas - The Dallas Morning News

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Here are Jean-Jacques Taylor’s grades from the Cowboys’ 36-33 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thanksgiving:

Run offense

Dak Prescott was mad because the Dallas Cowboys weren’t physical in their loss to Kansas City. He vowed it would be different this week but it wasn’t. Dallas managed just 64 yards as Ezekiel Elliott continued a string of games with poor production. He had 25 yards and continues to fight through a knee injury and the Cowboys averaged just 3.2 per carry.

GRADE: F

Pass offense

Without Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys’ passing looked circa 2017 when folks referred to Prescott as dink-and-dunk Dak for three quarters. Then he threw for more than 200 yards in the fourth quarter and a touchdown as Dallas rallied from a 24-13 deficit to force overtime. But, he made a poor throw to Noah Brown on third down in overtime, which gave Las Vegas the ball and an opportunity to win the game.

GRADE: C-

Run defense

The Raiders rushed for 115 yards and a 3.8 average. Jeff Jacobs had 87 yards and a 21-yard run in overtime. Keanu Neal had 12 tackles and Micah Parsons had two tackles for loss.

GRADE: C-

Pass defense

Anthony Brown had a day to forget as he struggled to handle the Raiders’ speed all day. He was flagged four times, including a 33-yard pass interference on third-and-18 in overtime. Hunter Renfrow (134) and DeSean Jackson (102) each had more than 100 yards receiving. Derek Carr passed for 373 yards and a touchdown.

GRADE: F

Special teams

Kicker Greg Zuerlein missed an extra point and a 59-yard field but made a 45-yard with less than a minute remaining to send the game to overtime. Tony Pollard returned a kickoff 100 yards that gave the Cowboys a spark in the second half. The coverage units were average.

GRADE: C-

Coaching

Any criticism for Kellen Moore should be focused on not taking enough deep shots in the first three quarters. When they took them in the fourth, they made a lot of big plays. The two-point play was exotic, but do you really want to run wide when you need a yard. There are way too many penalties each week, and coach Dan Quinn’s unit allowed more than 500 yards and never figured out a way to hide Brown. Maybe, there wasn’t.

GRADE: D

Overall

This team has an offensive problem that it must get fixed before facing New Orleans. Amari Cooper has proved his worth, but the Cowboys’ quarterback is not playing to his standard. He’s missing too many throws and leaving too many plays on the field. Job No. 1 this week is to fix the quarterback. Everything else will then fall into place.

GRADE: D

Jean-Jacques Taylor, a former SportsDay columnist, is the host of JaM Session Podcast which can be heard Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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November 26, 2021 at 09:10AM
https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/cowboys/2021/11/25/grading-the-cowboys-until-dak-prescott-fixes-his-issues-little-else-goes-for-dallas/

Grading the Cowboys: Until Dak Prescott fixes his issues, little else goes for Dallas - The Dallas Morning News

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