The Cowboys were inspired by the bond between Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott – Todd Archer, ESPN
Head coach Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott have a solid relationship, which is evident from their interactions on the sidelines and helped the offense succeed.
Prescott saw his finest season as a player with McCarthy serving as his playcaller. His interceptions dropped from fifteen to nine. His career-best interception percentage of 1.5% was equal for second place. A career-high 69.9% of his passes were completed by him. McCarthy stated, “That relationship is imperative to success if you’ve asked any offensive playcallers.” That, in my opinion, is being Captain Obvious. Each person approaches it in a unique way. Dak likes to say, “I’m calling it, and he’s hauling it,” and that’s how it needs to be. We invested extra time during camp to make that connection. It’s worked out nicely, and the numbers, in my opinion, speak for themselves
McCarthy and Prescott had a close relationship even before McCarthy took over as playcaller for the team this season. In 2020, McCarthy’s first season in Dallas, Prescott broke and dislocated his right ankle. Following a rehabilitation session, the coach drove the quarterback home. They spoke about life and football for hours.
Their newfound partnership has made them closer this year. With the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees and Sean Payton, the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay, Brandin Cooks seen it.
Prior to McCarthy taking over as the team’s playcaller this season, McCarthy and Prescott enjoyed a close friendship. McCarthy had a broken and dislocated right ankle in 2020, Prescott’s first season in Dallas. After the quarterback had a rehabilitation session, the coach drove him home. They spent hours talking about football and life.
They are closer now that they have a newfound cooperation this year. Brandin Cooks saw it with the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay, and the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees and Sean Payton.
KD Drummond, Cowboys Wire: “Cowboys’ Bland is unquestionably DPOY; everyone else is a blatant liar.”
Cowboys supporters are presumably accustomed to DaRon Bland and other prominent players’ successes being minimized by the national media.
The most recent Al Harris protégé was sent to study after an unexpectedly successful rookie season in which he rose to the position of secondary sous chef behind Trevon Diggs. It was insufficient to lead the club with five interceptions out of the slot in 2022. Rather, the group asked him to become an expert in boundary-corner cooking. And what he created when taking over the kitchen in 2023 was worthy of commendation.
Bland was the greatest broadcast television program of 2023, much like Fx’s The Bear was the best cable television program. With 96 of the top 100 shows since September, the NFL is unquestionably the dominant league, and Bland was the player who stole the show the most. He should be the undisputed winner of Defensive Player of the Year since he was the best defender in the NFL this season.
No obvious top pass rusher
The NFLPA, PFF, AP, Next Gen Stats, and other All-Pro teams have shown that there is disagreement about which edge rusher of the season was the greatest. Of the three players regarded as the finest at the position, none stood out as being superior to the others.
TJ Watt of Pittsburgh led the league in sacks with 19 through 17 games, more than two players who were tied for second place with 17.5. Josh Allen and Trey Hendrickson aren’t even being given serious consideration for the honor. The other two front-runners are Micah Parsons of Dallas and Myles Garrett of Cleveland.
The amount of sacks that a Pick-6 is worth
Like Watt’s 19.5 sacks in 17 games, Bland’s league-leading interception total of nine isn’t historic. As a matter of fact, since the 2000 season, Bland is one of just 14 defenders with nine or more interceptions. Nevertheless, with 209 return yards, is the highest of all those players and the most in the NFL since Emmitt Thomas’ 214 in 1974.
Bland’s achievement is placed in even greater context by the advanced metrics. Without sophisticated measurements, comparing the impact of two fundamentally different acts is a challenging task. However, Expected Points enables us to gauge the typical impact of various play types, and the interception return that scores outweighs the sack in size.
What the offense of the Cowboys will have to cope with on Sunday.
It helps to know Barry’s background in order to comprehend the workings of his defense. His coaching career was developed under the Tampa 2 scheme, which includes two deep safety and a ton of zone coverage—as Cowboys fans are all too familiar with. In contrast to Marinelli, though, Barry has frequently favored to play from a more conventional 3-4 alignment, with two outside linebackers who are equally capable of dropping into coverage or rushing the quarterback. That made him a natural match under Wade Phillips with the Rams and, subsequently, Brandon Staley.
Barry’s lackluster performances in Detroit and Washington were supposed to be a precursor to Barry’s breakthrough, along with Phillips and Staley. To put it mildly, though, that hasn’t taken place. The Packers’ defensive DVOA dropped from 10th to 12th in Barry’s first year; it dropped to 25th the next year, and it ended this year at 27th.
Barry’s shortcomings, in contrast to his prior stops, cannot be attributed to a lack of skill. Jaire Alexander is regarded as one of the greatest cornerbacks in the game, and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and defensive lineman Kenny Clark have both been selected for the Pro Bowl or All-Pro team. Rashan Gary and Preston Smith, who are both gifted edge rushers, are another asset. Nevertheless, they are among the poorest defensesthree years into Barry’s job in football. They rank 26th in run defense and pass defense DVOA, respectively, indicating that this defense is incompetent in all areas.
Not only that, but this defense is uniquely bad at stopping the things Dallas does best on offense. This year’s Packers defense finished dead last in EPA/dropback allowed and QBR allowed on throws to the middle of the field, which is an area where Dak Prescott has thrived this year, particularly on throws to CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson. Lamb, in particular, has been one of the most lethal receivers in the league this year on slant routes, and the Packers just so happen to rank dead last in defending slant routes both by EPA/play and passer rating.
The Packers have an extremely zone-heavy offensive scheme, yet for whatever reason, they have a terrible pass defense in the midst of their zones. That doesn’t look good for their game against Ferguson, Prescott, Lamb, and the other Cowboys. Their best chance is probably to hope that their pass rush, which has the sixth-highest pressure rate, will be sufficient. Even then, Prescott has been among the greatest quarterbacks against the blitz throughout his career, and the Packers’ high pressure rate also corresponds with their 10th-highest blitz rate.
