One of the Dallas Cowboys’ biggest struggles throughout the 2024 season was pass protection from the offensive tackle positions. Whether it was Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, or even Trey Lance at the helm, Dallas’ signal callers were routinely facing trouble from the edge, and their play in the pocket reflected that.
The Cowboys’ two offensive tackles, Terence Steele and Tyler Guyton, were all-too-often turnstiles as pass protectors. Their inconsistent play on drop backs forced Dallas to alter the playbook in many ways. Shorter drop backs, quicker releases and abbreviated route combinations were apparent on Day 1 of the season. Less time in the pocket meant less time reading the field, less time for progressions, and fewer big plays.
It’s no mystery why Prescott’s Big Time Throws (BTT) per game dropped from 2.4 to 1.75 in 2024. And also explains why virtually all of Prescott’s other passing efficiency numbers dropped significantly across the board as well.
Despite posting his shortest Time to Throw (TTT) since 2020, Prescott saw an increase of pressures per game with a significant portion of that coming from the edge. Prescott played like he was on a clock and that was likely by design. Dallas’ struggles at OT were rather predictable and Mike McCarthy’s gameplans generally reflected that.
McCarthy routinely used running backs and tight ends to assist his two OTs in pass protection, but that unavoidably removed an extra target downfield. With more defenders in coverage than receiving targets running routes, separation was hard to come by and windows were as narrow as they’ve ever been. It added up to a very stressful situation that not only impacted Prescott’s play in 2024 but may trickle into 2025 as well.
Sometimes traumatic situations on the football field can cause long-lasting or even permanent damage. Back in 2019 while playing for the Jets, Sam Darnold famously said, “I’m seeing ghosts” during a particularly traumatic game against the Patriots. Many analysts wondered if Darnold could come back from that.
Like Darnold in 2019, Prescott appeared to be seeing ghosts in 2024. The Cowboys QB was regularly seen bailing from an otherwise stable pocket. His internal clock seemed to be sending him the signal trouble was on the way, even when it wasn’t. On multiple occasions Prescott ran from a safe place and right into trouble. They were uncharacteristic actions from the typically stoic QB, and they made an already bad situation much, much worse.
They say sacks are a QB stat, and for the most part they’re right. Sack rates tend to follow QBs from team to team. Good pass protection or bad pass protection, QBs will adjust. Unfortunately, Prescott adjusted in the wrong way and actually added to his problem by running into sacks in 2024.
