Were all of the interceptions thrown by Dak Prescott his own fault? In what was his worst year in terms of turning the ball over, Prescott had an out of character regular season. These interceptions were clearly not all on the quarterback, and there is plenty of blame to go around.
Week 1 – Buccaneers
Prescott’s 2022 campaign was in motion, but he still hadn’t shaken off the rust from the offseason. With a little over six minutes left in the half on a 3rd and 10, the Buccaneers rushed only four. The Cowboys ran a bootleg against zone coverage and Prescott tried to force the ball into the narrow seam. The seam closed immediately, indicating that it was a poor read. It could have been picked off by either of the defenders who were standing and waiting for the ball to arrive. Fault – Prescott.
Week 8 – Bears
Freshly back from his six-week stint on the injured list, Prescott was finally ready to go. On first and ten, and with just over 30 seconds left in the half, the Bears dropped their linebackers into coverage and only rushed with the front four. Eddie Jackson was playing safety over the deep middle and read Prescott’s eyes, who was locked in on the receiver. Fault – Prescott.
Week 10 – Packers
It was 3rd and goal from the 11-yard line. The Packers used only a four-man rush, dropping everyone else back into coverage. Prescott stood strong in the pocket and delivered a wobbler right between the receivers, gifting Rudy Ford an interception. Fault – Prescott.
https://twitter.com/thomasrp93/status/1591919964855877633
The second interception of the day happened in the same quarter just four minutes later. On this play, only four linemen rushed the quarterback, but they used a leaping stunt. That leap tipped the pass, which went unseen by both the analyst and commentator calling the game. Greg Olsen blamed Ceedee Lamb for his flat route. Prescott could have pump faked, but it may have led Lamb out of reach. It was rather an amazing athletic play by the leaping defender. Credit – defense.
Week 12 – Giants
In the first quarter with over seven minutes left in it, the Cowboys were on 2nd down in Giants territory. The Giants dropped seven defenders into coverage, once again rushing only four linemen. Prescott saw man coverage against Gallup, who usually wins his one-on-one battles. The problem was, he threw a short terrible pass, and the defender jumped the route. Fault – Prescott.
On 3rd and 15, with less than 2 minutes to go in the second quarter, the Giants did what by now we all expected them to do. They dropped everyone back into coverage, except the front four. Prescott threw the ball short of the route to avoid the two safeties. Lamb was forced to come back for it, but the defender Holmes matched his strides and contested the catch. Both touched the ball briefly, but Holmes wisely batted it back into the safety net behind him instead of fighting for possession. This was a messy play and blame could be assigned in multiple places. Credit – defense.
https://twitter.com/zerepnivek1/status/1595914061149265920
Week 13 – Colts
Before halftime, with less than three minutes to go on 3rd and 10, the Colts indiscreetly rushed four and dropped the rest into coverage. Michael Gallup was in man coverage vs. Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore prevented Gallup from completing his route, literally knocking him to the ground before the ball arrived directly in front of the official. This was an obvious penalty which was overlooked, despite Collinsworth saying there was “a little” contact. It was pass interference and plain as day. You’d probably have a strong disliking for the Cowboys if you saw it any other way. Fault – ref.
Week 14 – Texans
To mimic the coverage of every single other interception Prescott had thrown to this point, the defenders rushed only four. On a short slant route meant for Noah Brown, Prescott threw the pass which was cutoff and possibly tipped by the linebacker. The ball did make its way directly into Brown’s hands which relieves Prescott of responsibility and creates blame for Brown. He volleyed it into the air, and it was easily tracked down by the defender, Trevon Smith. Fault – Brown.
https://twitter.com/ZionCourtRomo/status/1604649513955856384
In the fourth quarter, deep in their own territory, the Cowboys were looking at a 2nd and 20. Like clockwork, the Texans rushed only four. Prescott was under pressure but got it away. The ball was poorly thrown and would have been an incompletion were it not for the interception. Fault – Prescott.
Week 15 – Jags
It wasn’t until late in the 3rd quarter when Prescott threw his first pick of the day. Unsurprisingly, on 2nd and 18 the Jags rushed only four linemen. He escaped from what appeared to be a perfect pocket and one of the rushing linemen got ahold of his arm before the pass. The ball came out like a punt and was easily intercepted. Fault – Prescott.
On the second interception of the day, the Jags faked a blitz and ultimately rushed only four. A perfectly thrown ball into the hands of Noah Brown then bounced into the hands of Rayshawn Jenkins, who had also caught the first interception. He was in the right place at the right time for this one too. Since it was a pick six in overtime, it sealed the deal. Fault – Brown.
https://twitter.com/LaurieFitzptrck/status/1604587037373435905
Week 16 – Eagles
The first blitz that yielded an interception for the 2022 campaign didn’t happen until week 16. It was against the rival Eagles. This was a common Cowboys bootleg pass and just got grabbed out of the air in a monstrous effort by Josh Sweat. A pump fake would have made him miss but also thrown off the timing of the pass. Credit – defense.
https://twitter.com/FullPressNFL/status/1606766793082966016
Week 17 – Titans
The first interception was thrown during a blitz by the defense. The ball went right into the hands of Hendershot, absolving Prescott of responsibility. Hendershot juggled it and essentially threw a pass to Byard who was behind him. Fault – Hendershot.
https://twitter.com/JoriEpstein/status/1608649219837157376
The second interception of the day was the result of a stare down by Prescott. The Titans rushed only four. Byard jumped the route, and it was over. Fault – Prescott.
Week 18 – Commanders
Another four-man rush resulted in this interception. Prescott found a receiver in man coverage, but the defender jumped the route due to the stare down. Ironically, this was the only game Prescott had with a lower QBR (45.8) than in week one (47.2). Fault – Prescott.
According to the fault tally, Prescott was responsible for at least eight of the interceptions on the season. He could be to blame for one or possibly two more if you’re not feeling the love. The others were either good plays by the defense or a bad play resulting from someone other than Prescott. The quarterback always taking the blame for every interception is flat-out ludicrous.
Quarterbacks’ jobs get difficult when seven defenders go back into pass coverage, and even doubly so when there’s an effective pass rush. Regardless of the new play caller, Prescott needs to work on this coverage in the offseason if the Cowboys don’t want to hear about Einstein’s definition of insanity.