Scout’s Eye: Where’d The Passing Game Go Wrong?

The only thing missing on the Dak Prescott pass to Randall Cobb in the end zone was the finish. Prescott's spin move to his left, out of the pocket, was well executed. Cobb's movement to free himself was outstanding. It was the type of throw that we've seen Prescott make while moving to his left throughout his career, but this time he was just too wide with it. Prescott made the right decision because Cobb was the only open receiver on the play. Jason Witten was doubled and Devin Smith didn't break open until the ball had left Prescott's hand.

Great job by Jourdan Lewis handling a wheel route from Alvin Kamara, allowing Jaylon Smith to get home on his sack of Teddy Bridgewater. Robert Quinn also played a big role on the play by occupying three blockers, which gave Smith the path he needed to finish the play. Kris Richard and Rod Marinelli couldn't have drawn it up any better than they did for that situation. It gave them a chance to win the game when all hope appeared lost.

Tough night for Amari Cooper dealing with Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore was not buying the movement on the routes that we normally see from Cooper in the way he sets up defenders. A great example of this was the first third down pass that went in Cooper's direction. Cooper tried to stem Lattimore to the outside, then break back inside to get him off balance. But Lattimore never moved and Prescott threw the ball anyway. Prescott had three other easier options on the play to pick up the first down but went with the more difficult one.

Give Jaylon Smith some credit for helping Robert Quinn with one of his sacks. Smith attacked Latavius Murray with such force that it kept him from even thinking about helping Terron Armstead on the play. Quinn got to the corner before Armstead even reacted. It was a good thing that Quinn was able to get home as quickly as he did, because Bridgewater had Austin Carr open on the option route underneath for the first down if he could have gotten the ball off.

Jason Witten's fumble was a well-executed play between he and Dak Prescott -- but just a poor finish. The Saints played clog and cover by rushing only three. The safeties were sitting in a two-deep look with Witten working the middle of the field. The offensive line handled the rush well, which allowed Prescott to wait for Witten to break open. A.J. Klein managed to get behind Witten after the reception and knock the ball loose with his left hand. If Witten had maintained possession, the offense would have been set up at midfield and driving. Huge play by the Saints linebacker.

Tremendous job by Maliek Collins of splitting the double-team block of Erik McCoy and Andrus Peat for a sack. Collins was able to push McCoy aside and then just flat overpower Peat to capture Bridgewater in the pocket. Collins was able to bring Bridgewater down with just one arm -- which made the play even more impressive.

Kellen Moore got exactly what he wanted by dragging Randall Cobb across the formation on third down, though the ball somehow ended up incomplete. The Saints were in zone coverage with another three-man rush. The line was able to handle it, which allowed Prescott plenty of time to deliver the ball. All he had to do was put the ball in front of Cobb and they move the sticks. Instead, the ball was slightly behind Cobb forcing him to make an awkward turn to reach back for it. Is it a catch he could have made? Sure. But it could have been much simpler if there was slightly better ball placement.

Taysom Hill is a dangerous player when he gets the opportunity to play quarterback. He gashed the defense for a long gain off a read-option, but Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch and Anthony Brown played him perfectly down in the red zone. Smith was able to beat Terron Armstead and Vander Esch ran past Erik McCoy. Brown took a nice angle to the ball and was able to chop Hill down before he had a chance to turn the corner.

Marcus Williams saved the game for the Saints with a tremendous open field tackle on Randall Cobb in the final moments of that ball game. Prescott delivered a strike and Cobb had a full head of steam driving up the field, but Williams put himself in perfect position to take Cobb down before he had a chance to cross into Saints territory. This is where that 10-second run off for the Tyron Smith injury hurt them, as they had no choice but to attempt the "Hail Mary" after the spike.

Just counting the third down situations, Byron Jones carried Michael Thomas on six of those snaps, with Thomas only coming up with one reception. What was also interesting about those situations was the defense was able to register two sacks while Jones was on Thomas. I thought Jones would have carried Thomas more on those third downs, but Chidobe Awuzie and Anthony Brown also pitched in.

Kellen Moore got what he wanted on the play action pass to Blake Jarwin. The Saints were once again sitting in two deep and Prescott was able to sneak Jarwin up the field from an inline position. The play fake drew the linebackers up, which put A.J. Klein in a poor position from a coverage aspect. Prescott did a nice job of reading the safeties and putting the ball in a perfect spot so Jarwin could come down with the ball to set the offense up on the goal line.

I believe I have my math correct here. Kellen Moore called 11 first down runs. Six of those calls involved a missed block. On two of those runs, the blockers were just overpowered at the point of attack and the defender made the play. The other three were technique problems where they didn't get their head across on the defender or they just overran the defender -- thus failing to adjust back in order to secure the block.