Sports · American Football · 1 hr ago
Dak Prescott questions Cowboys’ offensive identity
Dak Prescott questioned whether Dallas has an offensive identity to be proud of after the Cowboys reached the midpoint of their season.
The team is scoring 27.4 points per game, but its offense has become less varied and less suited to its quarterback, according to the figures described.
Dallas is using less pre-snap motion, play action and under-center formations than it did last season.
The Cowboys also have a weak running game, averaging 94.1 rushing yards per game, and run the ball at one of the lowest rates in the NFL.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer and Prescott differ on motion, which Prescott says can help him read defenses and create favorable matchups.
Prescott promised the offense would improve, but the team’s ability to stay competitive may depend on whether it restores tactics that make the offense easier to run.
Dak Prescott said he was unsure whether the Dallas Cowboys had established an offensive identity they could be proud of.
The quarterback made the assessment Thursday, after the team had played eight games.
Prescott said the offense would improve, while arguing that motion can help reveal defensive disguises and create favorable matchups.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer has said using motion is harder when the Cowboys are trailing and can cloud the quarterback’s view.
The article reports that Dallas has used motion, play action and under-center formations less frequently in 2026 than in 2025.
- Who
- Dak Prescott, quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, assessed the offense; Brian Schottenheimer leads its playcalling.
- What
- Prescott questioned whether the Cowboys had an offensive identity they could be proud of.
- When
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, after eight games.
- Where
- Frisco, Texas.
- Why
- Prescott was asked whether the Cowboys had established an offensive identity. He said motion can help him read disguises and matchups.
Brian Schottenheimer
Dak Prescott
Use of motion
Brian Schottenheimer
Schottenheimer has said motion is harder to use when the Cowboys are trailing and can cloud the picture for a quarterback.
Dak Prescott
Prescott said motion can dress up a core play, break tendencies, reveal defensive disguises and create different matchups.
The Cowboys had a 56.6% motion rate, a 28.2% play-action rate and a 38.4% under-center rate, according to the article’s comparison table.
After eight games, Prescott questioned whether the Cowboys had an offensive identity they could be proud of.
- Team
- Dallas Cowboys
- Quarterback
- Dak Prescott
- Coach
- Brian Schottenheimer
- Games played
- Eight
- Points per game
- 27.4
- 2026 motion rate
- The article gives 36.5% in its text and 33.8% in its comparison table.
What people are saying
Is it one we're proud of? I don't know
We'll be better, I can promise.
Sometimes, it's [motion] just to dress it up and take the defense, give them a different look of us running a core play and breaking some tendencies with a motion to get this play done,
Sometimes it's used strictly for me to see the disguise, to see the matchups that we've got or to create different matchups by moving them from one side to the other and really just getting all the information I can through motion.