Cowboys Film Room: Don’t panic about Dez Bryant

And the second one came on a back-shoulder throw that was late and too far inside. Somehow, Bryant was able to reach around Talib and knock this pass away. For whatever reason, these plays are looked at as a negative for Bryant because he was targeted and did not catch the pass. But in reality, he did as much as any receiver in the league could do given the situation:

If not for Bryant’s awareness, Prescott’s day could have looked that much worse. However, this is just another reason why it’s actually okay to throw to Bryant into tight coverage. For the most part, he’s not going to allow the defender to intercept the pass if he’s anywhere near the ball.

And on Bryant’s final snap of the game, he ran a fade route against Aqib Talib in the end zone. This play requires the quarterback and the receiver to read the defender the same. Talib was sitting on the back-shoulder fade after being beaten earlier in the game for a touchdown. Bryant read that and ran a fade route, which is the correct decision. Unfortunately, Prescott did not read it the same way:

I’m not sure how Prescott read this coverage. If he was throwing a fade, it was far too low of a throw. But my guess is that he meant to throw a back-shoulder fade but threw it too far inside and Talib picked it off. Ideally, that ball needs to be thrown to the pylon. It was just another example of the quarterback not being on the same page as the receiver. If this ball is thrown high, it’s likely Bryant scores his second touchdown of the day as Talib wouldn’t have had the position to play the fade.

Next: Top 25 Super Bowl performances of all-time

Prescott and Bryant are spectacular players that will get on the same page eventually. They started to click at the end of last year and I fully expect them to do the same in a few weeks. Don’t let one weird stat line effect the thought that Bryant is no longer a great receiver. He’s still one of the best in the NFL and will prove that again this season.