Throughout the week, you heard it all about the Vikings’ aggressive defense led by one of the most blitz-happy defensive coordinators in the NFL, Brian Flores. Leading up to the game, Prescott even reminisced about that one time Flores sent Cover-0 (man coverage, no safety help, 6-7 man blitz) over 20 times versus Lamar Jackson.
And yet, the Cowboys weren’t ready for it. When asked about Pickens’ lack of involvement, Prescott pointed toward the Vikings’ Cover-0 looks.
“Honestly, just the zero looks and things like that,” Prescott said. “Simple as that, anytime we were in a passing situation or passing downs and they were giving us that look, we tried to throw him just a quick smoke — not early, well late honestly — and maybe we should have done it earlier. Maybe we should have just thrown him a slant. A lot of ‘maybes.’ I’m frustrated. This was one of the toughest ones I’ve been a part of.”
Maybe Prescott is right about the slant routes, though it sure felt like the Vikings — just like Detroit a week ago — were sitting on it. The Cowboys failed to have a changeup going into this one.
Brian Schottenheimer’s offense shut down by Cover-0 looks
Prescott attributed the “zero” looks to why he struggled to get Pickens the football, but that wasn’t it. Instead, he thinks that’s what overall made the Cowboys struggle in a must-win matchup.
“The zero [looks] that we talked about throughout the week, gave it to us a bunch,” Prescott admitted. “We didn’t have a good enough answer, and when you don’t have a good enough answer for that, especially against Flores, you’re going to see it again and again. That’s what happened.”
Though Cowboys players didn’t execute, the lack of a good answer also falls on head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his coaching staff. After the game, Schottenheimer was willing to admit it.
“They did a good job with their blitz packages,” Schottenheimer said.