PROFILES » Stand up and cheer, C

During Weeks 1-13, Dallas Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott posted a Total QBR of 85.0, the best mark in the NFL. But that plummeted to 22.1 against the?New York Giants on Sunday night in a Week 14 loss, as he completed only 17 of 35 passes for 167 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.Was the rookie quarterback exposed in a way that will continue to be an issue, or can the Cowboys make some corrections and adjust the offensive call sheet to facilitate more production? Lets discuss three ways Prescott and the Cowboys can learn from the tape over the past two weeks to improve the offensive efficiency in Dallas.Avoid locking in on BryantSince Dez Bryant returned in Week 8, he has seen 57 targets in the passing game, and he has produced 27 receptions for 494 yards (18.30 yards per catch) and four touchdowns. I understand why Prescott would want to get the ball out to Bryant. Hes a true No. 1 with the speed, size and matchup ability to win inside and outside of the numbers.Plus, in my opinion, Bryant is also the leagues most dynamic weapon in the red zone. Hes too physical for defensive backs at the point of attack.But given Bryants 47.4 percent catch rate since Week 8 and his average air yard per target of 15.39, the Cowboys hyperefficient passing game that we saw earlier in the season has dropped off a bit with Prescott locking in on his No. 1. This showed up multiple times on the tape versus the Giants when Prescott had options open on much higher-percentage routes.Take a look at this example: Philippe Coutinho Brazil Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Fernandinho Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. http://www.soccerbrazilonline.com/David-Luiz-Copa-America-Jersey/ . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Fabinho Brazil Jersey . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Ganso Jersey . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Michael Phelps won more medals than anyone else, again. And then he said farewell, also again.Usain Bolt kissed the finish line goodbye after enhancing his Olympic legacy. Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky delivered under the burden of enormous expectations. Two strangers went from rivals to forever-linked by a display of kindness, an entire island seemed to celebrate a tennis match, and a gold medalist scampered home to avoid legal issues after a robbery story unraveled.And then the home team won soccer gold.The Rio de Janeiro Olympics were not perfect.But there were moments -- some great, some dreadful and some downright ugly -- that will not, and should not, be forgotten.Heres a look:---MEDAL LEADERSThe U.S. dominated the medal count, a rare romp in a non-boycotted games. Theres still more medals to win Sunday, but the margin of overall victory could be the most in a fully attended games in 68 years. Phelps won six medals, five of them gold, to increase his career haul to 23 Olympic titles and 28 medals overall. Ledecky and Biles each won five medals; Biles will carry the U.S. flag into the closing ceremony. And U.S. shooter Kim Rhode has now won a medal in six consecutive Olympics -- and she might not be done.---BEST FINISHBolt kissing the finish line after his ninth and final Olympic gold -- in nine final races -- was a perfect ending. He ran the anchor leg of the 4x100-meter relay for Jamaica, won emphatically to become the third athlete ever with nine golds in track and field, and insists that this will be the end of his Olympic career.Nothing left to prove, Bolt said.Hes right.I am the greatest, he added.Right again.---BEST ACT OF SPORTSMANSHIPAn easy pick.In the womens 5,000-meter heat, Abbey DAgostino of the U.S. and New Zealands Nikki Hamblin -- strangers before that day -- were involved in a tumble. DAgostino helped Hamblin up, encouraging her to finish the race. DAgostino tore a knee ligament in the fall and obviously couldnt finish. Hamblin wound up finishing last of 17 in the 5,000 final, so neither left with a medal.Instead, they got so much more.That girl is the Olympic spirit right there, Hamblin said of DAgostino. Ive never met her before. Like I never met this girl before. And isnt that just so amazing?Yes, it is.---BIGGEST EMBARRASSMENTAnother easy pick, even in a games where an Egyptian was sent home after failing to shake an Israeli judo opponents hand.Ryan Lochte is a 12-time Olympic medalist, and the odds that hell have a chance to ever swim for a 13th are as murky as some of the pools were in these Rio Games. Lochtes story that a robber put a gun to his head quickly unraveled, his three teammates who were companions that night all were left to answer legal questions after he scurried home, and more repercussions from the U.S. Olympic Committee are likely coming.Its traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country -- with a language barrier, read part of the apology that Lochte released on social media Friday.Maybe so, but it bears noting that language barrier or no language barrier, the incident occurred after Lochte left a night out at ... Club France. So it would seem like not all foreign atmospheres struck him as traumatic before now.---BREAKOUT STARWe asked. You voted.Narrowing the list of potential candidates to four -- Simone Manuel (four swimming medals), Joseph Schooling (beat Phelps for a gold in the pool), Monica Puig (whose tennis gold was Puerto Ricos first Olympic title in any sport) and Ibtihaj Muhammad (the barrier-breaking fencing medalist) -- AP asked its Twitter followers to have a say in deciding this one.The response was overwhelming, and one-sided: Puig is the breakout star of these games.Reduced to tears many times after draping the Puerto Rican flag across her body after the gold-medal match, Puig beat two of the worlds best five players to win the title.To do this ... is everything, Puig said.The Olympic ideal, personified.---BEST COACHDue respect to Mike Krzyzewski, Geno Auriemma, Martha Karolyi and the Japanese wrestling coach who found himself getting body-slammed twice in celebration by womens gold medalist Risako Kawai, thiss one goes to Ans Botha -- the 74-year-old great-grandmother who guided South Africas Wayde Van Niekerk to Olympic gold and a world record in the mens 400 sprint.ddddddddddddHer style is simple. When the smile goes away and the voice gets stern, its time to get serious. Sort of like most great-grandmothers.Shes an amazing woman, Van Niekerk said. Her work ... I think it speaks for itself.---BEST COUPLEDecathlon champion Ashton Eaton of the U.S. and his wife, heptathlon bronze medalist Brianne Thiesen-Eaton of Canada, would be a very easy selection here.But what Kate Richardson-Walsh and Helen Richardson-Walsh did was even more rare.Theyre married, and played for the same gold-medal winning British womens field hockey team. In a games that had more openly gay athletes than ever before, theirs was a moment that surely resonated with many around the world who dont know the first thing about field hockey.To win an Olympic medal is special. To win an Olympic medal with your wife standing next to you ... we will cherish this for the rest of our lives, Kate Richardson-Walsh said.---BEST BACK-AND-FORTHWhen the U.S. womens soccer team was ousted by Sweden (and former U.S. coach Pia Sundhage), American goalkeeper Hope Solo raised eyebrows with her assessment of the match.But her former coach had the perfect rebuttal.We lost to a bunch of cowards, Solo said.Its OK to be cowards if you win, Sundhage countered.---BIGGEST OFF-FIELD STARA tough category, especially after Leslie Jones of Saturday Night Live parlayed hilarious Twitter commentary into an invite to Rio. Matthew McConaughey hung out with everyone from the U.S. womens rugby team to Phelps, and Gisele Bundchens catwalk in the opening ceremony was one not to forget.But the pick here is Zac Efron, who flew to Rio just to surprise the U.S. womens gymnastics team -- particularly Biles, who doesnt hide her enormous crush on the actor.He also saw Bolt and the U.S. mens basketball team, but lets face it, no one is going to ignore invites to hang with Biles and the U.S. gymnasts right now.---BEST SPINNo one might have been better at their job during the Olympics than Mario Andrada, the spokesman for the Rio Games organizing committee.When something went wrong it was his job to explain it -- and do so with the world watching and listening. He and International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams held daily hourlong briefings with reporters, and Andrada offered up some quote gems. So well go ahead and award his head-scratching statements their own set of medals.The bronze: Numbers mislead, he said, as part of an answer about ticket sales and poor crowds.The silver: Lets give these kids a break, he said of Lochte and his U.S. swimming teammates, after their incident.The gold: Chemistry is not an exact science, he said, talking about why the water at a diving pool went from blue to green.---BEST BRAZILIAN MOMENT ...Stand up and cheer, City of God.One of your own is now an Olympic champion.Slums, or favelas, are everywhere in Rio -- none more infamous than the City of God, which rose to fame through the 2002 movie of the same name that depicted life in the slum. Rafaela Silva grew up there, and she won gold in judo at these Rio Games.Now thats a made-for-Hollywood story.---... THAT IS, UNTIL THIS HAPPENEDHows this for a storybook ending for Brazil?Soccer gold -- and in most dramatic style, too.Brazil vs. Germany, mens soccer, gold-medal matchup. Neymar gives the hosts a 1-0 lead, but the Germans tie it and ultimately it goes to penalty kicks to decide the Olympic champion.Germany makes its first four.So does Brazil.Then Germany is stopped on its fifth, and the stage is set for Neymar -- who else? -- to set off a national celebration. His shot sails into the back of the net, Brazil wins and the roar could be heard all over Rio as Neymar collapsed on the field in a quivering mass of joyous tears.Forget all the problems these games had. Forget how many Brazilians opposed them in the first place.They got their perfect finish to an imperfect Olympics. ' ' '