Cowboy Wire: Redzone issues are keeping this offense from being elite

[LouBrown]

On paper cowboys should be able to do whatever they want. Especially with that interior. Calls do seem suspect at times. Could be a Dak thing. Tough to point to one particular thing.

On paper yes.

I think Tyler Smith and Beebe injuries hurt what they wanted to do in the run game. I think Schotty also got pretty stupid inside the 5 at times, but a lot of playcallers do that.

 

[zrinkill]

The offense is only a problem in the playoffs with their 2 quarter long slow starts ......... during the regular season they are usually fine if not really good ........ especially since we have no starting RB.

 

[Vtwin]

CPOE isn't subjective.

You are literally only using the subjective lol.

You are wrong. It's fine. You'll live.

No sir. Wrong again.

The "difficulty of the pass" is a key factor in determining the cpoe. Determining the difficulty of the pass is a subjective determination.

It also doesn't factor in the passes that weren't thrown by choice.

Fantasy football hogwash for the geeks.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

So Dak played 5 games in 2020 and they were 29th in redzone percentage.

In 2022, they were 1st.

Last year they were 18th.

It’s not that they haven’t been good at times it’s that they’ve been inconsistent.

Our worst years are the years Dak were hurt. 31st and 29thz

 

[DallasEast]

Cowboys' red-zone issues are keeping them from being an elite offense​

Reid D Hanson
Cowboys Wire

Cowboys' red-zone issues have kept them from being an elite offense

^ A better article headline unless Reid Hanson owns a time machine.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

On paper yes.

I think Tyler Smith and Beebe injuries hurt what they wanted to do in the run game. I think Schotty also got pretty stupid inside the 5 at times, but a lot of playcallers do that.

Yeah man you watch football on a Sunday and you will see pure stupidity there and by some good coaches too.

 

[blueblood70]

Look at what happened last year with Adams and Schotty. The Red Zone issues were considerably better.

You are correct but people keep forgetting that the tackles were really bad last year They didn't have much time to throw because a lot of times if guys taking a little bit extra time to get open because of the tight coverage inside the they're not gonna be able to get the playoff most likely the ball strong way or dumped off but then they end up hitting a field goal but there were 7th in scoring overall meaning I'm betting there was a way somebody really wanted to look at this How many times did they score from just outside the red zone like at the 22 yard line or 28 yard line what does it matter if it was done from inside the 20 yard line if that's what's considered the redone when they are 7th in scoring without any help from the defense or special teams there wasn't any short fields or any deep points they got all those points spent in scoring in the NFL...


I'm wondering what that is just in the NFC and then again the NFCEast,

do we really want to have to break down plays to the point where we're condemning a team for not scoring up in the red zone when they were 7th in the NFL I'm betting they were one of the top two in the NFC and the best in the NFC East..

 

[Kwyn]

The last? I'm referring to this:

The article says they're 24th but it doesn't mention what other rankings are or the raw data. This has multiple problems.
- Assuming a team has 50 goal-to-go situations a year, one game where you go 0-3 can skew rankings significantly (6% swing). That's probably high for total opportunities.
- It doesn't show the delta between higher rankings and 24th. If the difference between 24th and, say, 10th, is 5%, that's mostly meaningless.

It's a problem of small data samples.

This is easily answered

• Philadelphia Eagles: 70.5%
• Cincinnati Bengals: 66.7%
• Buffalo Bills: 66.2%
• Washington Commanders: 65.2%
• San Francisco 49ers: 65.2%
• Indianapolis Colts: 65.2%
• Los Angeles Rams: 63.2%
• Detroit Lions: 62.5%
• Atlanta Falcons: 62.0%
• Jacksonville Jaguars: 61.8%
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 14
• 15
• 16
• 17
• Dallas Cowboys: 56.9 (18th)

The absolute difference is 14%
The standard percentage difference is 22.22%
The relative percentage decrease from 70 to 56 is 20%

 

[Hawkeye0202]

At least half of all red zone touchdowns are pass plays so it’s being good at run blocking doesn’t mean necessarily mean you’re helping them score red zone touchdowns.

Steele is also an excellent run blocker but like Smith is not good at pass blocking but he takes a hundred times more heat than Smith.

Also, Tyler Smith committed the most penalties on the entire team.

Six holds and four false starts.

It’s hard to track down and distance details for penalties without a lot of detailed game log digging but …

I do remember him with a holding penalty at the five yard line that negated a Fluornoy touchdown against the Chargers in week 16

Red Zone Penalties seems to have been a repeated issue for the team and since we led the league in penalties, I imagine it’s a safe bet that we had a large number in the red zone.

I just think this was a terrific example of a player getting his big bag of money and then coasting. Smith had his worst season in a year where he had the richest interior lineman contract in NFL history.

I agree with all of that K... It just seems that you're singling out Tyler Smith for our redzone issues which is what the thread is about. All I'm saying is there are many factors Tyler being one of them but there are lots of others.

 

[blueblood70]

You know I'm going to squash this right now because I think you all are nitpicking they could be scoring just outside the red zone all that matters is there one of the highest scoring offenses in the league last year seven overall 30NFC and tops in the end of the East therefore they're scoring from somewhere it all matters is their scoring...

The top5, by the way scoring offense in the NFL are all in the NFC and the Cowboys are 3rd..


Yes it would be nice to score a few more touchdowns but you guys nitpicking again I'm telling you stop criticizing an offense had no help from the defense last year there's no short fields there was no pick sixes there was no help from the specialties I don't believe our special teams ran back any returns or punts for touchdowns..



So yes in years past you can look that because Dan Quinn defenses were scoring a lot gave a short fields they added to the scoring but last year the Cowboys had a pure offense All those points came from the offense and I don't care they came from if you listen to those other games the soaring is all the scoring That means that whatever points are added by the defense or special teams or the short fields it help those i'm betting the Dallas Cowboys the number one offense in the league you just look at it what the offense scored alone..

 

[charron]

As good as this offense was last year the redzone was their biggest issue. I got blasted last season for saying as good as they are this is the 1 area on offense they need to clean up.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

This unequivocally statistically false.

Welll do tell. Just take your word for it?

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

You know I'm going to squash this right now because I think you all are nitpicking they could be scoring just outside the red zone all that matters is there one of the highest scoring offenses in the league last year seven overall 30NFC and tops in the end of the East therefore they're scoring from somewhere it all matters is their scoring...

The top5, by the way scoring offense in the NFL are all in the NFC and the Cowboys are 3rd..


Yes it would be nice to score a few more touchdowns but you guys nitpicking again I'm telling you stop criticizing an offense had no help from the defense last year there's no short fields there was no pick sixes there was no help from the specialties I don't believe our special teams ran back any returns or punts for touchdowns..



So yes in years past you can look that because Dan Quinn defenses were scoring a lot gave a short fields they added to the scoring but last year the Cowboys had a pure offense All those points came from the offense and I don't care they came from if you listen to those other games the soaring is all the scoring That means that whatever points are added by the defense or special teams or the short fields it help those i'm betting the Dallas Cowboys the number one offense in the league you just look at it what the offense scored alone..

Once again...Bob Haze had a GREATthread about WHEN Cowboys score. And it isn't in the first half.

And example to stat abuse. "Top scorers in the league"...with zero context about it. Let's do scoring by quarter and see where we are.

 

[plasticman]

Let's be fair, the Cowboys offense may have been rather average around the redzone but that is not "struggling".

Do they need to improve? Of course, but "struggling" is an obvious exaggeration for a team that ranked #2 in yardage and #7 in scoring.

The Cowboys averaged 2.8 yards per run in the redzone, which tied them for #14 with three other teams including the Seahawks and Ravens. They were tied at #8 for rushing TD's from the redzone.

If we want to discuss a part of the team that struggled in the redzone, there is so much more that can be said of the defense.

Anyway,

As well as Booker was said to play, imagine his 2nd season where most players show the greatest improvement.

In fact, the interior O-line starters should be even more cohesive and efficient after playing a season together.

Add in a now-proven starting RB and they should be able to eat up yards in the redzone.

 

[noshame]

Tight coverage can cause hidden problems to emerge

 

[big dog cowboy]

I think Schotty also got pretty stupid inside the 5 at times, but a lot of playcallers do that.

They overthink it. Try to get cute.

 

[Kwyn]

I agree with all of that K... It just seems that you're singling out Tyler Smith for our redzone issues which is what the thread is about. All I'm saying is there are many factors Tyler being one of them but there are lots of others.

Well, there are so many threads and each takes on its own flavor.

If you ask me to speculate the issues with the red zone I’d put it down to three things

1. Execution and consistency, particularly when it comes to penalties, nothing destroys a deep drive than an untimely penalty
2. Offensive line play. Both the run game and the pass game rely on the oline. I single out Smith because he is massively compensated, should be the absolute leader of the unit. He’s been there the longest and is the most paid but you don’t hear about him leading practice or setting the tone. Beebe makes the adjustments and Zack Martin and Fredbeard are long gone. I jsut think it’s too big a role for him and he’s not comfortable with the mantle of leadership. Pure speculation on my part.
3. Play calling. I’m not saying I’ve observed something that made me sit up and start pointing, but it’s obviously a critical factor.

 

[Hadenough]

Is that why I’ve never seen a RB score a TD in the red zone?

Yes! Teams focus on stopping the run forcing the QB into throwing and we all know how Dak likes throwing into tight windows in traffic.

 

[Hadenough]

We have two of the best young guards in the league. I'm hopeful we will see significant improvement in this area.


https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/st...them&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter



COWBOYS

Cowboys' red-zone issues are keeping them from being an elite offense​

Reid D Hanson
Cowboys Wire

The 2026 offseason has been all about fixing the Dallas Cowboys’ trainwreck of a defense. After finishing last in the NFL in some of the biggest defensive categories, the focus is as understandable as it is warranted. It’s why the Cowboys swung big on new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, and it’s why the vast majority of resources have swung in that direction over the offseason.

But the Cowboys' offense has issues of their own, and unless they do something to fix it, those issues threaten to undermine the 2026 campaign. The issue is their red-zone efficiency and a closer look indicates these known issues are even worse than we suspected.

It’s not just red zone it’s consistently putting together long methodical drives. The Cowboys rely on big plays and when they don’t get them they sputter. Sometimes penalties, dropped passes missed short passes and stuffed runs kill the offense.

 

[DallasEast]

To help supplement the Next Gen Stats' Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE) subdiscussion:

Completion Probability Explained | Next Gen Stats



I wish Next Gen Stats' data was not proprietary. Open public access would make it easier to examine quarterbacks' execution, according to the formula, per game, half, quarter, and perhaps even per drive.

Edit: CRAP! Stupid YouTube exclusivity will not allow for the video to be embedded and watched outside its site. Changing to a clickable link to the video instead for this reason.