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

[J-man]

So no blame goes to the historically awful defense?

Not that this accounts for all of the issues because it doesn't. But I think they went for it on 4th and goal far too often BECAUSE of the horrible defense. They needed points and lots of them to have nay chance of winning and they knew it.

 

[Havic]

This team is not great in the redzone. That has to do with play calling. When KM was here he had one of the best redzone offenses

 

[Coogiguy03]

I think the article fails to call the playcalling into question.

For everything I liked in Schotty’s first season, his red zone playcalling wasn’t one of them.

Far too often, he abandoned a running game that was working when he reached the red zone.

He's just like the others that were here, I mean he says he loves "big backs" get that big back(s) in there and pound it in!!!

 

[Coogiguy03]

This team is not great in the redzone. That has to do with play calling. When KM was here he had one of the best redzone offenses

was that before or after he did one of those Kellen Moore trick play/reverses in the red zone

 

[Aven8]

Just imagine an offense where it doesn’t have to drive the length of the field for four quarters.

There’s a reason we lead the league in yards generally, our D sucks.

 

[Rockport]

Red zone is pretty much all qb with a sprinkle of oline. Gotta be a killer in the red zone. It is what it is

You’ve exposed your ignorance. Falser words have never been spoken here. When inside the 20, the offense doesn’t have much field to work with. Therefore, every man on the offense must execute flawlessly or the play will fail. You just don’t have much room to operate in so the play caller is also extremely important.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

You’ve exposed your ignorance. Falser words have never been spoken here. When inside the 20, the offense doesn’t have much field to work with. Therefore, every man on the offense must execute flawlessly or the play will fail. You just don’t have much room to operate in so the play caller is also extremely important.

So when things get tougher, the QB becomes less important?

 

[stilltheguru]

I see people got triggered because I put more responsibility on dak lol. It's all good

 

[McKDaddy]

It's been an issue for a number of years. You don't have to be a "professional" to see this. So, it's always a bit off putting to me when articles pop up like this as if they are using their superior knowledge to reveal some some hidden issue to the befuddled masses.

*** To be clear, this isn't directed at the OP or any poster. Just saying it's nothing we haven't been saying & discussing for years. ***

 

[Vtwin]

The redzone exposes overly cautious QBs. Especially overly cautious QBs who are a tick slow on the trigger and a smidgen off on the placement. Been a thing for the last ten years.

 

[blueblood70]

So when things get tougher, the QB becomes less important?

I didn’t read all the posts, just saw the last page, and it’s already clear this is being blown out of proportion—that’s not what he meant. He meant that if no one is getting open and the blocking isn’t great, the run game stops being a threat because it’s ineffective due to poor blocking. How is the quarterback supposed to do everything himself? I can say that without reading the whole thread because I already know the usual responses and nonstop bickering about the quarterback. But here’s the thing—why is the offense top five in almost every category and highly ranked in scoring? They’re putting up points without the benefit of short fields. Last year, in Brian’s first season calling the offense, they scored a lot, just not as much in the red zone due to multiple issues. Both tackles struggled badly with blocking, and if you don’t have time to throw or receivers getting open quickly, you end up settling for field goals you could’ve turned into touchdowns. This has been discussed in past years, but let’s be clear—this year, there’s no boost from special teams or defense, no short fields, no extra scores. It’s pure offense. That’s impressive considering they had one of the worst defenses in the league and special teams took a big step back. Yet people still look for flaws in the quarterback without addressing why red zone scoring dipped, even though they’re top seven in scoring across the entire league—they’re still scoring plenty, just finding different ways to do it.

But the Cowboys offense ranked

The Dallas Cowboys offense finished the 2025 NFL season ranked 7th in the league in scoring. They scored a total of 471 points, averaging 27.7 points per game across the 17-game season.

A quick look at how the offense stacked up overall shows they remained highly productive, even though the team struggled to a 7-9-1 overall record:

• Total Points: 471 points
• Points Per Game: 27.7 PPG (Ranked 7th)
• Total Offense: 6,663 total yards
• Yards Per Game: 391.9 YPG (Ranked 2nd)

The red zone needs work, but let’s not exaggerate. Most of the issues came from the offensive line not holding blocks long enough, and in such a tight area, it’s harder for receivers to get open. Put those two things together, and maybe they should’ve run the ball more in the red zone. Still, there were flaws across the offense, not just with the quarterback. Football is a team sport for a reason, when blocks aren’t held, the run game isn’t much of a threat, receivers aren’t getting open, and the quarterback is constantly forced to move off his spot and escape pressure from both sides. Then he has to try hitting a target who might not be open yet because defenders are getting through so quickly there’s no time for routes to develop or for the ball to come out on time. Pretty easy to see why the red zone was struggling.

 

[blueblood70]

But the Cowboys offense ranked

The Dallas Cowboys offense finished the 2025 NFL season ranked 7th in the league in scoring. They scored a total of 471 points, averaging 27.7 points per game across the 17-game season.

A quick look at how the offense stacked up overall shows they remained highly productive, even though the team struggled to a 7-9-1 overall record:

• Total Points: 471 points
• Points Per Game: 27.7 PPG (Ranked 7th)
• Total Offense: 6,663 total yards
• Yards Per Game: 391.9 YPG (Ranked 2nd)

During the 2025 NFL regular season, the Dallas Cowboys offense finished with a 56.92% red-zone touchdown percentage, ranking 18th in the league (or 16th to 18th depending on the exact statistical filter).

The team converted 37 touchdowns on 65 red-zone trips
The red zone needs work, but let’s not exaggerate.

Most of the issues came from the offensive line not holding blocks long enough, and in such a tight area, it’s harder for receivers to get open. Put those two things together, and maybe they should’ve run the ball more in the red zone. Still, there were flaws across the offense, not just with the quarterback. Football is a team sport for a reason, when blocks aren’t held, the run game isn’t much of a threat, receivers aren’t getting open, and the quarterback is constantly forced to move off his spot and escape pressure from both sides. Then he has to try hitting a target who might not be open yet because defenders are getting through so quickly there’s no time for routes to develop or for the ball to come out on time. Pretty easy to see why the red zone was struggling.

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.

But the Cowboys offense ranked

The Dallas Cowboys offense finished the 2025 NFL season ranked 7th in the league in scoring. They scored a total of 471 points, averaging 27.7 points per game across the 17-game season.

A quick look at how the offense stacked up overall shows they remained highly productive, even though the team struggled to a 7-9-1 overall record:

• Total Points: 471 points
• Points Per Game: 27.7 PPG (Ranked 7th)
• Total Offense: 6,663 total yards
• Yards Per Game: 391.9 YPG (Ranked 2nd)

During the 2025 NFL regular season, the Dallas Cowboys offense finished with a 56.92% red-zone touchdown percentage, ranking 18th in the league (or 16th to 18th depending on the exact statistical filter).

The team converted 37 touchdowns on 65 red-zone trips
The red zone needs work, but let’s not exaggerate.

Most of the issues came from the offensive line not holding blocks long enough, and in such a tight area, it’s harder for receivers to get open. Put those two things together, and maybe they should’ve run the ball more in the red zone. Still, there were flaws across the offense, not just with the quarterback. Football is a team sport for a reason, when blocks aren’t held, the run game isn’t much of a threat, receivers aren’t getting open, and the quarterback is constantly forced to move off his spot and escape pressure from both sides. Then he has to try hitting a target who might not be open yet because defenders are getting through so quickly there’s no time for routes to develop or for the ball to come out on time. Pretty easy to see why the red zone was struggling.

 

[shabazz]

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.

Point taken but oddly enough our red zone offense was more efficient than the two teams that made it to the Super Bowl, lol

Definitely room for improvement though

 

[conner01]

So no blame goes to the historically awful defense?

I don’t think pointing out how poor our redzone offense had been means ignoring how really bad the defense was last year. And we’ve taken steps to fix the D. But we have to get better on offense in red zone

 

[Redsfan_83]

So no blame goes to the historically awful defense?

I see what you did here, lol

 

[LouBrown]

Red Zone success is mostly just random and is significantly swayed by both starting field position and where a red zone possession happens to start.

The offense was elite anyway.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I don't know. It's been an issue the last few seasons. Seemed like we tried to start running more, so if we get that together maybe that is the missing piece.

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

 

[Kwyn]

I agree he didn't have his best season but how much does it impact the redzone issues? He was one of the top run-blocking guards.


https://www.pff.com/nfl/players/tyler-smith/98385
Tyler Smith is an offensive guard for the Dallas Cowboys who earned a 73.5 overall PFF grade in the 2025 season, 15th among 81 qualified offensive guards. He played 1,110 offensive snaps on the season.
His PFF pass-blocking grade of 65.4 ranked 29th among 81 qualified offensive guards. His run-blocking grade of 81.1 ranked 5th at the position.
He allowed 26 total pressures in pass protection. That total included 3 sacks and 0 hits allowed to opposing pass rushers. He was flagged for 11 penalties over the course of the season.

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.

 

[gtb1943]

Inside the ten, that is where the best offenses show up
NOT the twenty
and there you have to be able to both run it and pass it
BUT MOST OF ALL ITS ABOUT PLAY CALLING

 

[Kwyn]

Red Zone success is mostly just random and is significantly swayed by both starting field position and where a red zone possession happens to start.

The offense was elite anyway.

The team was awful in the red zone. Read the article. 24th in the league inside the ten.