CowboyRoy
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I haven't mentioned Prescott or any player in any of my post. I say offense because at one time or another they all failed in different games. The OL, RBs, WRs, and yes, the QB. This is over the course of the season.
I have seen and gone through each individual game and broke it down in a previous post. The great offense that you tout were actually frauds. The last two games are classic examples of the 2019 Dallas offense.
Week 16 with the season on the line they score no TDs. Week 17 with nothing on the line against an inferior opponent they score the most points of the year. Rah, rah, look at the mighty offense.
You say I'm biased but you should look in the mirror. You are the biggest Prescott supporter on this board. For you to admit about the fault of the offense leading to the failure of the team would mean you would be saying something blasphemous against your God Prescott.
I don't have a dog in the fight and I'm able to call them as they are. The fact is the offense was a bigger contributor to Dallas underachieving this year than the defense. Look at the 8 losses, that's where the evidence is.
I know some of you guys are so filled with hate that all you can do is blame Dak for everything. But the truth is that the offense overall was incredible. Do yourself a favor and read a little. Here is a snippet from an article on just how good the offense was.
All of these are questions that we’ll seemingly never get an answer to, but one thing we do know for sure is that Kellen Moore was brilliant in his first year as an offensive coordinator.
Fans may look at the Cowboys’ 8-8 record and lack of a postseason appearance, as well as weighing their heavy desire to move on from the Garrett era, and think it a good idea to entirely clean house, including Moore. But a closer look reveals that Moore and his offense delivered the goods despite having all the odds stacked against them.
We’ve already heard the stats that make Moore look good: first in total yards, second in passing, fifth in rushing, and sixth in scoring. They also finished tied for second in third-down conversion rates. Their offensive nucleus of Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup all had great statistical years. The offense ranked second in total offensive efficiency, or DVOA, while ranking third in rushing efficiency and fifth in passing efficiency.
Those are all great stats, and in most cases that’d be enough for an offensive coordinator to start getting head coach interviews around the league. But when your team fails to make the playoffs, you start to ask if those are empty numbers and who’s really to blame. Upon further review, Moore is not the one to blame.
And none of this is to say that a few better performances from Dak or the offense couldn't have gave us another win or two. Article goes into detail about exactly what I said. Defense and special teams putting the offense it very difficult situations all year long.
The offense was routinely set up to fail by their defense and special teams, yet they still succeeded
Here’s the part that makes all of this absolutely insane: the Cowboys consistently were given terrible starting field position and still had all the success described above. Starting field position is an underrated but vital part of a team’s success.
For example, the 2018 Bears went 12-4 and had head coach Matt Nagy looking like the next McVay. But in reality, his offense only ranked 20th in offensive DVOA that year and 14th in drive success rate. However, the Bears defense led the league in takeaways and as a result they had the sixth best average starting field position that year. This year, the Bears defense regressed towards the mean and Chicago had the 16th best starting field position, and missed the playoffs as a result.
For Dallas, the story was somewhat similar, though with different causes. Only five teams had less takeaways than the Cowboys, and their special teams unit was dismal: Chris Jones was dead last in the league in yards per punt and they finished 30th in DVOA, enjoying a nice upswing after Kai Forbath’s solid play was added to the team. That’s right, Forbath was so good that he improved their special teams all the way to third worst in the league. When he was signed, they were dead last.
Between this special teams horror show and the lack of defensive takeaways, Dallas had the third worst average starting field position. Their average drive started at the 26-yard line, which is only slightly better than a touchback. This means the Cowboys offense more often than not was asked to drive 70-80 yards each possession in order to score a touchdown. Very few offenses can overcome that.
Yet Moore’s group did. They averaged 39.99 yards per drive, second only to the Ravens, and had the fourth most points per drive. The odds were continually stacked against this unit, often by their own teammates and coaches, and yet they consistently delivered. Seeing this from any offensive coordinator is impressive, but from someone who’s never called plays before? That’s truly incredible.