One issue I have with our running game!

DallasEast · Tuesday at 11:11 AM

Coogiguy03 said:
This has been my issue for years since we had Pollard. Does anyone else feel that we don't utilize enough runs to the outside, vs continued runs up the middle with our more quicker running backs?? I know you can't run every play with a toss play to get the back out in space, but we don't seem to even think about it. I'd like to see them get a guy like Blue out on a RB toss run play and see his speed. With that said he has to have patience to set up his blocks and not just run right through. Does anyone else feel that we don't run enough to the outside? Please give your input

Here's data courtesy of stathead.com. Runs off left end (LE), left tackle (LT), right end (RE) and right tackle (RT) per ball carrier:

Date	Opponent	Ball Carrier	LE	LT	RE	RT
9/4/2025	Eagles	Javonte Williams	2	1
		KaVontae Turpin		1	1
		Miles Sanders	1		1
9/14/2025	Giants	Javonte Williams	1	3	1	4
		KaVontae Turpin			2
		Miles Sanders		1	1
9/21/2025	Bears	Javonte Williams	1	3		1
		KaVontae Turpin	1
		Miles Sanders		1	1	2
9/28/2025	Packers	Hunter Luepke				1
		Javonte Williams	2	8	2	1
		KaVontae Turpin	1
		Miles Sanders	1
		Ryan Flournoy	1
10/5/2025	Jets	Javonte Williams	1	1	2	4
		Jaydon Blue			2
		Ryan Flournoy	1		1
10/12/2025	Panthers	Javonte Williams	2		1	1
		Jaydon Blue	2		1
		Ryan Flournoy	1
10/19/2025	Washington	Javonte Williams	2	4	1	2
		Jaydon Blue		2	1	3
10/26/2025	Broncos	CeeDee Lamb			1
		Javonte Williams		2	1	1
		Jaydon Blue	1	1	2	1
		Malik Davis		1
11/3/2025	Cardinals	Javonte Williams	2	3		4
		KaVontae Turpin			1
11/17/2025	Raiders	Javonte Williams	1	1		1
		Malik Davis	1	1
11/23/2025	Eagles	Jake Ferguson	1
		Javonte Williams	1	7		2
		KaVontae Turpin	1		1
		Malik Davis	1
11/27/2025	Chiefs	Javonte Williams		6	3
		KaVontae Turpin			3
12/4/2025	Lions	Javonte Williams		6	1	3
		KaVontae Turpin	1
		Malik Davis		1
12/14/2025	Vikings	Brandon Aubrey			1
		Javonte Williams		1		2
		KaVontae Turpin			1
		Malik Davis		2
12/21/2025	Chargers	Javonte Williams		1		1
		KaVontae Turpin			2
		Malik Davis			2	1
12/25/2025	Washington	Hunter Luepke		1
		Javonte Williams		1	1
		Malik Davis	1			2
1/4/2026	Giants	Jaydon Blue	1	4		3
		Joe Milton	1		1
		KaVontae Turpin	1
		Phil Mafah				1

DallasEast · Tuesday at 11:11 AM

Coogiguy03 said:
This has been my issue for years since we had Pollard. Does anyone else feel that we don't utilize enough runs to the outside, vs continued runs up the middle with our more quicker running backs?? I know you can't run every play with a toss play to get the back out in space, but we don't seem to even think about it. I'd like to see them get a guy like Blue out on a RB toss run play and see his speed. With that said he has to have patience to set up his blocks and not just run right through. Does anyone else feel that we don't run enough to the outside? Please give your input

Count of specific runs and yards gained according to down per game:

Date	Opponent	Down	Play	Count	Yards Gained
9/4/2025	Eagles	1	LT	1	7
			RE	1	0
		2	LE	2	52
			LT	1	5
			RE	1	4
		3	LE	1	2
9/14/2025	Giants	1	LE	1	13
			LT	2	6
			RE	2	-2
			RT	3	34
		2	LT	2	25
			RE	2	13
			RT	1	4
9/21/2025	Bears	1	LE	1	4
			LT	4	19
		2	LE	1	22
			RE	1	5
			RT	3	13
9/28/2025	Packers	1	LE	5	31
			LT	5	15
		2	LT	3	10
			RE	1	2
			RT	1	13
		3	RE	1	0
			RT	1	6
10/5/2025	Jets	1	LE	2	21
			RE	4	4
			RT	2	7
		2	LT	1	4
			RE	1	1
			RT	1	4
		3	RT	1	2
10/12/2025	Panthers	1	LE	4	6
			RE	1	-2
			RT	1	4
		2	RE	1	4
		3	LE	1	0
10/19/2025	Washington	1	LE	1	0
			LT	3	19
			RE	2	6
			RT	2	5
		2	LE	1	17
			LT	2	11
			RT	2	12
		3	LT	1	9
			RT	1	5
10/26/2025	Broncos	1	LE	1	0
			LT	1	4
			RE	3	17
			RT	1	0
		2	LT	2	6
			RE	1	0
			RT	1	2
		3	LT	1	2
11/3/2025	Cardinals	1	LE	2	1
			LT	3	17
			RE	1	3
			RT	3	27
		2	RT	1	1
11/17/2025	Raiders	1	LE	1	1
			LT	2	12
			RT	1	7
		2	LE	1	0
11/23/2025	Eagles	1	LE	2	5
			LT	5	41
			RE	1	4
			RT	2	4
		2	LE	2	2
			LT	2	2
11/27/2025	Chiefs	1	LT	4	21
			RE	6	40
		2	LT	2	6
12/4/2025	Lions	1	LE	1	4
			LT	5	19
			RT	1	11
		2	LT	2	7
			RT	2	4
		3	RE	1	5
12/14/2025	Vikings	1	LT	1	0
			RT	2	30
		2	LT	2	3
			RE	1	2
		4	RE	1	6
12/21/2025	Chargers	1	LT	1	-3
			RE	4	18
			RT	1	6
		2	RT	1	2
12/25/2025	Washington	1	LT	2	16
			RT	2	8
		2	RE	1	1
		3	LE	1	0
1/4/2026	Giants	1	LE	2	4
			LT	2	31
			RE	1	3
			RT	3	1
		2	LT	2	1
			RT	1	11
		4	LE	1	23

DallasEast · Tuesday at 11:11 AM

Coogiguy03 said:
This has been my issue for years since we had Pollard. Does anyone else feel that we don't utilize enough runs to the outside, vs continued runs up the middle with our more quicker running backs?? I know you can't run every play with a toss play to get the back out in space, but we don't seem to even think about it. I'd like to see them get a guy like Blue out on a RB toss run play and see his speed. With that said he has to have patience to set up his blocks and not just run right through. Does anyone else feel that we don't run enough to the outside? Please give your input @Coogiguy03

Flesh out those OPs with some real info before auto-saying 'please give your input', my dude.

JoeKing · Tuesday at 11:24 AM

Let's face facts, when we had Emmitt Smith in his prime, we could have a balanced attack on offense. Times have changed. It's a passing league

CT Dal Fan · Tuesday at 11:25 AM

Creeper said:
If you want to run outside you needs two things. First, speed. The RB has to beat the LBs to the outside. Second, you need WRs, TEs and OTs who can block well. If they can't get that outside edge sealed no RB is going to run well outside. This has been a problem for Dallas since Dez left.

That's one reason Noah Brown was on the team for as long as he was. He was a JAG receiver but he was willing to block.

big dog cowboy · Tuesday at 11:26 AM

DallasEast said:
Flesh out those OPs with some real info before auto-saying 'please give your input', my dude.

Kwyn · Tuesday at 11:43 AM

McKDaddy said:
The average is 23 \ game. You aren't going to win a lot with 21 \ game unless your D is well above average or you have some fluky games.

If teams average 11-13 possessions \ game and you are an above average offense, you should be scoring on 40% or more of those possessions. The Rams scored on 49.6% of their possessions last year. If you keep your TD efficiency high, there really isn't any reason for a top offense not to hit 26+ points consistently. In short, I think the expectations for above average offenses should be higher than most people seem to have them currently.

The underlined part is key for us. Far too often we settle for FG. We scored TD's on 28.8% with total scoring on ~48% of our possessions. Shift that TD % higher and they become the top scoring team in the league not a top 5 unit. The team has been assembled, they need to maximize their execution. That should be the expectation IMO.

I think what he may have been trying tonsay is that was that he wants the team to have a realistic chance to win in a game where the offense can only score 21. That’s a comment on the defense more than the offense

In 2025 the cowboys scored less than 21 points four times and lost all of them.

The team also gave up fewer than 21 points once but happened to win that day because they scored 33.

not sure that’s what he was thinking or not, but the bottom line is that the cowboys struggled to win low scoring games.

In games where both teams combined to score under the over/under NFL average of 44 points, the Cowboys didn’t win a single one

If you broaden that to a more generous 50 point total they won two, with the only one of import being against the eagles. The other was against the league worst Raiders who were actively tanking.

Coogiguy03 · Tuesday at 12:11 PM

DallasEast said:
Flesh out those OPs with some real info before auto-saying 'please give your input', my dude.

My "dude" wow you're a little "hip" too?????

A blind man can see that we don't run outside often especially with the guys that are quicker, instead we pound them up the middle often!!

Thanks "bruh"

DallasEast · Tuesday at 12:28 PM

Coogiguy03 said:
My "dude" wow you're a little "hip" too?????

A blind man can see that we don't run outside often especially with the guys that are quicker, instead we pound them up the middle often!!

Thanks "bruh"

Dang! You type all your threads with a braille keyboard? Major props! :thumbup:

Coogiguy03 · Tuesday at 12:49 PM

DallasEast said:
Dang! You type all your threads with a braille keyboard? Major props!

you taught me everything I didn't know, kudos to you my brother!!

kskboys · Tuesday at 12:52 PM

CT Dal Fan said:
That's one reason Noah Brown was on the team for as long as he was. He was a JAG receiver but he was willing to block.

And was an excellent STer.

big dog cowboy · Tuesday at 12:55 PM

DallasEast said:
my dude.

Coogiguy03 said:
Thanks "bruh"

Get a room.

McKDaddy · Tuesday at 1:49 PM

Kwyn said:
I think what he may have been trying tonsay is that was that he wants the team to have a realistic chance to win in a game where the offense can only score 21.

That's fair & I think the D is gonna be improved enough to make that possible.

I'm just trying to get people to understand that their concept of scoring averages may be outdated. In an offensive league, 21 isn't cutting it most days. Given the resources\talent on that side of the ball, I think it's low hanging fruit to push our scoring higher. For those who dream of Dak winning an MVP, this is the path. Get that efficiency up, lead the league in scoring, wins will come.

Kwyn · Tuesday at 2:42 PM

McKDaddy said:
That's fair & I think the D is gonna be improved enough to make that possible.

I'm just trying to get people to understand that their concept of scoring averages may be outdated. In an offensive league, 21 isn't cutting it most days. Given the resources\talent on that side of the ball, I think it's low hanging fruit to push our scoring higher. For those who dream of Dak winning an MVP, this is the path. Get that efficiency up, lead the league in scoring, wins will come.

Agreed. I linked a podcast in the nfl zone about current trends in the nfl and one of the tooids seemed to discuss how scoring in bunches isn’t as important as having quality possessions and limiting opponents opportunities

charron · Tuesday at 3:52 PM

The best thing to do IMHO is to make the runs look like any other play. Rams went to the SB running 1 play that had like 6 options, from passing to run options and some mis direction built in. Teams would be smart to design multiple ways to attack a defense from the same formation/look just to keep the defense a little honest.

McKDaddy · Tuesday at 3:57 PM

Kwyn said:
Agreed. I linked a podcast in the nfl zone about current trends in the nfl and one of the tooids seemed to discuss how scoring in bunches isn’t as important as having quality possessions and limiting opponents opportunities

Another reason stats can be so misleading. We had the 2nd most possessions last year (largely due to our D being so bad of course) so yes our yards & some other stats were good .... but misleading.

The Rams on the other hand had the most possessions. Their D was very good thus giving them stops & increased # of possessions. Opposite ends of the same spectrum. Their D took the ball away 26 times but only scored one TD (same as our TD #) but we only had 12 turnovers.
Plus, as you said, they generally had quality possessions. This is the combination you want.

speedkilz88 · Tuesday at 3:57 PM

They purposely didn't run outside in preseason or scrimmages. They don't want those plays on video for their upcoming opponents.

Coogiguy03 · Tuesday at 5:05 PM

speedkilz88 said:
They purposely didn't run outside in preseason or scrimmages. They don't want those plays on video for their upcoming opponents.

Lol lol so we're not going to do any of those inside runs we ran in the pre season??? Lol

CT Dal Fan · Tuesday at 5:07 PM

Coogiguy03 said:
Lol lol so we're not going to do any of those inside runs we ran in the pre season??? Lol

Inside runs are basic and a staple of every offense's playbook. Putting that on film is no secret.

JBS · Tuesday at 5:45 PM

big dog cowboy said:
What percentage of plays did the Cowboys run inside compared to outside last year?

Without this information, it's impossible to have any framework for discussion.

We are supposed to go off how we "feel" about this?

Yeah. You never had an opinion without data?

One issue I have with our running game!

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