The Cowboys are a passing team. The mistake was trying to force a conservative game plan on Dak and company.
I agree with BC.
The Cowboys no longer have the offensive line to simply pound the rock, the "3 yards and a cloud of dust" days are long gone. The Cowboys need to realize that this is Dak's Team, and they will only excel when Dak excels (or if the defense utterly dominates with turnovers and sacks/pressures). Anything this offense gets on the ground is gravy at this point. I hope McCarthy realizes this moving forward, just as he did on Sunday against the Rams.
The offensive game plan on Sunday was spot on, congrats to MM, the Texas Coast offense coming into focus:
- Lots of play action, especially on 1st down, with variety (bootlegs, 3-step quick drops, and even longer 5-step drop, longer-developing plays)
- Significantly less first down runs, especially early in the game
- More outside runs
I
would like to see more use of Pollard in the passing game so he can get in space (screens, middle drag routes or in routes, and flairs out of the backfield). Pollard doesn't need 20 carries, but I would like him to get more touches throughout the game. And I like mixing in Dowdle. After Sunday, I finally feel like this offense is headed in the right direction...
...and that certainly means that this team should run less, and use the short passing game to TEs and RBs more. And even if the offense isn't even really running the ball, still use play action liberally, because most teams still respect Pollard enough to honor the run fake.
I loved Zeke, but he no longer fit well into the offense. The Cowboys made the right decision moving on...
