Why does the offense get a free pass?

[conner01]

We are all well aware of the defensive struggles, but to be fair the defense is learning a brand new scheme, has many new starters, along with an abundance of injuries across the board.

The offense was kept pretty much the same. Same scheme, same playcaller, basically the same personnel, but they did add a legitimate top 10 talent at WR. Yes, this unit also has had it's share of injuries, but all the playmakers have yet to miss a single start.

This offense is pretty much getting the same results. Start off slow on a consistent basis, always playing from behind chasing the scoreboard. The team is -7 in turnovers and the offense is 31st in time of possession. This is the exact opposite way to protect a poor defense and is impossible way to be successful.

This league is a bottom line business, it's about winning. This team has been terrible in one score games since last season. Garbage time stats mean nothing, when the team is losing games. This unit is littered by 1st rd picks across the board, why are they getting a free pass?

We’ve had two new tackles, a new center and a rookie WR

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

It gets a pass because the special teams and defense is trying to be historically bad. Offense flaws and all is far from that.

 

[jazzcat22]

umm we got down because of the b3b turnovers by the offense giving Cleveland short fields for quick turnaround scores..

knowing the defense the TOS are even worse at the moment. This is the OPs point and you try and skate right over the offense causing the score to get out of hand in the first half which has happened now 3 straight games.. offense is also an issue albeit not as big of one..

they also didnt score for 2 full quarters 2 and 3..what happened? oh wait the 2minute prevent hasn't kicked in yet..

its an issue KM is an issue with pass happy play calls and odd play types at certain moments.. theres issues in blocking protection for our tackles etc etc

so OP is correct excuses being made because the bright lights of the near comebacks are blinding the reality's, offense isnt helping the cause,

I was not making excuses, it is my way of saying the defense sucks, long field, short field, 3 and 30, they can't stop anyone, and when they do find that nut like a blind squirrel, they commit a penalty to give up a 1st down.

True the offense committed those turnovers. But how many times has the defense given up long drives as well. Quite a lot.

 

[Cowboy_Shawn]

Because the box score nerds who are biased towards Dak and want him to sink us into mediocrity with his contract just look at how well they do after the game has gotten out of hand and the defense loosens up.

You're right about the offense getting off to slow starts. I heard the stats about the Cowboys only being ranked 24th in the league in first half offense. But to be fair slow starts have been a problem for this team for several years dating back to the days when Romo was QB. Go back and look for yourself. There were countless games where the offense didn't start clicking until the 4th or 5th drive of the game with Romo under center. It's been well documented for years that this team's offense starts too slowly.

The difference this season is the defense is so bad that by the time the offense does get going the team is already down 3 scores. Whereas in previous years the defense was solid enough to keep games close. Therefore the poor starts on offense stick out a lot more this season.

This is not meant to excuse the miscues of Dak and the other offensive players are making. Just a reminder that we're probably not having these discussions if we had an defense capable of holding teams under 30 points.

 

[USArmyVet]

While the offense is putting up numbers, they get off to slow starts and that puts pressure on the defense as they are on the field for so long. The TOP difference is eye opening so far this season:

AVERAGE TIME OF POSSESSION (through 4 games in the 2020 season)

Dallas Cowboys 26:07

Opponents 33:53


So because the Dallas offense is either having too many stalled drives early on or scoring too quickly later in the game, the Dallas defense is on the field for over a 1/2 quarter more than their opponents......which taxes a defense's stamina.

That said, the Dallas defense simply is not playing well at all.....whether because of a new DC, a new defensive scheme, piss poor play, or because of plain lack of effort.

There are simply too many plays where it is obvious on both sides of the ball of players not giving effort and this seems to be a cultural problem in Dallas year in and year out.


So, until Dallas returns to the days of a Jimmy Johnson style led team where discipline is the name of the game, we will continue to see the kind of on field performance that has become all too common from the Cowboys.

 

[blueblood70]

I was not making excuses, it is my way of saying the defense sucks, long field, short field, 3 and 30, they can't stop anyone, and when they do find that nut like a blind squirrel, they commit a penalty to give up a 1st down.

True the offense committed those turnovers. But how many times has the defense given up long drives as well. Quite a lot.

it Matters 100%

more possessions and points for the opposition correlates from TOS the holes have been started with shovel's ie TOs that the offense brought out..got it?!

it matters!

blinded by 2min offenses and padding stats against prevent is casing fan enabling..

they disappear for quarters at a time with no scoring happened in 2019 and now so far this year.. the offense if it was as prolific as STATS say they are they wouldn't have all the scoring droughts on top of TOs..

i blame most on KM...

 

[Cowboy_Shawn]

I was not making excuses, it is my way of saying the defense sucks, long field, short field, 3 and 30, they can't stop anyone, and when they do find that nut like a blind squirrel, they commit a penalty to give up a 1st down.

True the offense committed those turnovers. But how many times has the defense given up long drives as well. Quite a lot.

Exactly. Some of these people must only watch Cowboys game and not pay attention to the rest of the NFL. Because if they did they'd notice that a lot of other teams in the league have had turnovers as well. The difference is those teams have competent defenses that don't do dumb things like flying in and getting stupid facemask penalties on 2nd & 16 like Jaylon Smith.

If the defense were halfway decent this team is 2-2 at worst.

 

[DallasInDC]

We are all well aware of the defensive struggles, but to be fair the defense is learning a brand new scheme, has many new starters, along with an abundance of injuries across the board.

The offense was kept pretty much the same. Same scheme, same playcaller, basically the same personnel, but they did add a legitimate top 10 talent at WR. Yes, this unit also has had it's share of injuries, but all the playmakers have yet to miss a single start.

This offense is pretty much getting the same results. Start off slow on a consistent basis, always playing from behind chasing the scoreboard. The team is -7 in turnovers and the offense is 31st in time of possession. This is the exact opposite way to protect a poor defense and is impossible way to be successful.

This league is a bottom line business, it's about winning. This team has been terrible in one score games since last season. Garbage time stats mean nothing, when the team is losing games. This unit is littered by 1st rd picks across the board, why are they getting a free pass?

When you are first in the league in yards and 3rd in pts/game, you don’t get tagged with being the problem. Yes, turnovers are a big problem and need to be addressed/eliminated. Penalties on big plays needs to be eliminated. That accounts for Maybe 15- 20 plays the entire season? If those were not an issue we would probably be 3-1 with the worst defense in the league.

The defense on the other hand, 3rd to last I yards and dead last in points. Even if you remove the points on TOs they would still be ranked 20th (which also assumes they wouldn’t have scored on drives that ended in punts instead of TOs which is highly unlikely). The problems on defense are extensive...there are more bad plays than great plays.

cut the TOs in half (which is very possible) and critical penalties (3rd down and big plays). This offense is prolific...with an OL made up of UDFA rookies, 2nd tier backups a drafted rookie and “1” perennial all pro. The offense may have made mistakes, but they are not the “real Reason” This team is 1-3.

 

[Lutonio]

I have seen a lot of criticism of the offense.

 

[USArmyVet]

Here are some interesting stats about Dak Prescott and the offensive approach:


Dak Prescott Passing by Quarter

1st 27 of 40 67.5% Comp % 370 Yards 2 TD's 0 Int's

2nd 29 of 35 82.9% Comp % 333 Yards 2 TD's 1 Int

3rd 24 of 38 63.2% Comp % 356 Yards 1 TD 0 Int's

4th 57 of 88 64.8% Comp % 631 Yards 4 TD's 2 Int's


You can see based on stats that the Dallas offense is amassing a lot of passing yards in the 4th quarter simply because the offense is not performing early on thereby putting a lot of pressure on the Dallas defense.


To further this point, here is a breakdown of scoring by Dallas per quarter:

1st 23

2nd 30

3rd 24

4th 49


Opponents scoring per quarter:

1st 42

2nd 53

3rd 24

4th 26

The bulk of Dallas' offensive scoring takes place in the 4th quarter because games have gotten away from them and by then opposing defenses are sitting back more which allows for the scores.



The last stat that is somewhat interesting is Ezekiel Elliott's carries and yards per carry based on quarter:

1st 20 carries 51 yards 2.5 ypc 1 TD

2nd 18 carries 90 yards 5.0 ypc 2 TD's

3rd 17 carries 68 yards 4.0 ypc

4th 15 carries 64 yards 4.3 ypc


Zeke, much like the passing game, simply does not get going in the 1st quarter and Dallas begins to slowly but surely abandon the running game as the game goes on.

 

[Cowboy_Shawn]

While the offense is putting up numbers, they get off to slow starts and that puts pressure on the defense as they are on the field for so long. The TOP difference is eye opening so far this season:

AVERAGE TIME OF POSSESSION (through 4 games in the 2020 season)

Dallas Cowboys 26:07

Opponents 33:53


So because the Dallas offense is either having too many stalled drives early on or scoring too quickly later in the game, the Dallas defense is on the field for over a 1/2 quarter more than their opponents......which taxes a defense's stamina.

That said, the Dallas defense simply is not playing well at all.....whether because of a new DC, a new defensive scheme, piss poor play, or because of plain lack of effort.

There are simply too many plays where it is obvious on both sides of the ball of players not giving effort and this seems to be a cultural problem in Dallas year in and year out.


So, until Dallas returns to the days of a Jimmy Johnson style led team where discipline is the name of the game, we will continue to see the kind of on field performance that has become all too common from the Cowboys.

The defense is on the field too long because the defense is incapable of getting themselves off the field. Slow starts aren't an excuse for the defense giving up over 300 rushing yards at almost 8 yards per carry to Cleveland.

Also, as much as we'd all like to see them playing complimentary football where the offense leans on the running game and controls the clock to keep the defense off the field, that ain't happening. We no longer have the personnel to do that on a regular basis. Not with this OL.

 

[doomsday9084]

I would love to see some stats on how the offense does when the score is close. It sure seems to me that they are thoroughly mediocre until the defense switches to prevent. Add in all the turnovers and the offense really hasn't been that great but we are staring at a historically terrible defense. Its hard to even have a fair conversation and put both in the same sentence.

 

[baltcowboy]

We are all well aware of the defensive struggles, but to be fair the defense is learning a brand new scheme, has many new starters, along with an abundance of injuries across the board.

The offense was kept pretty much the same. Same scheme, same playcaller, basically the same personnel, but they did add a legitimate top 10 talent at WR. Yes, this unit also has had it's share of injuries, but all the playmakers have yet to miss a single start.

This offense is pretty much getting the same results. Start off slow on a consistent basis, always playing from behind chasing the scoreboard. The team is -7 in turnovers and the offense is 31st in time of possession. This is the exact opposite way to protect a poor defense and is impossible way to be successful.

This league is a bottom line business, it's about winning. This team has been terrible in one score games since last season. Garbage time stats mean nothing, when the team is losing games. This unit is littered by 1st rd picks across the board, why are they getting a free pass?

You do realize 3/5 of our line either retired or is injured. I would personally rather have our starting tackles then Cooper and Zeke. Garbage stats is when you have no chance to win games. We had a chance to win all 4 games this season. Also when you get behind teams will let you run the ball. Teams know the pass is coming so they tee of on the receivers and look for interceptions. Stop listening to the talking heads that have an agenda.

 

[xwalker]

We are all well aware of the defensive struggles, but to be fair the defense is learning a brand new scheme, has many new starters, along with an abundance of injuries across the board.

The offense was kept pretty much the same. Same scheme, same playcaller, basically the same personnel, but they did add a legitimate top 10 talent at WR. Yes, this unit also has had it's share of injuries, but all the playmakers have yet to miss a single start.

This offense is pretty much getting the same results. Start off slow on a consistent basis, always playing from behind chasing the scoreboard. The team is -7 in turnovers and the offense is 31st in time of possession. This is the exact opposite way to protect a poor defense and is impossible way to be successful.

This league is a bottom line business, it's about winning. This team has been terrible in one score games since last season. Garbage time stats mean nothing, when the team is losing games. This unit is littered by 1st rd picks across the board, why are they getting a free pass?

Maybe because the offense leads the league in yards while playing with 2 udfa OTs for a big part of the season and a rookie 4th round pick at OC for about 1-1/2 games.

 

[BrassCowboy]

Yes offense has its problems with fumbles and ints, but time of possession or lack thereof has a lot to do with style of play and can be blamed on defense being that Dak has to throw the ball slot in order to try and stay up with opponents who are scoring at will in our defense

 

[DogFace]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/team

 

[Aven8]

The only thing to complain about the O is TO’s.

 

[Rockport]

We are all well aware of the defensive struggles, but to be fair the defense is learning a brand new scheme, has many new starters, along with an abundance of injuries across the board.

The offense was kept pretty much the same. Same scheme, same playcaller, basically the same personnel, but they did add a legitimate top 10 talent at WR. Yes, this unit also has had it's share of injuries, but all the playmakers have yet to miss a single start.

This offense is pretty much getting the same results. Start off slow on a consistent basis, always playing from behind chasing the scoreboard. The team is -7 in turnovers and the offense is 31st in time of possession. This is the exact opposite way to protect a poor defense and is impossible way to be successful.

This league is a bottom line business, it's about winning. This team has been terrible in one score games since last season. Garbage time stats mean nothing, when the team is losing games. This unit is littered by 1st rd picks across the board, why are they getting a free pass?

Because they're #1 in the NFL and not the problem.

 

[Stash]

We are all well aware of the defensive struggles, but to be fair the defense is learning a brand new scheme, has many new starters, along with an abundance of injuries across the board.

The offense was kept pretty much the same. Same scheme, same playcaller, basically the same personnel, but they did add a legitimate top 10 talent at WR. Yes, this unit also has had it's share of injuries, but all the playmakers have yet to miss a single start.

This offense is pretty much getting the same results. Start off slow on a consistent basis, always playing from behind chasing the scoreboard. The team is -7 in turnovers and the offense is 31st in time of possession. This is the exact opposite way to protect a poor defense and is impossible way to be successful.

This league is a bottom line business, it's about winning. This team has been terrible in one score games since last season. Garbage time stats mean nothing, when the team is losing games. This unit is littered by 1st rd picks across the board, why are they getting a free pass?

None of this is accurate.

 

[ClintDagger]

Here’s our drives during CLE’s 34-0 run:

*3 plays, 1:44, turnover at own 34
*1 play, 0:00, turnover at own 25
*7 plays, 3:20, punt
*3 plays, 1:07, punt
*9 plays, 2:24, turnover on downs.

So in the 29:21 where CLE was on a 34-0 run, our offense had 23 plays, 8:35 in possession, 3 turnovers, with two on short fields, and 0 points. How is that not contributing to the loss? Bash the D all you want. They deserve it. But the offense is where most of our money is spent and that’s what you get for literally 50% of the game at home in perfect conditions. 23 plays, 8:35, 3 turnovers, 0 points. The offense is culpable for some of the points scored by turning it over on our side of the 50. They are culpable for having virtually no T.O.P.; and then of course for not scoring.