Why the absence of a running game matters

[ElGatoGrande]

The cap is a lie?

 

[Bobhaze]

Yes, it's huge. In a nutshell, if the other team's front 4 can stop our running game(and they do), that leaves more players in coverage and in the middle of the field. Which makes everything that much harder.

And that explains why 80% of our passing game is check downs. Nothing is open. Saw where PFF showed our WRs the last 2-3 weeks have the lowest amount of separation. They are doubling Lamb, and because they aren’t worried about stopping the run their secondary only has to focus on stopping the pass.

 

[Cowboys5217]

The cap is a lie?

When it gets blamed for not being able to sign a good RB for cheap (Henry), but you decide to count a washed up RB like Zeke twice against the cap, then yeah, it's one hell of a big lie.

 

[Mr_437]

I just want to revisit the offseason real quick. Jerry n Stephen believed RB was a position that could be filled by a JAG because it wasn't that important.

Ok, now there was several quality starter level RB in FA, and the draft had some guys well into the 3rd Round.

Fast forward to now there's a RB resurgence, and top teams are benefiting from investing in RBs. These guys are in over their head.

 

[Cowboys5217]

I just want to revisit the offseason real quick. Jerry n Stephen believed RB was a position that could be filled by a JAG because it wasn't that important.

Ok, now there was several quality starter level RB in FA, and the draft had some guys well into the 3rd Round.

Fast forward to now there's a RB resurgence, and top teams are benefiting from investing in RBs. These guys are in over their head.

Jerry always thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, and he will prove it to us fans by going total contrarian to sound, obvious, and logical advice. The refusal to sign Henry, and bringing Zeke back was an "in your face" to the fans Jerry is more worried about beating than the other teams competing against the Cowboys.

 

[Bobhaze]

The cap is a lie?

The FOs explanation of the management of the cap is a lie. The reason that’s a lie is once a player is signed to a big contract, teams have lots of freedom in how to dole it out.

With Dak’s big deal for example, It’s never exactly $60 mil a year for the next 4 years. Some of the money can be a signing bonus, some can be deferred through contract extensions (which ALL NFL teams do) and other options as well.

Believe it or not if they had chose to sign Lamb and Prescott in the spring instead of playing their stupid publicity games, the Cowboys could have had cap space to sign several FAs that could have helped this team. They chose not to do that. If they would just admit that they chose not to do that instead of lying and saying they “couldn’t afford it”, I could at least respect the honesty.

 

[Whiskey Cowboy]

Well done.

The statement "It's a passing league" is actually quite misleading.

Basically, to win a super bowl you have to be able to both run and pass. Takes both. And yes, the short pass can count as a running game in certain situations.

One dimensional O's, whether it be running or passing, just don't win super bowls. Only exceptions are where a QB such as Brady uses the short passing game as a running game.

Oklahoma couldn't run the ball yesterday, but did well enough with screens and quick hitters to back the defense off a bit and make life easier for their freshman QB. I think Dak and the offense would benefit from similar playcalling when the ground game is a bust.

 

[Bobhaze]

The cap is a lie?

Have fans ever considered that we are paying Trey Lance $5.9 million to be the 3rd string QB when we could have signed Derrick Henry for almost the exact same amount?

Who would we rather have right now Derrick Henry or Trey Lance? Think about that . That’s a choice this FO made.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

The FOs explanation of the management of the cap is a lie. The reason that’s a lie is once a player is signed to a big contract, teams have lots of freedom in how to dole it out.

With Dak’s big deal for example, It’s never exactly $60 mil a year for the next 4 years. Some of the money can be a signing bonus, some can be deferred through contract extensions (which ALL NFL teams do) and other options as well.

Believe it or not if they had chose to sign Lamb and Prescott in the spring instead of playing their stupid publicity games, the Cowboys could have had cap space to sign several FAs that could have helped this team. They chose not to do that. If they would just admit that they chose not to do that instead of lying and saying they “couldn’t afford it”, I could at least respect the honesty.

You can't kick the can down the road indefinitely with contract extensions, math rears it's ugly head as the multitude of contracts accumulate and end.

 

[Bobhaze]

You can't kick the can down the road indefinitely with contract extensions, math rears it's ugly head as the multitude of contracts accumulate and end.

Well, they’ve already been doing that for years. In fact every team does it to varying degrees. All of the teams winning SBs have been doing it for years. The question to me is this: Does this FO want to win more than it wants to be worried about the cap? Apparently not.

 

[atlantacowboy]

It’s still very early in the 2024 NFL season but it is interesting that many of the teams off to a good start have excellent running games. And also interesting that teams with a balanced attack on offense - being able to pass AND run have the best chances in the playoffs.

Currently the top 6 teams at running the ball are:

1. Packers (612 yards, 204 yards per game, 5.5 ypc)
2. Ravens (610 yards, 203 ypg, 5.9 ypc)
3. Eagles (502 yards, 167 ypg, 5.0 ypc)
4. Lions (489 yards, 163 ypg, 4.8 ypc)
5. Commanders (461 yards, 154 ypg, 4.8 ypc)
6. Saints (459 yards, 153 ypg, 4.4 ypc)

Cowboys are 23rd running the ball, have 301 yards (before the giants game), avg 100 yds, and 3.5 ypc. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s even this much.

The reason I’m even bringing this up is simple - teams that can run the ball have an opportunity to open up other aspects of the offense. This league is a passing league, most defenses are built to stop the pass, so if you have a good running game, you have a much better chance to keep defenses honest. And in the playoffs where defenses are capable of taking something away from the offense, it’s important to have multiple options on offense.

Our next opponent, Pittsburg is a good running team but they are also are even better at stopping the run. Their QB Justin Fields is not a particularly good passer but he can run.

The running game for Dallas as it stands today is the biggest weakness this ream has unless stopping the run exceeds it. By playing their safeties super deep against us, defenses are choosing to take away much of the passing game options. And our WR lineup with the exception of Lamb is certainly mediocre.

Until we can give DCs something to be concerned about in the running game, I don’t see our offense being any better than mediocre. If someone can convince me otherwise, please do.

It only looks this good bc we've played 4 games and one of them was against the Giants. I anticipate that 23rd ranking sliding back into the 30's which is where it should be given the lack of talent.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

It’s still very early in the 2024 NFL season but it is interesting that many of the teams off to a good start have excellent running games. And also interesting that teams with a balanced attack on offense - being able to pass AND run have the best chances in the playoffs.

Currently the top 6 teams at running the ball are:

1. Packers (612 yards, 204 yards per game, 5.5 ypc)
2. Ravens (610 yards, 203 ypg, 5.9 ypc)
3. Eagles (502 yards, 167 ypg, 5.0 ypc)
4. Lions (489 yards, 163 ypg, 4.8 ypc)
5. Commanders (461 yards, 154 ypg, 4.8 ypc)
6. Saints (459 yards, 153 ypg, 4.4 ypc)

Cowboys are 23rd running the ball, have 301 yards (before the giants game), avg 100 yds, and 3.5 ypc. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s even this much.

The reason I’m even bringing this up is simple - teams that can run the ball have an opportunity to open up other aspects of the offense. This league is a passing league, most defenses are built to stop the pass, so if you have a good running game, you have a much better chance to keep defenses honest. And in the playoffs where defenses are capable of taking something away from the offense, it’s important to have multiple options on offense.

Our next opponent, Pittsburg is a good running team but they are also are even better at stopping the run. Their QB Justin Fields is not a particularly good passer but he can run.

The running game for Dallas as it stands today is the biggest weakness this ream has unless stopping the run exceeds it. By playing their safeties super deep against us, defenses are choosing to take away much of the passing game options. And our WR lineup with the exception of Lamb is certainly mediocre.

Until we can give DCs something to be concerned about in the running game, I don’t see our offense being any better than mediocre. If someone can convince me otherwise, please do.

the absence of the running game will hurt inside the redzone more than anywhere else. inside the redzone, tight quarters. when there is no threat of running game, defenses drop 6 or 7 into coverage and LBs can play off the ball, making passing even more difficult. lets assume in those tight quarters you convert 50% of your passes. then its easy to get FGs instead of TDs and then with out defense we going to end up trading TDs for FGs. right now we are at 56% TD conversion rate, but exclude the first game and its bottom 3rd of the league and dropping.

 

[Rockport]

It’s still very early in the 2024 NFL season but it is interesting that many of the teams off to a good start have excellent running games. And also interesting that teams with a balanced attack on offense - being able to pass AND run have the best chances in the playoffs.

Currently the top 6 teams at running the ball are:

1. Packers (612 yards, 204 yards per game, 5.5 ypc)
2. Ravens (610 yards, 203 ypg, 5.9 ypc)
3. Eagles (502 yards, 167 ypg, 5.0 ypc)
4. Lions (489 yards, 163 ypg, 4.8 ypc)
5. Commanders (461 yards, 154 ypg, 4.8 ypc)
6. Saints (459 yards, 153 ypg, 4.4 ypc)

Cowboys are 23rd running the ball, have 301 yards (before the giants game), avg 100 yds, and 3.5 ypc. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s even this much.

The reason I’m even bringing this up is simple - teams that can run the ball have an opportunity to open up other aspects of the offense. This league is a passing league, most defenses are built to stop the pass, so if you have a good running game, you have a much better chance to keep defenses honest. And in the playoffs where defenses are capable of taking something away from the offense, it’s important to have multiple options on offense.

Our next opponent, Pittsburg is a good running team but they are also are even better at stopping the run. Their QB Justin Fields is not a particularly good passer but he can run.

The running game for Dallas as it stands today is the biggest weakness this ream has unless stopping the run exceeds it. By playing their safeties super deep against us, defenses are choosing to take away much of the passing game options. And our WR lineup with the exception of Lamb is certainly mediocre.

Until we can give DCs something to be concerned about in the running game, I don’t see our offense being any better than mediocre. If someone can convince me otherwise, please do.

If anyone here doesn’t know why a running game matters they don’t belong here.

 

[CCBoy]

It’s still very early in the 2024 NFL season but it is interesting that many of the teams off to a good start have excellent running games. And also interesting that teams with a balanced attack on offense - being able to pass AND run have the best chances in the playoffs.

Currently the top 6 teams at running the ball are:

1. Packers (612 yards, 204 yards per game, 5.5 ypc)
2. Ravens (610 yards, 203 ypg, 5.9 ypc)
3. Eagles (502 yards, 167 ypg, 5.0 ypc)
4. Lions (489 yards, 163 ypg, 4.8 ypc)
5. Commanders (461 yards, 154 ypg, 4.8 ypc)
6. Saints (459 yards, 153 ypg, 4.4 ypc)

Cowboys are 23rd running the ball, have 301 yards (before the giants game), avg 100 yds, and 3.5 ypc. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s even this much.

The reason I’m even bringing this up is simple - teams that can run the ball have an opportunity to open up other aspects of the offense. This league is a passing league, most defenses are built to stop the pass, so if you have a good running game, you have a much better chance to keep defenses honest. And in the playoffs where defenses are capable of taking something away from the offense, it’s important to have multiple options on offense.

Our next opponent, Pittsburg is a good running team but they are also are even better at stopping the run. Their QB Justin Fields is not a particularly good passer but he can run.

The running game for Dallas as it stands today is the biggest weakness this ream has unless stopping the run exceeds it. By playing their safeties super deep against us, defenses are choosing to take away much of the passing game options. And our WR lineup with the exception of Lamb is certainly mediocre.

Until we can give DCs something to be concerned about in the running game, I don’t see our offense being any better than mediocre. If someone can convince me otherwise, please do.

Like the receivers being fitted for chains and an iron ball to do their routes with.

 

[Rockport]

Maybe after a team meeting where we air out our frustrations is when you'll see this offense magically blossum into a special thing!! It's the same thing every week, nobody is open nothing like a crossing route, or anything to get us a good amount of yards successfully! Oh never mind, flag on the play

“We”. You’re one strange cat.

 

[CCBoy]

If anyone here doesn’t know why a running game matters they don’t belong here.

Blind faith as a fan is OK.

 

[CCBoy]

“We”. You’re one strange cat.

No strange female cats mind you...

 

[ElGatoGrande]

Well, they’ve already been doing that for years. In fact every team does it to varying degrees. All of the teams winning SBs have been doing it for years. The question to me is this: Does this FO want to win more than it wants to be worried about the cap? Apparently not.

What you're now talking about is wiggle room and mortgaging/deferring payment for a handful of years. Paying epic percentages of money to a few players limits that wiggle room and costs you quality players on your roster. The lie is saying that those epic contracts don't affect your roster and your team, they absolutely do, especially when those overpaid players are incapable of making up for the lack of a balanced roster. Could Jerry have picked up a better running back, sure. Could he also have replaced the exodus of talent from the defense as well? Nope.

 

[Rockport]

No strange female cats mind you...

 

[Brax]

Apparently so Coogs! Stephen says we couldn’t afford anything else. Meanwhile the best GMs with just as large a cap strap are saying “hold my beer” and leaving us in the dust.

What this team’s top brass could do at this point is somewhat limited. Some of the easy options are to 1. give Dalvin Cook a look-see - not that I think he’s got anything. (He’s been sitting on the practice squad for 4 weeks available for any team to sign and no team has done so - very telling) 2. Make a trade to acquire a RB and/or WR 3. Miraculously add some modern plays to the playbook besides these 30-40 year old passing routes.

Not a lot of good options.

Jerry told us the answer “Dak has to do more with less” there’s another big contract coming up so Jerry will be funding it partially with rollover cap and lower end players. He put his money on 4-5 players and expects them to do it all,