Why the absence of a running game matters

[jblaze2004]

Currently here is where we stand.

• Passing Yards / Game. 255.5. PYDS/G. 3RD OVERALL.
• Rushing Yards / Game. 75.3. RYDS/G. 32TH OVERALL.

 

[kskboys]

No it wouldn't have been. The Cowboys have plenty of cap space and have even more in 2025. And that is without any restructures.

Yes, it would've been.

 

[Blast From The Past]

does this team even have a crossing route in the playbook?

Shhh! We are saving those for SF they will never see it coming,,,lolz

 

[Aven8]

I get wanting to go cheap, but to not even draft a RB was GM malpractice. Pick by pick went by and not one RB? These fools just don’t care. They are so incompetent. Maddening as a fan.

 

[Blackrain]

I almost think Jerry scorned to the point where he just cashed this season in before it started.

It's like Dak you want all that money put on the cape and figure it out.
McCarthy you out and out embarrassed me by not preparing the team I'm giving you nothing to work with but you're going to finish your contract I'm not paying you for not working.

Jerry is a man who gets what he wants he's gotten super bowls already he enjoys being the man with the most valuable franchise.

No one is making me believe that acquiring Derrick Henry or saquon Barkley was an impossibility for him if he wanted it we would have had it.

Hack schoonmakers draft pick was our running back on a rookie contract.

In my mind it looks like he has set
Dak and McCarthy up to fail and is going to retool next year.

Meanwhile us fans just sit back and endure and listen to the all-in bull crap watch him drag the contract signing out to the very last second for maximum media exposure
All while being forced to suffer through another gut wrenching season watching an unnecessarily inferior product

 

[CCBoy]

Even RB Derrick Henry would not look good with this pathetic coach scheme ... they are so useless and clueless, imo.

West Coast offense is the premise and with how the running backs are stacked, requires Prescott to actually take over and win games against tough teams.

His motivation is fully there and he has been paid.

 

[RonWashington]

Make Dowdle a 15 per game rusher and minimum three screens a game . No one else on this roster comes close to what he brings right now 2024 . Draft a back in 2025 no later then round 3 or 4 .

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Yeah our slow WRs are not as good running those 1975 era curl routes, lol! Man not only slow developing, easy to cover curl routes and comebacks, does this team even have a crossing route in the playbook?

I see other teams run "pick" routes successfully...not sure why we can't do that as as some other clever routes.
I'm sure it's zeke's fault.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Even RB Derrick Henry would not look good with this pathetic coach scheme ... they are so useless and clueless, imo.

Precisely.

 

[RonWashington]

I suggest with Lamb Ferguson Tolbert whoever else from the receiving room can contribute with stacks of young early round OL draft picks with a serviceable Dowdle and Elliott as clean up back short yardage and the highest paid player in football 20 points against the Giants is an indictment on the coaching.

 

[fansince68]

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.

Couple that with the fact our qb starts games "stale" mistakes happen by him or any other facet of the game and we begin to get that slow sinking feeling that we rarely recover from. The blue print to beat the Cowboys? Play the game like we practiced, be patient, minimize mistakes eventually the Cowboys will develop a way to lose.

 

[Whirlwin]

One reason nobody is open in the passing game is this: the safeties don’t have anything else to worry about besides coverage. They aren’t being asked to help in run support because it’s not needed.

I can’t believe you have to explain this

 

[CCBoy]

This pretty well shows the current tendencies...

• The Cowboys' offense doesn’t seem prepared to start games and takes a bit to find their groove. In the previous two games, that meant they found themselves in a hole, but the Giants weren’t doing much scoring, so it didn’t hurt them in this one.
• Eight drives in a game isn’t much. And while the defense is to blame for not getting the Giants off the field, the Cowboys offense needs to do a better job making them count. The Cowboys only had four drives that went for more than 13 yards.
• Prescott loved him some Lamb and Ferguson. They combined for 17 touches. That’s not surprising. Luepke had four touches, and all of them were either on third- or fourth-down.
• Luepke had as many touches as Brandon Cooks and Jalen Tolbert had combined. That’s not good. The Cowboys must find a way to get the WR2 and WR3 more involved. Dak’s not looking their way very often.
• Prescott was comfortable with the quick stuff. He liked to get the ball out early. He locked in on his target and let it rip even if there was tight coverage. He completed 13 of 14 passes under 2.5 seconds for a total of 143 yards.
• The Cowboys had some questionable playcalling in certain situations. They get cute sometimes and don’t take the easy stuff, while they’ll wimp out at other times and won’t even try to get to the sticks. It’s frustrating. If they genuinely believe in their rushing attack like they claim they do, then run it on third and short.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...rescott-ceedee-lamb-jake-ferguson-rico-dowdle

The staff and players are just not ready and are too lazy to start them out correctly.

 

[CCBoy]

With neither Rico Dowdle nor Ezekiel Elliott tearing it up, if Cook were ready to come in and do damage, he’d have already been elevated off the practice squad.

https://insidethestar.com/cowboys-evened-their-record-but-serious-questions-remain/

 

[CCBoy]

Couple that with the fact our qb starts games "stale" mistakes happen by him or any other facet of the game and we begin to get that slow sinking feeling that we rarely recover from. The blue print to beat the Cowboys? Play the game like we practiced, be patient, minimize mistakes eventually the Cowboys will develop a way to lose.

The team starts without a productive three play series...however approached.

 

[Cowboyny]

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.

Just look at Dak's rookie season, they had a great run game and an even worse defense and they were a play away from going to the NFC Championship.

 

[jwitten82]

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

Then you dont belong. You defended the lack of moves at the RB position all off season, and called anyone who disagreed a hater. Anyone with a lick of football sense knew that resigning Zeke would be a failure

 

[Teague31]

Solari is the problem. The game passed him by like 20 years ago. But MM always wants to hire his cronies

 

[CCBoy]

Clarence Hill Jr
@clarencehilljr

Derrick Henry lives in Dallas and had interest in signing with the Cowboys. Jerry Jones didn’t even pick up the phone.
Quote

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr
·
5h
Reminder: the Dallas Cowboys didn’t want Derrick Henry x.com/profootballtal…

4:26 AM · Sep 30, 2024

https://bleacherreport.com/dallas-cowboys

 

[Diehardblues]

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.

I have a bigger problem with not drafting a RB. There were some available even in 4th round .

Yea, Lance is a rather expensive 3rd backup QB.

But our FO totally debunked liking our guys . Guess they thought Elliott would be enough. And why aren’t we playing him more.

So many questions . My hunch is we’ll over react in draft next year using a top pick for RB and WR. Typical for our FO.