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There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Cowboys’ offensive struggles
By Calvin Watkins Sep 24, 2018
FRISCO — Shares of blame for the Cowboys’ offensive ineptitude can be easily spread. You can start by allocating blame to Jerry Jones and the front office for believing they could replace Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, their two best offensive weapons from years past, with average players.
You can also assign some of it to Jason Garrett, the head coach who has faith in these players ability to make plays and sees them fail to do so.
Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan got a vote of confidence from Garrett on Monday and will retain his role as playcaller. Linehan’s play-calling and lack of creativity is also to blame.
Quarterback Dak Prescott is struggling to get the ball downfield or move the offense in general. He’s not providing much hope at the moment.
After Sunday’s 16-8 loss in Seattle, Prescott took the blame for being unable to push the ball with big plays. He looked solemn during his news conference from CenturyLink Field, and who could blame him.
“I don’t know,” Prescott said quietly of searching for answers. “I mean, last year, there were sometimes — but I’m not somebody thinking necessarily on the negativity part … I’m just focused on the good things that we’ve done and how we’re going to continue to grow on those to get better going forward.”
To be frank, the Cowboys’ offense stinks.
It ranks 31st in points (13.7), 31st in third-down conversions (23.5 percent), 30th in yards per game (277.7), and 30th in yards per pass play (4.39).
On third-down plays, the Cowboys are averaging just three yards-per-pass on 29 attempts. Prescott has attempted just seven deep passes of 20 yards or more out of his 88 total throws, with zero down the middle of the field.
Whether some of this is due to Prescott’s lack of confidence in throwing deep, an offensive line struggling or the receivers not making themselves available for catches is open to debate.
When an offense like the Cowboys’ is struggling, everybody gets blamed.
“There are a lot of different things we have to get better at, I guess is the simplest way of answering that question,” Garrett said Monday. “If you evaluate the game yesterday there were some good things in the game. We ran the ball well, we had explosive runs in the game, we ran for a good average throughout the game. I thought those were positives for us. We made some explosive plays offensively, but when you pull back and look at the rest of it, it just wasn’t good enough.”
You can start with the personnel.
When Witten retired during the draft, the Cowboys ventured down a path they never expected to take, trying to replace their future Hall of Fame tight end this year. The Cowboys like the potential of their four tight ends, but they all have problems. Geoff Swaim is the starter but nobody’s afraid of him. Blake Jarwin isn’t playing fast enough to merit more playing time and Rico Gathers is still developing. Yet when he does get the ball, the Cowboys like his ability to get yards after catch. Rookie Dalton Schultz has been inactive the last two weeks and is a year away from being counted on.
This leaves us with the wide receivers. For as much trouble Dez Bryant caused, he did average 14 yards per catch in 113 career games. His ability to challenge defenses deep and on back-shoulder fades helped not only Tony Romo but Prescott, too. Salary and his combustible behavior are the main reasons he’s gone now.
This current group is led by Cole Beasley, who has 12 catches for 132 yards. A majority of these catches come from the slot and the Cowboys can’t win games relying on Beasley to make plays from the slot. Tavon Austin has touchdown receptions of 64 yards and three yards, but the Cowboys don’t utilize him enough. Austin has a similar build to Beasley but is used differently. The Cowboys can line Austin up outside and run him deep, as they did in the Week 2 win over the Giants. They can also place him in motion and hand the ball off to him on end-arounds or throw quick routes to him.
In Sunday’s loss, Austin played in a season-high 20 snaps, taking some plays from Deonte Thompson, a big-play threat. Thompson took 28 snaps in the loss but finished with two catches for 23 yards.
Thompson hasn’t made any impactful plays and is noted more for his drop, on a high pass, late in the Week 1 loss at Carolina.
Allen Hurns was signed to replace Bryant as a tough, physical receiver. Hurns, in 41 snaps, made two catches for 22 yards. Hurns maintains he’s getting open, but just not getting the ball.
One of the great mysteries of the Cowboys’ offense is what the team is doing with Terrance Williams. He played 10 snaps on Sunday, all on run plays. It’s like he’s the fifth tight end. The lack of creativity with Williams is noticed by defenses. When Williams comes into the game, he motions to the left tackle side to block. A run play is coming.
“I thought the receivers at different times, in this game, did a good job of winning on routes,” Garrett said. “And when we were able to put it all together, protect, see it, deliver the ball, again, I thought we had some good completions in the game, certainly not enough of them.”
Prescott’s numbers are horrific. He’s got a 74.9 quarterback rating (27th in the NFL) and 498 passing yards (28th). Prescott has yet to throw for 200 yards this season, something that should be easy to do given how the rules favor the offenses, particularly in the passing game.
Josh Allen, the Bills’ rookie quarterback who was considered very raw coming into the draft, has thrown for more yards (515) than Prescott and he didn’t start Week 1. Baker Mayfield threw for 201 yards in one half of football last week for the Browns.
Garrett has confidence in Prescott, but he really has no choice because Cooper Rush isn’t the answer and Romo is retired. Old buddy Troy Aikman is long gone. The last time the Cowboys finished 31st in points scored was 2015 and Matt Cassel was the main quarterback with Romo hurt. You have to flip the history books back to 2002 to find this bad an offense, and that group featured Chad Hutchinson and Quincy Carter sharing the starting quarterback duties for Dave Campo. The Cowboys finished 31st in scoring that year.
We’re three games into the season and there is so much to play for. But this reality also gives you a glimpse of how bad the offense currently is. Zeke Elliott rushed for 127 yards with a strong 7.9 yards per carry. But Elliott made three mistakes in the game, two on third down that cost his team a touchdown and a first down.
Things like that hurt NFL teams and they can ultimately doom them. When Elliott ran out of bounds, negating a touchdown in the second quarter that would have tied the game at 7-7, he didn’t pay attention to where he was on the field. Free safety Earl Thomas covered Elliott out of the backfield and when he stopped, Elliott kept looking back waiting for the ball. Thomas’ coverage forced Elliott to run his route wider than necessary.
If Elliott stayed inbounds and scored, it’s a different ballgame.
“We had a third-down yesterday where there was a little burst route to him working over to our sidelines and Dak gave him a good ball,” Garrett said. “He just didn’t finish the play.”
The offensive line is another problem. It doesn’t have All-Pro center Travis Frederick, who is nowhere near to returning from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, but still features All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith and All-Pro right guard Zack Martin, the highest-paid player at his position in the NFL. There were times Prescott was flushed out the pocket because of pressure on the outside. He needs time to throw, which is obvious, but sometimes he needs to just get out the pocket and run the ball.
Everything is magnified with the offense struggling. Yet, what gives anybody hope it will get better?
“I think we’ve got the players and I do think we have the talent and I think we have the coaching that can get us on the right track offensively,” Jones said. “That’s a good question. I want to answer it that way. We will get on the right track offensively. I’ll assure you.”
_____________________________
I also heard a Garrett quote saying the playcalling was not to blame, but execution was. THere are at least two quotes in this article with Garrett throwing his players under the bus without once taking any blame at all. I can. not. wait. for these players to turn on this dickhead.
By Calvin Watkins Sep 24, 2018
FRISCO — Shares of blame for the Cowboys’ offensive ineptitude can be easily spread. You can start by allocating blame to Jerry Jones and the front office for believing they could replace Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, their two best offensive weapons from years past, with average players.
You can also assign some of it to Jason Garrett, the head coach who has faith in these players ability to make plays and sees them fail to do so.
Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan got a vote of confidence from Garrett on Monday and will retain his role as playcaller. Linehan’s play-calling and lack of creativity is also to blame.
Quarterback Dak Prescott is struggling to get the ball downfield or move the offense in general. He’s not providing much hope at the moment.
After Sunday’s 16-8 loss in Seattle, Prescott took the blame for being unable to push the ball with big plays. He looked solemn during his news conference from CenturyLink Field, and who could blame him.
“I don’t know,” Prescott said quietly of searching for answers. “I mean, last year, there were sometimes — but I’m not somebody thinking necessarily on the negativity part … I’m just focused on the good things that we’ve done and how we’re going to continue to grow on those to get better going forward.”
To be frank, the Cowboys’ offense stinks.
It ranks 31st in points (13.7), 31st in third-down conversions (23.5 percent), 30th in yards per game (277.7), and 30th in yards per pass play (4.39).
On third-down plays, the Cowboys are averaging just three yards-per-pass on 29 attempts. Prescott has attempted just seven deep passes of 20 yards or more out of his 88 total throws, with zero down the middle of the field.
Whether some of this is due to Prescott’s lack of confidence in throwing deep, an offensive line struggling or the receivers not making themselves available for catches is open to debate.
When an offense like the Cowboys’ is struggling, everybody gets blamed.
“There are a lot of different things we have to get better at, I guess is the simplest way of answering that question,” Garrett said Monday. “If you evaluate the game yesterday there were some good things in the game. We ran the ball well, we had explosive runs in the game, we ran for a good average throughout the game. I thought those were positives for us. We made some explosive plays offensively, but when you pull back and look at the rest of it, it just wasn’t good enough.”
You can start with the personnel.
When Witten retired during the draft, the Cowboys ventured down a path they never expected to take, trying to replace their future Hall of Fame tight end this year. The Cowboys like the potential of their four tight ends, but they all have problems. Geoff Swaim is the starter but nobody’s afraid of him. Blake Jarwin isn’t playing fast enough to merit more playing time and Rico Gathers is still developing. Yet when he does get the ball, the Cowboys like his ability to get yards after catch. Rookie Dalton Schultz has been inactive the last two weeks and is a year away from being counted on.
This leaves us with the wide receivers. For as much trouble Dez Bryant caused, he did average 14 yards per catch in 113 career games. His ability to challenge defenses deep and on back-shoulder fades helped not only Tony Romo but Prescott, too. Salary and his combustible behavior are the main reasons he’s gone now.
This current group is led by Cole Beasley, who has 12 catches for 132 yards. A majority of these catches come from the slot and the Cowboys can’t win games relying on Beasley to make plays from the slot. Tavon Austin has touchdown receptions of 64 yards and three yards, but the Cowboys don’t utilize him enough. Austin has a similar build to Beasley but is used differently. The Cowboys can line Austin up outside and run him deep, as they did in the Week 2 win over the Giants. They can also place him in motion and hand the ball off to him on end-arounds or throw quick routes to him.
In Sunday’s loss, Austin played in a season-high 20 snaps, taking some plays from Deonte Thompson, a big-play threat. Thompson took 28 snaps in the loss but finished with two catches for 23 yards.
Thompson hasn’t made any impactful plays and is noted more for his drop, on a high pass, late in the Week 1 loss at Carolina.
Allen Hurns was signed to replace Bryant as a tough, physical receiver. Hurns, in 41 snaps, made two catches for 22 yards. Hurns maintains he’s getting open, but just not getting the ball.
One of the great mysteries of the Cowboys’ offense is what the team is doing with Terrance Williams. He played 10 snaps on Sunday, all on run plays. It’s like he’s the fifth tight end. The lack of creativity with Williams is noticed by defenses. When Williams comes into the game, he motions to the left tackle side to block. A run play is coming.
“I thought the receivers at different times, in this game, did a good job of winning on routes,” Garrett said. “And when we were able to put it all together, protect, see it, deliver the ball, again, I thought we had some good completions in the game, certainly not enough of them.”
Prescott’s numbers are horrific. He’s got a 74.9 quarterback rating (27th in the NFL) and 498 passing yards (28th). Prescott has yet to throw for 200 yards this season, something that should be easy to do given how the rules favor the offenses, particularly in the passing game.
Josh Allen, the Bills’ rookie quarterback who was considered very raw coming into the draft, has thrown for more yards (515) than Prescott and he didn’t start Week 1. Baker Mayfield threw for 201 yards in one half of football last week for the Browns.
Garrett has confidence in Prescott, but he really has no choice because Cooper Rush isn’t the answer and Romo is retired. Old buddy Troy Aikman is long gone. The last time the Cowboys finished 31st in points scored was 2015 and Matt Cassel was the main quarterback with Romo hurt. You have to flip the history books back to 2002 to find this bad an offense, and that group featured Chad Hutchinson and Quincy Carter sharing the starting quarterback duties for Dave Campo. The Cowboys finished 31st in scoring that year.
We’re three games into the season and there is so much to play for. But this reality also gives you a glimpse of how bad the offense currently is. Zeke Elliott rushed for 127 yards with a strong 7.9 yards per carry. But Elliott made three mistakes in the game, two on third down that cost his team a touchdown and a first down.
Things like that hurt NFL teams and they can ultimately doom them. When Elliott ran out of bounds, negating a touchdown in the second quarter that would have tied the game at 7-7, he didn’t pay attention to where he was on the field. Free safety Earl Thomas covered Elliott out of the backfield and when he stopped, Elliott kept looking back waiting for the ball. Thomas’ coverage forced Elliott to run his route wider than necessary.
If Elliott stayed inbounds and scored, it’s a different ballgame.
“We had a third-down yesterday where there was a little burst route to him working over to our sidelines and Dak gave him a good ball,” Garrett said. “He just didn’t finish the play.”
The offensive line is another problem. It doesn’t have All-Pro center Travis Frederick, who is nowhere near to returning from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, but still features All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith and All-Pro right guard Zack Martin, the highest-paid player at his position in the NFL. There were times Prescott was flushed out the pocket because of pressure on the outside. He needs time to throw, which is obvious, but sometimes he needs to just get out the pocket and run the ball.
Everything is magnified with the offense struggling. Yet, what gives anybody hope it will get better?
“I think we’ve got the players and I do think we have the talent and I think we have the coaching that can get us on the right track offensively,” Jones said. “That’s a good question. I want to answer it that way. We will get on the right track offensively. I’ll assure you.”
_____________________________
I also heard a Garrett quote saying the playcalling was not to blame, but execution was. THere are at least two quotes in this article with Garrett throwing his players under the bus without once taking any blame at all. I can. not. wait. for these players to turn on this dickhead.
