George: Dallas Cowboys believe their offensive line has improved, but numbers tell...

[Cotton]

Dallas Cowboys believe their offensive line has improved, but numbers tell a different story
By Brandon George / Reporter
bgeorge@dallasnews.com
12:13 pm on October 8, 2013

Coach Jason Garrett said Monday he believes the Dallas Cowboys can be in attack mode on offense more “than in previous years because we are a better offensive line.

“We have really helped ourselves up front with the addition of some players,” Garrett added. “It allows you to play a little more down hill at them running the football and in the passing game.”

Garrett has said over and over how much better the offensive line has played, but if you believe numbers don’t lie, then he’s mostly blowing smoke.

Certainly, signing a six-time Pro Bowl guard in Brian Waters and drafting a first-round center in Travis Frederick should make a big difference.

But the bottom line:

Through five games, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has been sacked 13 times. In each of the last two seasons, Romo was sacked nine times through five games.

And the jump in sacks allowed isn’t a product of more pass attempts. Romo has dropped back to pass 201 times. Through five games in 2012 he had 196 drop-backs and 202 in 2011.

The Cowboys haven’t improved their rushing offense either. They’ve rushed for 461 yards and two touchdowns. Through five games last season, they had 498 rushing yards and two touchdowns. And remember, the Cowboys finished 2012 with the lowest 16-game rushing total in franchise history (1,265 yards).

If the Cowboys are so confident in their offensive line they would run more. The Cowboys have only 103 rushing attempts. That’s 18 fewer than they had at this point last year when they tied a team record for fewest rushing attempts in a 16-game season of 355.

The Cowboys are on pace for only 330 rushing attempts. They’re in position to make a run at the NFL record for fewest rushing attempts in a 16-game season of 304, set in 2006 by the Detroit Lions.

 

[Simpleton]

Anybody with half a brain can see that the OL is much better, Romo is taking sacks because he's standing his ass back there for 5 seconds and not getting the ball out fast. I'm guessing that he had at least 4 seconds to throw on at least 7 of those 13 sacks.

 

[Smitty]

It's not train wreck bad. It's still not above average.

 

[Clay_Allison]

I'm officially down on Callahan. He's running RHG's outdated Coryell Offense For Dummies playbook, so I didn't suddenly expect us to be putting up New Orleans numbers , but he has been just as bad about abandoning the run as the Redhead.

 

[Bluestar71]

4 out of 5 spots on last year's o-line were absolute train wrecks. This year's unit has all five guys at least holding their own. They haven't arrived or anything but unless you're just stupid it's hard to claim there isn't significant improvement.

 

[ravidubey]

It's not train wreck bad. It's still not above average.

You've a high opinion of average. If you look around the league I'm sure you'll see they've certainly been that and better.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

It's not train wreck bad. It's still not above average.

It absolutely is above average this year. It is clearly not what is holding this offense back any longer.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Yep. It is a completely fallacy to suggest the offensive line has been any less than pretty good.

 

[Smitty]

I'd say it's been average.

 

[mcnuttz]

Ok, so it's better.

Run the f'ing ball!

 

[Texas Ace]

Ok, so it's better.

Run the f'ing ball!

Exactly.

 

[Genghis Khan]

I'd say it's been average.

We know.

 

[Smitty]

We're never going to be a heavy running team under Garrett, nor should we be, so you should get that out of your systems.

The key is to have an efficient running attack when we need it which in prior seasons we have not. I still don't think we can run the ball in the redzone with any effectiveness.

 

[Clay_Allison]

We're never going to be a heavy running team under Garrett, nor should we be, so you should get that out of your systems.

The key is to have an efficient running attack when we need it which in prior seasons we have not. I still don't think we can run the ball in the redzone with any effectiveness.

We're never going to be an efficient running team under Garrett either.

 

[mcnuttz]

We're never going to be a heavy running team under Garrett, nor should we be, so you should get that out of your systems.

The key is to have an efficient running attack when we need it which in prior seasons we have not. I still don't think we can run the ball in the redzone with any effectiveness.

It's going to be tough figuring out how an efficient running attack works when we only run the ball against the Rams.

 

[Simpleton]

It's going to be tough figuring out how an efficient running attack works when we only run the ball against the Rams.

We ran the ball efficiently against the Chargers and Broncos too, it's just that we only ran it about 15 times or so in those games.

 

[mcnuttz]

We ran the ball efficiently against the Chargers and Broncos too, it's just that we only ran it about 15 times or so in those games.

Not so sure about the Broncos game, but DeMarco looked good running against the Chargers.

I also don't believe DeMarco is the kind of RB who can be used efficiently. He needs to run lots and get into his groove.

What is the mother humping offenses philosophy? I like that Romo can put up big yards, that's great. But I don't like that he is depended on to win the game. So he's won 18 come from behind in the 4th quarter games. How many BIG games has he lost because he loses his mind when the pressure is on? I don't need stats to know that he is not to be trusted with the game on the line.

Run run run, the O line is better...right?

 

[asklesko]

O-line is better, but the result's just the same.

 

[UncleMilti]

Waters has improved the OL as a whole I believe.

And he's only started, what, 1 game?

So the numbers aren't accurate.

 

[boozeman]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/10/09/ranking-the-2013-offensive-lines-first-quarter/4/

Per PFF, 3rd best OL in football:

3. Dallas Cowboys: +23.9
Stud: To the surprise of everyone, Doug Free (+15.7) has used the offseason uncertainty to motivate himself into a frankly fantastic start to the year. Our top ranked right tackle.
Dud: The play of Mackenzy Bernadeau (-3.2) was always going to be something to watch, and the team looks better with him out of the lineup.
Summary: They made a bold move in bringing in Brian Waters and it appears to be paying off. Of course that wasn’t the only bold move they made, with first-round pick Travis Frederick justifying the faith in him.
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I don't get how they "grade" and it seems high when Romo is running around still. But I do agree that Free has been surprising. Doesn't look like the same guy from last year.