Archer: Cowboys' offense finding the start of the season rougher than expected

Cotton

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Cowboys' offense finding the start of the season rougher than expected
7:00 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Remember when the Dallas Cowboys' offense was among the most envied in the NFL?

Nobody had a better offensive line. RB Ezekiel Elliott led the NFL in rushing. QB Dak Prescott had so many weapons at his disposal – WRs Dez Bryant and Cole Beasley and TE Jason Witten -- that he could pick apart any defense.

That's all so 2016.

The Cowboys' offense is struggling in 2017.

After finishing as the fifth-ranked offense in terms of yards and points and second in rushing last season, the Cowboys are 16th in points (21.3), 19th in yards (311) and 22nd in rushing (89.3) so far this year.

THEY AREN'T DRIVING THE BALL

Through three games, the Cowboys (2-1) have seven touchdown drives, one fewer than last year through three games. Five of the seven drives have started at midfield or in the opponent's territory. Their longest touchdown drive was the four-play, 75-yard drive in the fourth quarter of Monday's win against the Arizona Cardinals, and it started with a 53-yard completion from Prescott to WR Brice Butler.

In the first three games last season, seven of the Cowboys' eight touchdown drives were at least nine plays and ranged from 72 to 94 yards.

The Cowboys have converted just 13 of 38 third-down chances so far this season (34 percent). They converted 21 of 40 third-down chances in the first three games last year. The Cowboys have gone back-to-back games with fewer than 20 first downs (15 first downs in the win vs. Arizona, and 16 in the Week 2 loss to Denver). The only time they had fewer than 20 first downs in consecutive games last year was in Weeks 13 and 14.

On Monday, the Cowboys needed Prescott to make impromptu plays when things broke down, which is a difficult way to live in the NFL.

"Very few times in the NFL does a quarterback go back and everything is clean and everything is easy and [he has] a nice pocket to throw from," Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. "There's always somebody in your face, you always have to move, you always have to keep your eyes down the field with people around you and make plays. He's capable of doing that from the pocket. He's capable of doing that by running and making things happen, but also just buying some time and getting out in space and keeping his eyes down the field."

THE OFFENSIVE LINE NEEDS TIME

The Cowboys lost two starters up front from last year. Right tackle Doug Free retired and left guard Ronald Leary left via free agency.

La'el Collins moved from left guard to right tackle. He has had good moments (a key block on Elliott's 8-yard touchdown Monday) and bad moments (as Denver LB Von Miller does with many offensive tackles, he spun Collins around). Chaz Green entered the season with no experience at left guard and has made only the third and fourth starts of his young career.

Replacing 40 percent of the line is significant even if the remaining 60 percent are All-Pros Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin.

"I think one of the things you find out is, really, for a long, long time in the NFL, and certainly now, the way you get better, particularly in the running game, is experience during the game," Garrett said. "That's been the case for a long time. You like to think that you become a better running team as the year goes on because you get a chance to run these runs in real life against a real opponent. And hopefully you benefit from those experiences. That's for everybody. That's for a veteran offensive line group. And … when you have a couple of young guys in there, hopefully they're learning from the experiences as we go and we get better."

NOT STARTING FAST


The Cowboys had eight plays for 33 total yards on their first drive against the Giants in Week 1 and ended up punting. They punted after three plays and 9 yards against the Broncos and 3 yards against the Cardinals.

Last year, with a rookie quarterback and a rookie running back, the Cowboys scored on their first possession in all three games to start the season. They went 70 yards on 15 plays against the Giants and 76 yards on 13 plays against the Redskins, leading to field goals. Against the Bears, a 10-play, 75-yard drive ended with a touchdown.

The Cowboys scored on their first possession in nine games last season.

THEY HAVE PLAYED GOOD DEFENSES

This seems to be the most common explanation for the early-season struggles. The Broncos have the fourth-ranked defense in terms of yards, while the Cardinals are ninth. The Giants check in at No. 16. Last season, the Giants finished 10th, the Redskins were 28th and Bears were 15th.


This season, the Cardinals and Broncos have stacked the box and dared the Cowboys to pass the ball. Elliott had 8 yards on nine carries against the Broncos. He had 80 yards on 22 carries against Arizona, but 50 yards came on two plays.

The Cowboys believe the cumulative effect of running the ball will eventually wear down their opponents. It worked better against the Cardinals -- Elliott had 49 yards on 14 carries in the second half, but five of those carries went for 2 yards or less.

The Los Angeles Rams come to AT&T Stadium on Sunday with the 22nd-ranked defense in terms of yards and 26th in points allowed. Of course, Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips will want to have a good showing against the team that fired him as head coach midway through the 2010 season.

"We just got to keep pushing," Bryant said. "It's a process. I said that it's a process. And when it clicks, it's going to click and it's going to be one of the best things you've ever seen on turf."
 

Smitty

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THEY AREN'T DRIVING THE BALL
It's cause (1) they aren't able to run the ball effectively, and, perhaps related to/caused by number one, (2) Dez and Beasley are no-shows in the passing game. Dez has made a couple of redzone appearances when we've had short fields, which is why our TD total is only off by 1 from last year, but we are struggling, as the bolded part says, to "drive the ball." We aren't driving the ball because between the 20's, Dez and Beasley have been missing persons.

This is also why our third down conversion percentage is so low. We can't run the ball right now, and so I'd bet we have way more third and longs. Couple that with no impact from Dez and Beasley, it's no wonder that we aren't converting third and longs.

And as much as we'd like to blame it on Collins and Green, Smith and Frederick have been getting beat too.
 

NoDak

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And as much as we'd like to blame it on Collins and Green, Smith and Frederick have been getting beat too.
Yeah, they are. At an alarming rate. This is the biggest surprise to me so far this year.
 

Smitty

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And that to me, is the #1 issue with the coaching right now. How come these guys don't seem to be ready?

Forget all Ace's playcall whining. That is cherry picking and is literally the same argument you hear from every fan base. Hire Sean Payton and you'll have the same complaints. Hire Mike McCarthy and you'll have the same complaints (my co-worker is a Packers fan, I hear them every Monday. Apparently among Packers fans its common knowledge that McCarthy is a horrible playcaller and relies on Rodgers to bail him out). Hire anyone but maybe Bill Belichick and you'll have the same complaints.

But this seems bad. The OL seems off. Elliott seems off. Prescott seems off. And yes, there are some things the staff could be doing to get them to settle down/go back to tried and true things from last year. Of course, by "tried and true from last year," I also don't mean just line up and play power football, because that's exactly what teams are selling out to stop and they are winning.
 

Rev

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Too much eating the cheese.
 

ravidubey

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The NFL has always been about punches and counter-punches.

You can't expect the same plays and approaches to work year after year exactly the same way. Sometimes it might look the same on the surface, but if you look closer everything has evolved at least a little.

If you can't evolve, you lose.
 

Carp

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Dak has too much going on at the line. By the time he goes through all his Romo-like adjustments it is time to snap it. He is still a 2nd year player and should have his choices limited. Adjusting protection and identifying the mike is fine, but too many other adjustments going on.

Zeke is out of shape too...he lacks explosiveness. Right now Butler might ve our best weapon...he draws favorable match ups every time and has shown the ability to make big plays.
 

p1_

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I think the changes to the line have impacted the offense more than we anticipated it would. I don't know whether we underestimated Leary or simply didnt wish to pay him premium money, but none of the replacements has worked well thus far. Green cant stay healthy and Cooper is bad. Also, Collins is still adjusting to the move outside. All in all, it's not working nearly so well this season.
 
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