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Cowboys don't have to go (third-and) long to find offensive issues
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- Diagnosing what has gone wrong for the Dallas Cowboys' offense the last two weeks is not difficult. You don't have to be some metric-driven follower of football to understand the Cowboys' issues are from their lack of third-down success.
They have converted just two of their last 24 third-down tries against the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants. That, more than anything, is why they have scored just 24 points in the last two games. This was an offense that put up more than 400 yards in eight straight games during their 11-game winning streak. This was an offense that scored more than 24 points in 10 of the 11 wins.
Why? They converted on 44 of 97 third-down attempts in the span. That 45.3 percent rate would be fourth best in the league over the course of the season.
But in the last two games, the Cowboys went 1-of-9 on third down in the 17-15 win against the Vikings and were 1-of-15 in the 10-7 loss to the Giants. The Cowboys have dropped to 12th in the league in third-down conversion rate on the season.
The conversions the last two games have been on a 14-yard scramble by Dak Prescott on third-and-13 in the second quarter against Minnesota and a 3-yard run by Ezekiel Elliott in the first quarter against New York. The Cowboys scored touchdowns on both of those drives.
The poor showing against Minnesota, according to Garrett, was more about the Cowboys' miscues. They lost a third-down conversion because of a Lucky Whitehead fumble. They lost another on a Jason Witten catch because of a penalty. They fumbled a snap on third and 1 to close the game.
Garrett gave the Giants defense more credit for the Cowboys' woes.
"Some of them were not favorable third-down situations and for us," he said. "Some were a combination of good coverage and not delivering the ball where we needed to, not winning on the route when we needed to, and just playing against a good defense. The conditions weren't ideal for either team, weren't as sharp as we needed to be in that critical down."
Calling plays in third-and-long situations is difficult for any offensive coordinator. The predictability makes it easier for the opposing defense. Against the Giants, the Cowboys went the odd route of calling an Elliott run on third-and-11 in the second half. Garrett put the 6-yard loss on a communication error.
"One of the issues in a game like that is communication and making sure everybody is on the same page. Unfortunately on that play we weren't," Garrett said. "But there are certain things we want to get to versus certain looks that we think give us a chance to make a first down."
In the last two games they have had to convert on third-and-8-10 yards seven times, which is the third highest total in a two-game span this season. They have had to convert on third-and-11 or more yards seven times, including five against the Giants, which is the most in a two-game span since the first two contests of the season.
The Cowboys have not converted a third down chance via a pass since the fourth quarter of their Thanksgiving Day win against the Washington Redskins when Prescott hit Dez Bryant for a 26-yard gain on third-and-9 from the Washington 27.
When the Cowboys have been great on third down, they have been great on first and second down. Against Washington, the Cowboys converted on 4 of 8 third-down opportunities. Perhaps more importantly they had three scoring drives in which they never even got to third down.
On the season the Cowboys have 11 scoring drives in which they never made it to a third-down play.
That is the best way to avoid third-down problems.
"You want to be good on first and second down. You want to make first downs on first and second down," Garrett said. "If you have 15 third downs in a game it's probably going to be a struggle. It's probably going to be a challenge. On the other side if you force them to have 14 third downs in the game it's going to be harder for them too. When we've played our best football we made a lot of first downs on first and second down but we've been in favorable third down situations."
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- Diagnosing what has gone wrong for the Dallas Cowboys' offense the last two weeks is not difficult. You don't have to be some metric-driven follower of football to understand the Cowboys' issues are from their lack of third-down success.
They have converted just two of their last 24 third-down tries against the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants. That, more than anything, is why they have scored just 24 points in the last two games. This was an offense that put up more than 400 yards in eight straight games during their 11-game winning streak. This was an offense that scored more than 24 points in 10 of the 11 wins.
Why? They converted on 44 of 97 third-down attempts in the span. That 45.3 percent rate would be fourth best in the league over the course of the season.
But in the last two games, the Cowboys went 1-of-9 on third down in the 17-15 win against the Vikings and were 1-of-15 in the 10-7 loss to the Giants. The Cowboys have dropped to 12th in the league in third-down conversion rate on the season.
The conversions the last two games have been on a 14-yard scramble by Dak Prescott on third-and-13 in the second quarter against Minnesota and a 3-yard run by Ezekiel Elliott in the first quarter against New York. The Cowboys scored touchdowns on both of those drives.
The poor showing against Minnesota, according to Garrett, was more about the Cowboys' miscues. They lost a third-down conversion because of a Lucky Whitehead fumble. They lost another on a Jason Witten catch because of a penalty. They fumbled a snap on third and 1 to close the game.
Garrett gave the Giants defense more credit for the Cowboys' woes.
"Some of them were not favorable third-down situations and for us," he said. "Some were a combination of good coverage and not delivering the ball where we needed to, not winning on the route when we needed to, and just playing against a good defense. The conditions weren't ideal for either team, weren't as sharp as we needed to be in that critical down."
Calling plays in third-and-long situations is difficult for any offensive coordinator. The predictability makes it easier for the opposing defense. Against the Giants, the Cowboys went the odd route of calling an Elliott run on third-and-11 in the second half. Garrett put the 6-yard loss on a communication error.
"One of the issues in a game like that is communication and making sure everybody is on the same page. Unfortunately on that play we weren't," Garrett said. "But there are certain things we want to get to versus certain looks that we think give us a chance to make a first down."
In the last two games they have had to convert on third-and-8-10 yards seven times, which is the third highest total in a two-game span this season. They have had to convert on third-and-11 or more yards seven times, including five against the Giants, which is the most in a two-game span since the first two contests of the season.
The Cowboys have not converted a third down chance via a pass since the fourth quarter of their Thanksgiving Day win against the Washington Redskins when Prescott hit Dez Bryant for a 26-yard gain on third-and-9 from the Washington 27.
When the Cowboys have been great on third down, they have been great on first and second down. Against Washington, the Cowboys converted on 4 of 8 third-down opportunities. Perhaps more importantly they had three scoring drives in which they never even got to third down.
On the season the Cowboys have 11 scoring drives in which they never made it to a third-down play.
That is the best way to avoid third-down problems.
"You want to be good on first and second down. You want to make first downs on first and second down," Garrett said. "If you have 15 third downs in a game it's probably going to be a struggle. It's probably going to be a challenge. On the other side if you force them to have 14 third downs in the game it's going to be harder for them too. When we've played our best football we made a lot of first downs on first and second down but we've been in favorable third down situations."