FRISCO – The Dallas Cowboys have now had a week off to examine themselves through a six-game sample size and a 3-3 start. Owner Jerry Jones has offered his summation of the examination, using the word “bad” to describe things in a way that comes across as a direct shot at coach Mike McCarthy and staff. Said Jones this week: “We’re designing bad plays, we’re designing bad concepts.” On Wednesday here inside The Star, McCarthy offered a rather bold reaction to his boss’ accusation. “I talk to Jerry all the time,” McCarthy said. :We’ve had time to go through the self-scout. I didn’t see the comments specifically. But I don’t think we have bad concepts and bad plays.” Added the coach: “We’re not where we want to be. That’s clear, and that’s ultimately my responsibility and I’m fully aware of that. We’re very diligent. We’re on top of what we want to do.”
One particular area needing a thorough evaluation has been the run game. No team across the NFL has found more difficulty in establishing a ground presence than the Cowboys. An offseason that showed little interest on their end in reevaluating the position has resulted in league worst stats with little encouragement for growth into the second half of the season. Currently, the Cowboys rank last in yards per game (77.2) and yards per carry (3.5). While Jerry Jones has made clear his “blow it up” plans, there is still an existing hope for this group to contend. Looking at the NFC landscape, they are not far out from playoff contention either.
Of course, any drastic changes as far as coaching or scheme will not come and Jones seems content with relying on their in-house crop of talent rather than acquiring players through trade. But there are ways for this team to improve its run game, or at least tinker with ideas that could help in the long run. First, as our Mike Fisher previously mentioned, maneuvering the pieces on the line could serve this time well.
The Cowboys’ offensive line has not performed up to standard this season, but a reset along the formation may help with players working in more natural positions. That could be Tyler Guyton taking over at right tackle or Tyler Smith moving to left tackle. Either way, this limited corps of running backs needs help creating lanes and space to create. Speaking of that group, Dallas needs to finally commit to a structure in their backfield. Their inability to remain competitive in half of their games makes establishing the run difficult, but when they are working on the ground, Rico Dowdle must be the primary ball carrier.
Against the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants, Dowdle’s involvement powered the Cowboys to consecutive wins. Dallas then turned the majority of the carries over to Ezekiel Elliott in their blowout loss to the Detroit Lions before the bye week. We’ve argued that Dowdle gives this team their best chance of competing with the ball in his hands. Any kinks they have worked out or new strategies will be put to the fire this week against the San Francisco 49ers. Dallas has many areas where they need to make progress quickly to save their season and moving forward without any such adjusments, especially in the run game, would be detrimental to their cause. In other words, quit being so “bad.”
