Dallas Cowboys: Week 6 – Five Things

Oct 11, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys injured quarterback

reacts on the sidelines during the game against the New England Patriots at AT&T Stadium. The Patriots beat the Cowboys 30-6. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Easier said than done, but the offense needs to start challenging defenses down the field.

Without quarterback Tony Romo slinging the football around, the Cowboys went with a very conservative game plan for backup quarterback Brandon Weeden. It appears that some of that was a lack of confidence in Weeden’s ability to read progressions and his lack of willingness to throw into a window down the field.

Starting with the up0coming Giants game, the Cowboys look to use Matt Cassel as the starter.

While Cassel should test secondaries down the field more, he has been known to be interception prone. Finding a balance of testing the secondary and still being conservative enough to manage the clock and the ball will be the work of head coach Jason Garrett and staff.

It can be done, and if Cassel can at least keep a defense honest, it should open the running game up. Cassel has shown in his previous stops that he understands how to let a route develop, read a progression, and adjust protection schemes, all things it appeared Weeden struggled in.

The offensive line will look a lot better as they won’t always face eight and nine man fronts because opposing defenses basically know that Weeden isn’t going to beat them over the top. Cassel should be able to make defenses pay a little more if they decide to play this scheme against him.

There has been a lot of press about how the offensive line has looked, but what it missed was some help against the way opponents were playing against the Cowboys.

Next: Get the Defenses Defending