Cowboys’ lackluster offense offensive in loss to Carolina

Visions of a well-oiled Dallas Cowboys’ offense blew up in the hangar as they squander a good defensive effort in an ugly loss.

I’m not quite sure where to start here. For one, if I had been guaranteed that the Dallas Cowboys would give up sixteen points on the road, I would’ve really liked their chances to win. Secondly, if I’d been told the defense would force a turnover deep in their own end to thwart a Panther drive, I’d be thrilled. And after all that, if I knew they were going to have a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, I would’ve said “Bring it on!”

Of course, all of this did happen. Yet it never really felt like the Cowboys were anywhere close to winning that game yesterday. Penalties cost this team early on. Carolina held a distinct advantage in the field position battle the entire afternoon. The Dallas offense looked putrid for most of the game. Sure, the defense was solid, and they deserve credit for making adjustments on the fly, but why did it look like they’d never seen a read option before in the first quarter?

Granted, this is purely armchair hating I’m doing today, but that’s part of the job, no? At the end of the day, the Dallas defense held up their end of the bargain. Carolina isn’t exactly the Greatest Show on Turf, but they possess some fine weapons. That they were largely neutralized speaks to the improvement on the defensive side of the ball. Now more than ever, the Cowboys are going to need that defense to keep them in these games.

No, the object of my ire today is an offense that never touched the Carolina side of the field until after halftime, and didn’t sniff the red zone until the fourth quarter. For a team that harbors postseason aspirations, yesterday’s effort on offense reeked of the droppings of a large farm animal. They were inept, non-dimensional, and looked slow and unprepared.

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To that end, it might be time to sound the alarm for Dak Prescott. I’ve mentioned it in this space before, but I think Prescott has been given quite a bit more than he can chew when it comes to the playbook. I think the success he enjoyed as a rookie was largely the product of the beauty of the uncluttered mind. The play was called and he ran it. Now he looks like Tony Romo before plays, calling audibles and gesticulating wildly. Right now, I don’t think that’s a good plan for Dak. Can he get there? Maybe. Does the playbook need to be dumbed back down for him a little? Probably. He looked tentative for large stretches of the afternoon. In short, he’s taken a step back.

Of course, this all circles back around to coaching. I’ve been lenient on offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and head coach Jason Garrett in the past. But yesterday’s rotten egg certainly warrants a lot of scrutiny. Like I mentioned before, the team looked unprepared, especially in the first half. Moreover, the offense looked plodding and slow, and that will never fly against a defense like Carolina’s. The intensity needs to ramp up starting next week, no excuses.

This probably appears to be a bit of panic on my part. It might be. It’s very easy to knee jerk and declare the sky is falling. But there are only sixteen of these things. Also, the loss happened against a conference opponent, so they’re already behind the 8-ball when it comes to potential playoff tiebreakers. I think the Cowboys do possess a lot of young talent. But without the proper guidance, potential is just potential. It’s up to the coaches and players to maximize what they’re truly capable of.

• Published on 09/10/2018 at 12:01 PM
• Last updated at 09/10/2018 at 12:01 PM