Dallas Cowboys: Will Dallas abuse the run?

The Dallas Cowboys are playing the Detroit Lions this Sunday. Quarterback Matt Stafford has been ruled out for the game, meaning the Cowboys will have an advantage. However, with the upper hand against one of the league’s worst run defenses, will the Cowboys high powered offense abuse the run?

The Dallas Cowboys are currently 5-4 and stand atop the NFC East, but this team does not like a Super Bowl contender as we were advertised this offseason. They are fresh off of a perplexing loss to the Vikings and are facing another NFC North opponent this weekend in the Detroit Lions.

On paper this seems like an automatic win for Dallas. Detroit is missing quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was playing like an MVP before his injuries, and defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand. Even with Hand’s presence, the Lions have the 6th worst scoring defense, the 6th worst rushing defense allowing 4.6 yards per carry, the 5th worst passing defense allowing over 272 yards per game, and have allowed a total of touchdowns on the season.

With the Cowboys currently ranked as the number one offense, the matchup could not be better. But it’s in times like these where see the Cowboys struggle for one reason or another. However, if there has been one constant throughout recent Cowboys history, it’s Jason Garrett‘s infatuation for running the ball.

In all fairness, there is no better week to run. When the opposition is missing a big source of points and a run stopping weapon, the reasons to run the ball only multiply. However, that might indirectly present an issue.

What was once the Cowboys strength has now turned into their weakness. This year, the Cowboys are 0-3 in close games, games where the final score is decided by 6 points or fewer. Last year, they were 8-2. Part of this is luck, which explains the general variability from a year to year standpoint, but it also explains the Cowboys playcalling tendencies. Long gone are the days of explosive play action passes and running into 6 man boxes that lead to the Cowboys just flat out blowing out their opposition. This 2019 Dallas Cowboys team is BACK BABY… to the 2018 version of itself.

This offseason when the Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott to his record extension, questions regarding Elliott’s workload were all over the place. People stressed the “Zeke 30-count auto-win” and others quickly realized that giving Jason Garrett a running back who makes $15 M per year was going to result in another year of high volume running. The variable to this equation was Kellen Moore.

It seemed like finally the Cowboys found the right balance between the passing and running game to start the season, but we quickly learned that offense would not last. The team is back to its former self with a running back who looks like a shell of his former self.

Against the Minnesota Vikings, Elliott carried the ball 20 times averaging a porous 2.4 yards per carry. The Minnesota Vikings have the 6th best rushing defense and the coaching staff decided running the ball a total of 22 times was smart, especially on a day where quarterback Dak Prescott was playing like an MVP. (This doesn’t even take into account the last two offensive series for the team)

The coaching staff didn’t adjust, they didn’t put the ball in the hands of their best playmaker when it mattered, and as a result they lost the game.

That feels like a recurring theme this year, doesn’t it?

It has, the Cowboys struggled to run against the New Orleans Saints and lost as a result. Against the New York Jets, they were insistent on running the ball so much they wasted time for their QB to play hero ball as he’s gotten very accustomed to doing here the last three years.

So why are the Cowboys insistent upon trying the same thing over again?

Because that wasn’t the story of the previous game against the New York Giants.

Against the New York Giants, the Cowboys ran Elliott 23 times for 139 yards. By all means that final stat line is considered successful, however, it is worth noting Elliott did this against the 10th worst rushing defense in the league.