The Dallas Cowboys blew another game they seemed to have in hand in Week 8. A loss to the Arizona Cardinals isn’t new for the Cowboys. They are now 1-9 in their last 10 matchups and 0-5 at home.
Dallas led by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Before Brian Schottenheimer’s arrival, they were 202-0 in those contests. Under Schottenheimer, they are 0-1-1. He has been saddled with a defense in the bottom three in the NFL, but his offense has been too soft, inconsistent, and conservative in that time as well. Storylines for Dallas following their Week 8 loss begin with the team's inconsistencies. As the page turns to Week 9, what are the prevailing storylines for these Cowboys?
The run game in Philadelphia was a one-off
The Cowboys had eaten criticism after their performance against the Green
Bay Packers. Dallas had a stretch of nearly 40 plays with only a single run call. They walked into the game against the Eagles with a better plan and they pushed around Philadelphia for over 200 yards. It seemed like the rushing attack was turning around, but it’s not just about handing the ball off.The Cowboys had a 54.2% run rate, but a 28.6% success rate. Dallas had 39 attempts against Arizona, but averaged under three yards per carry. The inability to run the ball on first down was a significant issue, putting the team behind the sticks too often. They had 12 first down rush attempts for 25 yards. Their expected points added was -.16 and the team couldn’t climb out of that hole often enough.
First-half defense was an aberration
The defense played its best half of the season against the Cardinals. They started with a three-and-out, had a goal-line stand, and then an interception to set up a struggling offense with their first score. At 7-0, the defense controlled the opening quarter. They allowed only a field goal and added a forced fumble to end the half. They allowed 139 total yards. With a minute left in the third quarter, everything changed. Tyler Allgeier broke off a 63-yard touchdown run, and the floodgates opened. Dallas’ defense allowed a touchdown on the final four drives, and the game went to overtime only because Arizona missed an extra point. The defense went from allowing 139 total yards in a half to 141 just to Allgeier from the final minute of the third quarter. The collapse is the main reason Dallas choked away the game to the Cardinals.
The offense is becoming a problem
It’s easy to see the scoreboard read 30 points and claim the offense did its job, but they aren’t doing the job when it’s winning time. Forgetting they had only one scoring drive in the first half that wasn’t due to an interception return to the five-yard line, they also had multiple chances to put the game away and failed miserably. With 2:07 left in the game, the Cowboys had the ball on the 20-yard line, only needing a first down to end the game. They went three-and-out for negative three yards.
CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were only on the field for one snap. In overtime, the Dallas defense got a stop, and the offense got the ball on the 29-yard line, needing only a field goal to win the game, but they had another three-and-out for negative five yards. The Cowboys defense is the main issue this season, but the offense shouldn’t get a pass. They aren’t the same offense they were last season.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or on YouTube at Across the Cowboys podcast
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys storylines sound far too familiar as page turns to Week 9
