The Dallas Cowboys' offense has carried their team to a 2-2 record despite issues with their defense and special teams. The defense gave up nearly 400 yards to a poor Houston Texans team, and the special teams had a missed and a blocked field goal, as well as a 53-yard kick return. The team was down double digits going into the second half, and they had lost 32 straight road games in that situation, the longest streak in the NFL. The Cowboys' offense has the highest Expected Points Added (EPA) per play in the NFL, while their defense has the lowest.
Quarterback Dak Prescott played an MVP-caliber, almost flawless second half to pull out the must-have victory. A huge question for Dallas through four weeks is: will the offense have to be unbelievable
to have a chance to win every week? The EPA difference between the offense and defense suggests it will. The Cowboys are averaging 3.39 points per drive; that’s fifth, not this year, but overall since the year 2000. They trail only the 2007 New England Patriots, 2021 Kansas City Chiefs, 2024 Washington Commanders, and the 2020 Green Bay Packers. They win with their offense, but can they continue to be an offense-only team and win games?
Can Guyton continue to play at a high level?
Tyler Guyton was a first-round bust six months ago and the biggest weakness on the offense. Fast-forward to four games of the 2026 season, and he has beenthe best offensive lineman for the Cowboys. All-Pro left guard Tyler Smith has been injured, which has negatively impacted Cooper Beebe’s play, but Guyton seems to have stepped up.
He has gone up against Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Odafe Oweh, Trey Hendrickson, Danielle Hunter, and Will Anderson Jr., playing them 1-on-1 for 93% of his snaps. Over the last two contests, he had 22 pass rush reps against Hendrickson and allowed four pressures and zero sacks. He went up against Anderson Jr. eight times, all 1-on-1 reps, allowing just a single pressure. Hunter went against Guyton 32 times, 28 in 1-on-1 scenarios, and allowed just two pressures. Overall, Guyton has allowed 12 pressures and no sacks. If he plays like this for the rest of the season, the Cowboys might have their left tackle of the future.
Can the Cowboys continue to score touchdowns in the red zone?
The red-zone offense was a letdown for Dallas in 2025. They had all the same talent but were a bottom-half-of-the-league red-zone team. They scored touchdowns on only 57% of their red-zone drives, with 17 field-goal attempts and 11 turnovers. The team puts too much money into its offense to be that average in that area of the field. The team must’ve agreed and made that part of their offense a key focus in the offseason.
This season has been completely different. They were 3-3 against the New York Giants, 3-4 against the Commanders, 3-5 against the Ravens (with their two losses costing them that contest), and 4-4 in the Texans win. That’s 13 touchdowns on 16 red-zone attempts, an 81% touchdown rate, second only to the San Francisco 49ers this season. The Cowboys might need to keep up a similar pace to win this season.
Will Dallas be able to slow down Jalon Daniels?
The Cowboys have made improvements as the defense has gelled together. They are getting some stops, including three-and-outs. Their run defense stepped up against Houston, with a top-three ranking in run success rate allowed. Their third-down defense held the Texans and Ravens to a combined 8-for-23 (35%) on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth-down conversions. The only thing that hasn’t improved is their ability to slow down opposing passing attacks.
C.J. Stroud, Lamar Jackson, Marcus Mariota, Jayden Daniels, and Jaxson Dart combined to throw for a 72% completion percentage for 242.5 yards per game and nine touchdown passes to zero interceptions. Houston wasn’t known to be an elite passing attack, but Stroud threw for 347 yards and two scores. Jalon Daniels is a rookie, and the Dallas defense needs to contain him from blowing up against them.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or on YouTube at Across the Cowboys podcast
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: What questions does Dallas need to answer for their Week 5 matchup?
