Will The Cowboys Ever Develop A Killer Instinct?

The Dallas Cowboys loss to the Detroit Lions was hard to watch. I don’t want to believe the Cowboys are a soft team. They are simply unable to strike fear in their opponents on either side of the ball and they lack a killer mentality that puts teams away. The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49’ers are considered to have a fearsome defense. These are defenses that won’t surrender a 10 point fourth quarter advantage. Offensively, the New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos are teams that don’t “settle” for field goals.

Oct 6, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray (29) runs for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos at AT

The Broncos tied Washington 21-21 in the fourth quarter. Peyton Manning led the team on two scoring drives, giving the Broncos a 10 point lead, 31-21. They didn’t sit on that lead, they added to it. They scored another touchdown for a 17 point lead and their defense added a pick six to win by 24 points. The Cincinnati Bengals were winning 28-6 over the New York Jets at halftime. They scored another 21 points winning 49-9. The Cowboys don’t do that and I wish they would.

The Dallas Cowboys play like the cowboys in white hats but we would be better suited to play with an attitude. A tormented hero in an action movie that doesn’t enjoy torturing a bad guy to get information he needs, but will do it when necessary. If you’ve watched Breaking Bad and followed the transformation of Walter White from mild mannered chemistry teacher to Scarface, you’ll understand when I say we need more of the loveable bad guy mentality from the Cowboys.

Developing a mean streak starts up front with the offensive line and downhill, power rushing plays. Power running backs get yards after contact. The elite of this list would include Marshawn Lynch, Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore, Brandon Jacobs, Trent Richardson and Doug Martin. On the Cowboys roster, only DeMarco Murray and Phillip Tanner have the physical potential to be considered power backs.

Downhill, power rushing is an aspect missing from the Cowboys offense without DeMarco Murray and a role that Phillip Tanner has been unable to fill. Power running is an attitude that we haven’t seen since Marion Barber. There are times you have to lower your shoulder and run a defender over or slam someone to the ground with a stiff-arm. Murray does that, but Tanner hasn’t yet. It’s possible to be a physical running back with the new rule changes. With Murray as the featured back, Tanner should be our goal-line, short yardage back and Randle should be the change of pace back. With Randle being the featured back, Dunbar would become the change of pace back, but it hasn’t worked out that way.

Releasing our fullback Lawrence Vickers may be the off-season move that haunts us. While a fullback usually indicates a running play, Vickers displayed the ability to catch passes out of the backfield. Did Jason Garrett forget how effective the Cowboys were with Daryl “Moose” Johnston?

A power running game would help the Cowboys win statistical categories that are important to winning football games. The list includes: Penalties, Turnovers, Time of Possession and Third Down Conversions.