Dallas Cowboys DOA On Third Down Again In Eagles Loss
At this point, perhaps the only way the Dallas Cowboys offense can convert a meaningful third down is if they somehow have the opportunity to go up against the Dallas Cowboys defense.
Both units were again useless on the money down in Thursday’s embarrassing 33-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Executing on third down keeps drives alive for the offense and forces punts and field goals for the defense. In other words, that’s the down that wins games.
Against the Eagles the offense converted a woeful four of 12 third down tries, and the defense allowed a Mark Sanchez-led offense to move the chains on eight of 15 attempts. To give you an idea of how bad those numbers are, if the Cowboys offense always converted at 33.3 percent they’d be ranked 30th in the league; the Eagles’ 53.3 percent conversion rate would be the best in the NFL.
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It’s officially time to get worried about the third down problem. Thursday marked the fifth straight game in which the Cowboys couldn’t convert on offense and couldn’t get off the field on defense. The team is lucky to be 2-3 during that stretch.
The seven games prior, the Cowboys were 6-1 and playing playoff-caliber football on third down. The Cowboys defense was holding opponents to a 41.7 percent conversion ratio on third downs. That’s not a world-beater stat but good enough for 17th in the league at the time. The offense was tops in the league with a ridiculous 57.5 percent third down conversion ratio. To give you an idea of how absurd that is, the current league leader is at 50.7 percent and no team has converted better than 53.5 percent over the past three games. That’s how you win six straight in the NFL.
In the five games since their six-game winning streak ended, the Cowboys defense has yielded on 38 of 74 third down attempts for an insurmountable 51.4 percent conversion ratio. The Cowboys offense has converted just 20 of 58 third down attempts, or 34.5 percent.
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It’s time for an adjustment to how the Cowboys approach the money down, because their opponents have figured out how to play them. The NFL is all about adjustments. The more you put on tape, the more opponents can prepare for your tendencies, and apparently the Cowboys aren’t good enough to just do whatever they want and win.
Thursday’s loss is by no means a season-ender. The Cowboys have four winnable games still to play – at Chicago next Thursday, at Philadelphia the following Sunday, then hosting Indianapolis before finishing on the road at Washington.
They can take three of four, finish with 11 wins, and very likely make the playoffs. But that’s not going to happen unless they figure out how to sustain drives on offense, and how to get force punts or field goals on defense.
The Cowboys are not playing their best football right now. That’s OK. They don’t need to be. The New York Giants were crushed 49-24 by the New Orleans Saints in Week 12 of 2011, the year they won the Super Bowl. The Baltimore Ravens were blown out 34-17 at home against the Denver Broncos in Week 15 of 2012, the year they won the Super Bowl. The Seattle Seahawks lost two of four to close out the 2013 season, before winning the Super Bowl.
The NFL is hard. Teams that win are teams that make adjustments and have the talent to execute those adjustments. The Cowboys’ play through Week 7 suggests they have the talent. Let’s see if they can make the necessary adjustments.