Dallas Cowboys: Why you should be patient with the offense

The Dallas Cowboys offense has underwhelmed the first two weeks of the season. Here’s why you should be patient with them.

The Dallas Cowboys offense did not play many preseason snaps. With injuries across the offensive line and the usual bubble wrap treatment for running back Ezekiel Elliott; the snaps the offense took in preseason was alarmingly low.

With a basically brand new receiving corps, two new pieces on the offensive line with center Travis Fredericks‘ dealing with an autoimmune illness, and quarterback Dak Prescott‘s’ second-half slump in 2017; it seemed all too logical to get the offense as many reps as possible.

Whether it was justified or not, fans of the team and media were adamant about the disadvantages this long layoff would cause. A lack of discipline, chemistry, and experience all come from limited preseason reps; and they all reared their ugly heads Week One and to a much lesser degree Week Two. It seemed as though everyone knew that the rust would be heavy at the beginning of the season.

So if everyone guessed the offense would be rusty, and rust is not permanent, why is everyone assuming the offense won’t improve?

Media and fans alike have been thumbing through the schedule and handing out wins and losses with stipulations of a low-caliber offense and good defense. But in what season in the history of the NFL has a team (other than dumpster fires like the Cleveland Browns) looked the same Week One as they have Week Twelve, or even Week Seven?

Let’s look back at 2017 really quick. The offense Week One against the New York Giants scored 19 points and looked average at best. Then Week Two they laid an egg in Denver. This was followed by five straight weeks of a top scoring offense, operating at 28 points per game in total for the first half of the season.

It would have been naive for any fan to think the teams’ offense would be the same as Week One or Week Two. Conversely, it would have been wrong to think the offense Week Six would be the same one Week Thirteen due to injuries and coaching misdirection. Why are we not applying this same logic to 2018?

The truth is this offense has started extremely slow the first two weeks of the Dak and Zeke era. In fact, Elliott has been held to below 100 yards a game in five of his six games in the first two weeks of the season. This offense has had a history of starting the season slow, why is that not applicable now?

This offense will improve as they take more reps and become more comfortable. Elliott has been a monster Week Three and beyond in his career, and the offensive line took a significant step forward in Week Two. There’s no reason to believe they will regress into their Week One performance for the rest of the season.

And as much as you dislike Prescott, it’s highly unlikely that he and the offense will be 30th in the league all season. Rust wears off with reps and as the team gets into the later weeks of the season. Odds are the offense will be better as the season progresses and chemistry increases along the offensive line, receiving corps, and as Elliott gets his feet under him.

Let’s not be naive and bet on the Dallas Cowboys offense being in the bottom third all year. There will be an incremental improvement and if the defense does the same this team will be playing meaningful games in January. Be patient, Week One is not Week Sixteen.