The Dallas Cowboys kryptonite can be seen in the mirror
The Dallas Cowboys are fighting for a playoff spot right now, but have lost some games they should have won. What is Dallas’ kryptonite right now?
The Dallas Cowboys have a 6-4 record which is not a bad record to have, but it should have been better considering losses to the New York Jets and the Drew Brees-less New Orleans Saints. Yes, Dallas just beat the Detroit Lions, but should it have been that close?
Coming into the season the Cowboys looked like a complete team. The offense was looking great after the acquisition of receiver Amari Cooper joining the team, and the defense looked good except for a couple of holes. What is Dallas’ kryptonite?
Play-calling
Many people are looking to coach Jason Garrett‘s play-calling as one of the main problems. I think you can look at it as a problem, but not as much as some people believe.
For one, many people were criticizing the run plays on the second last Cowboys drive against the Minnesota Vikings. Although quarterback Dak Prescott was playing great, it is very hard to bet against running back Ezekiel Elliott regardless of the lack of run game success that game.
The run calls were not good nor bad calls for a couple of reasons. Because Dallas was behind and Dak was playing great, you would expect passing plays to be called. The run was supposed to throw the defense off and run down the clock.
Unfortunately, that did not work, but it wasn’t all that bad of a call. The bad call was the fourth-down throw to Zeke. Not only was he well covered, but receiver Randall Cobb looked like he had some space on an in route. I don’t know if you would want to put that more on Dak or Garrett.
At the end of the day, Dallas was put in a very tough situation and they had lost because of that. There have been other cases throughout the season where play-calling has been questionable.
Opposing defenses look like they are picking up on what Dallas is calling. Thanks to a great offensive line and great players at skill positions, the Cowboys can either extend the play or make a big-time catch.
How much longer and how consistent they will be able to cover for the play-calling is in question. The sooner this is fixed, the better.