3 Cowboys problems on offense Mike McCarthy must fix before Week 2

One may look at the Dallas Cowboys' Week 1 win over Cleveland and think they did nothing wrong. While putting up 33 points on the league's number one defense from last year is impressive, the story goes beyond that. The great coaches in NFL history treat close wins or wins loaded with mistakes almost as losses.

In the case with the Cowboys heading into Week 2, there are some areas they need to improve in. The defense did an outstanding job forcing two turnovers and holding the Browns to just 10 points through three quarters before Cleveland scored a garbage-time touchdown. However, the offense looked like the side of the ball with the most problems. With that in mind, here are three problems Mike McCarthy has to address with that group this week.

3 problems the Cowboys must fix before Week 2 against the Saints

3. Offensive inefficiency

The offense racked up 265 total yards but most of those yards came in the first half. After a three and out, Dak Prescott found Brandin Cooks to open the scoring for the season. However, the offense went cold the rest of the quarter. Ezekiel Elliott scored his first touchdown of the season after two punts, but field goals were all the team could muster the rest of the half.

Up 20-3 at halftime, fans might have expected the Cowboys' offense to continue being aggressive. Thanks to Kavontae Turpin's punt return touchdown, the offense got even more breathing room and it might have been too much. They did not score an offensive touchdown the rest of the game. Even after the defense forced Cleveland to turn the ball over on downs two times in a row, all they managed were field goals. The rest of the game was filled by four punts.

While the Browns might have been a playoff team last year, they were depleted heading into opening week. That takes some lust out of a win like that. If the Cowboys are going to go farther than the Wild Card Round, the offense cannot be sputtering in the second half of games.

Some of the blame can be put on McCarthy's play-calling as he seemed to play conservatively up 27-3. It is logical to do that, but at times last season Dallas would get on top and keep piling up the points. There is still a long season ahead, but if that is the best this offense can look early in the season, Dallas may end up losing some games early like they did last year.

2. Too many penalties

What got lost in the win was the amount of penalties the Cowboys committed: 11 for a whopping 85 yards. In comparison, Cleveland also had 11 but only 65 yards of penalties. One of Dallas' penalties stalled the opening drive when a Jalen Tolbert holding move them back 10 yards right off the bat.

Some of the penalties were committed without using common sense. Dallas had a delay of game penalty in the third quarter that hurt another drive and rookie Tyler Guyton got flagged for a hands to the face, which had no impact on the play. Special teams ace C.J. Goodwin was flagged for being out of bounds on a punt. That is very uncharacteristic for one of the team's captains.

Penalties played a part in the inefficiencies of the offense. Throughout the new millennium, the Cowboys have always been known as one of the most penalized teams in the league. That starts at the top with the head coach. This might not have been an issue in every game last year but in ones that mattered more, penalties hurt this team.

McCarthy needs to sit the players down and clean up the penalties heading into Week 2 against the Saints, who scored 47 points. It may be only one game against the lowly Carolina Panthers, but their offense looked impressive. Dallas may be dealing with a shootout this Sunday and penalties will do nothing but hurt them.

1. Cowboys must find balance in the run game

Tony Pollard was missed this past Sunday. With the Cowboys going to a running back by committee approach this year, the skeptics came out of the woodwork. They have the right to, as Dallas accumulated just 102 rushing yards as a team.

Top running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle combined for just 66 of them. They utilized CeeDee Lamb on reverses and other gadget plays and he chipped in with 25 yards on the ground. Overall, though, the rushing attack did not help balance out the offense.

Ideally if a team wants to utilize multiple RBs, they hope one gets the hot hand and that player can be the main bell-cow for the game. The Cowboys' running game only showed itself in spots where the offense just needed short yardage. Elliott was put in around the goal line and did his job by scoring a touchdown, but he virtually disappeared after the first half. Dowdle only averaged 3.3 yards per carry on just eight carries.

Since the passing game started off hot, McCarthy probably did not feel the need to rely on running the ball as much. That approach might have been okay for the first game, but against other teams Dallas will need offensive balance. The running game used to be what this team relied on when Pollard and Elliott were at their peaks. The lack of a true starting running back showed itself this past Sunday.

With Dalvin Cook on the practice squad, who is to say Dallas will not keep swapping out backs until they feel comfortable with one guy? The fact they did not draft a running back or bring in one who was a starter last year through free agency may come back to haunt them.

When the Cowboys have relied too much on Prescott in bigger games, they have struggled. Game one looks like they could be heading down that road again when they face teams like the Ravens, Chiefs and Eagles in a few weeks.

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