DALLAS — It’s the bye week for the Dallas Cowboys and it’s coming at a great time. The team began training camp in Oxnard close to 14 weeks ago and they could use a break. With the season 1/3 through, if the Cowboys make the playoffs, Week 7 in the NFL is 14 weeks away from the NFC Championship game. Dallas hopes to be playing in that game but there’s a lot of work to be done.
It’s a lofty goal right now, but everything the Cowboys want to accomplish remains in front of them. At 4-2, Mike McCarthy’s team is in playoff position and the team has ample opportunities to improve their standing. The pre-bye portion of the schedule wasn’t a perfect first six games, of course, but Dallas has the pieces to be a factor for the rest of the season.
Here’s a look at the status of the Cowboys after six weeks, and what lies ahead:
Consistency issues abound – When the schedule came out, predicting a 4-2 record would be one of the more common projections after six weeks. The Cowboys had four road games, played their first two weeks against both New York teams, which was supposed to have McCarthy facing off against his old pupil in Aaron Rodgers. That never happened and the team got out to a hot start, going 2-0 and dominating the Giants and Jets.
Dallas was being talked about as one of the best teams in the league when they came crashing back to earth in one of their classic letdown losses to the Arizona Cardinals in the desert. Also in true franchise fashion, the Cowboys answered the loss with a resounding rout of the New England Patriots, before getting smoked by the San Francisco 49ers in what was billed as the biggest game of the season. The loss to their rivals, who were thought of as a measuring stick for the Cowboys, brought more doubt than confidence.
Some faith was restored with the win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football, but the Cowboys have some work to do to prove they belong with the upper echelon of teams and that starts with more even performances.
Front runners on defense – There has been a common theme for the Cowboys in their wins, they’ve gotten out to leads and kept the pressure on offenses to keep up. In their wins over the Giants, Jets and Patriots, the Cowboys outscored their opponents 108-13, forced 10 turnovers, and scored three defensive touchdowns.
Even in the win over the Chargers, once the Cowboys got a lead, they never gave it up and the defense forced mistakes at the key moments.
This is how Dallas is built, get a lead, and then force turnovers with the most opportunistic defense in the league. In all four wins, it’s been the formula.
However, when the Cowboys can’t get a lead and Dan Quinn’s unit gets bullied, it spells doom. The 49ers and Cardinals both ran the ball easily, pushed around and out-schemed the Dallas defense in the team’s losses. It’s a front running defense that doesn’t like to be punched in the mouth and doesn’t seem to have a counter.
The Cowboys are also built for speed, especially on defense, where the team is 4-0 on turf this season, while 0-2 on grass. McCarthy and Quinn need to find some toughness before the team comes back from their bye or at least figure out how to adjust when the game plan doesn’t work. If they don’t find any answers, nothing will change when things get tough in the playoffs.
Offense needs work – Over the last two years, the Cowboys had one of the best offenses in the league. Despite some gaudy numbers under the previous offensive coordinator, the team decided to part ways with Kellen Moore and handed the offense over to McCarthy. It has been a rough go for McCarthy’s Texas Coast Offense and his play calling has left much to be desired.
Dallas sits 17th in total yards per game, 19th in passing, ninth in rushing and sixth in points. However, take away the defensive scores and special teams touchdown the team has and they would be 20th in the league in scoring at just 21 points per game.
The Cowboys have also had major struggles in the red zone, where they rank 26th in the NFL at just over 39%. Once the ball gets inside the opposing 20-yard line, the play-calling gets especially dubious.
That’s a far cry from where they’ve been in the last two seasons under Moore in all metrics. The offense hasn’t been crisp, nor has it utilized their best players to the best of their abilities.
The Cowboys traded for wide receiver Brandin Cooks and has rarely used his speed deep down the field. Fellow WR CeeDee Lamb hasn’t been targeted enough at all and the offensive line is struggling to open holes for the running game.
The offense needs work and there isn’t much time to get it going in the right direction. Things were better in the last outing in the win over the Chargers, but more creativity, better structure, and aggression is needed.
Tough road ahead – Beating the Chargers was a must for the team’s psyche, but it also helps for the long haul. The Cowboys have a tough schedule that still includes six games against teams that went to the playoffs last year and nine more that had a .500 or better record.
It looks worse when considering how their future opponents are playing this season. Dallas is scheduled to play five teams – six games – against teams that would currently make the playoffs, which includes two games against the Philadelphia Eagles, one against the NFC North leading Detroit Lions, one against the Seattle Seahawks, and road games against the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins in December. That’s a tough journey over the final 11 games.
Each of those games are tough matchups and the Cowboys will have to win a few of them to stay in postseason contention. If they want to take the division and set themselves up for postseason success, they’ll need to claim many of the games that look rough on paper.
The rest of the slate is manageable, however, but there are two games against the rival Washington Commanders, who always play the Cowboys tough, and one more against the Giants. NFC East tilts are never easy and all three will be battles, regardless of the records.
Starting at 4-2 heading into the bye week makes a big difference for the Cowboys considering the difficulty of the remaining schedule.
Do you think the Cowboys will come out of their bye week ready to make a push toward their lofty goals? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.