How does a humbled Scott Linehan plan to fix the Cowboys’ season-long red-zone issues

At least, he didn’t think so and certainly not in recent history.

“ ... It doesn’t taste very good for any of us and I think it’s been a great motivating factor for all of us to kind of re-check our whole card and get ready to go and have a much better performance,” Linehan said.

The truth is that Linehan was shut out three times previously, the last being 26-0 by the Green Bay Packers in 2009 in what was his first year as coordinator of the Detroit Lions at the beginning of a five-year stint before coming to the Cowboys in 2014.

But that part of history is not the issue that is plaguing a frustrated Linehan and the Cowboys now.

The main reason for the shutout against the Colts, if not for the loss, is their continued struggles in the red zone.

The Cowboys, the second worst red-zone team in the NFL, were 0-for-2 in the red zone against the Colts and head into Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, still needing just one win to clinch the NFC East title.

Dallas is converting just 44.19 percent of its trips inside the 20 into touchdowns and is a dreadful 18.18 percent the past three games.

It has caused frustration and consternation at Cowboys headquarters this week.

Linehan said the coaches discussed the red zone at length in meetings Wednesday.

Running back Ezekiel Elliott, who leads the league in rushing and attempts but has just six carries, wants touches down close.

That is a consideration, though Linehan blames poor execution and breakdowns with a banged-up offensive line as the main reasons for their struggles. He even acknowledged a little pressing by the frustrated players may also be part of the issue.

“Really if you break it down, it’s probably a combination of execution and maybe pressing a little bit down there,” Linehan said. “So we’ve got to coach better in those situations and play better and really be better in execution down there because we’re getting down there and it’s not like we’re short on the number of attempts. Just we haven’t been able to cash in. It’s a challenge for all of us that we’re certainly excited to take on and finish strong down there.”

Quarterback Dak Prescott blamed the problems squarely on execution and said he could use his legs an option more, in addition to Elliott.

“We’re not executing the way we need to execute plays,” Prescott said. “You saw last week a couple of those were just pure miss executions from our standpoint. We have to find a way to do better regardless of what it is. If it’s using my running ability or giving it to Zeke more, whatever it may be we have to find a better way to get in the end zone.”

Linehan said they will try to do more red-zone reps in practice on Friday, the day of the week they primarily focus on those situations. The bottom line is coming with a better plan and then demanding better execution.

“(Coach) Jason (Garrett) is always very mindful of the things we need to work on and we’re all in on whatever we got to do get better at some of the things we’re not doing as well,” Linehan said. “I just think concentrating on executing what they do, what we are going to run. We got to execute better.

“We’ve been pretty good up until this year n the red zone. It’s not like it’s a new concept for us. We just aren’t doing as well as we need to so we’ve got to find solutions to that. I think some of that is just based on what we give them as a plan and then demanding much better execution out of it.”

The good news on Sunday is that the Tampa Bay defense is last in the NFL in the red zone, giving up touchdowns on 78.4 percent of the opportunities in 2018.