To have any playoff success the Dallas Cowboys have to fix their struggling offense
The Dallas Cowboys clinched the NFC East title and have officially punched their ticket to the postseason.
But if you find someone completely happy about Sunday’s performance and subsequent happenings, I’ll show you a snowflake who likes participation trophies.
Celebrate the 27-20 victory against the Tampa Buccaneers as much as you want.
Winning the division for the second time in three years is the first step in the process and an important step no doubt, especially after starting the season 3-5 and seemingly left for dead.
Now they have secured their third straight winning season (9-6) and the fourth in the last five years with one game to go.
And they did it themselves after getting no help from the Houston Texans, who lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 32-30, preventing the Cowboys from backing their way into the NFC East title.
“It felt like Christmas eve,” owner Jerry Jones said of the post-game locker room. “And these guys are excited. They should be excited. This NFL is tough. It’s hard to win these divisions. I am not at all going to take any type of step back because we don’t have an 11-4 record. I am not going to do that at all. We got there our way. We ended up on top. That is where we want to be. I like where we are. I would take this when we started the season.”
But the Cowboys should drink the victory champagne with a sober and resolute mind.
As it seems they are.
The sight of quarterback Dak Prescott clapping and hugging running back Ezekiel Elliott after the game was telling. The Cowboys will enjoy the win but there was no locker room dance party.
“Obviously, we wanted to come out here and get things done, and get things done under our will so to say,” said Prescott who completed 20 of 25 passes for 161 yards with a touchdown passing and a touchdown rushing. “Not necessarily winning the division by other teams losing. We wanted to come in and secured this thing, and get it done this week. It was a big team win.
“We’ve got a lot more work to do. This is just the start. This is just the beginning. This is something that we set out and wanted to do way back in the offseason. This just gives us a chance to go and get the greater goal. We’re going to celebrate tonight, celebrate it the right way then get right back to work.”
The goal is not just to get into the playoffs but to finally be a factor in the postseason and compete for a Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.
Right now, the Cowboys are ticketed for a short stay.
Can you say one and done if they don’t correct some things on an offense that continues to struggle in the red zone and seemingly lost the pop that carried them to a five-game winning streak?
One week after being shutout for the first time since 2003 in a 23-0 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Cowboys scored just one touchdown in the first half against a Buccaneers defense that ranks 28th in the NFL and 27th in passing and rushing, respectively.
The Cowboys got another touchdown in the third quarter thanks to a fumble recovery and return by defensive end Randy Gregory that put the ball at the 4.
In fact, it was Gregory, playing the best game of his career, and a Cowboys defense, which has carried the team all season, that keyed the victory.
A sack and forced fumble by Gregory led to a 69-yard return for a touchdown by linebacker Jaylon Smith in the first quarter.
It was the first defensive score on a fumble for the Cowboys since linebacker Anthony Spencer’s 5-yard return at Washington Dec. 28 2014.
Smith also had a monster game while competing with Gregory for the best heartwarming comeback story two days before Christmas.
Gregory returned in 2018 after being suspended by the NFL for multiple violations of the substance policy at the end of the 2016 season.
All six of his sacks this season have come in the last eight games. And he narrowly missed putting a bow on his comeback with a fumble return for a touchdown.
Smith, who many thought would never play again after suffering a tragic knee injury in his final college game at Notre Dame, got the present under his tree with the long touchdown return.
The speed to scoop the ball up and take it to the house shows how far he has come and capped a great season and a great game he had yesterday.
But the Cowboys season is not about a Christmas story. It’s about shaking the ghosts of postseasons past.
The team has only three playoff wins since their last Super Bowl title in 1995 and has not advanced to the NFC title game since then.
Can this playmaking defense, which could be without defensive tackle and team captain Tyrone Crawford, who was carted off with a scary neck injury, carry them to “a win” in the playoffs, let alone a string of possible road wins to get to the Super Bowl?
The answer is probably not.
They will need help from an offense that has taken a step back.
Elliott, the league’s leading rusher, has not topped the 100-yard barrier the past two games.
Receiver Amari Cooper is suddenly no longer streaking to the end zone with big plays. He had four catches for 20 yards Sunday after getting four for 32 against the Colts.
And while the Cowboys were 2 for 3 on touchdowns in the red zone on Sunday. Keep in mind that the Buccaneers have the worst red zone defense in the NFL, giving up touchdowns on 83 percent clip.
So more proof will have to be shown before confidence can be put in a red zone offense that is second worst in the NFL and worst among all playoff teams.
“We’ve certainly got some work -- I know we came into today’s game -- to get the ball in a lot of ways to Amari (Cooper),” Jones said. “You don’t even need to ask. We got it loud and clear to get Amari touches. That is a really big thing we are doing. We are going to get that ball to Zeke and get his touches in there too. I know that what our intent is, to basically get that ball in the end zone, and I’m sure our offense would like to make some of the plays that kept us out of there today. We had some three and outs that were frustrating. So we’re learning, this bunch is learning, and maybe it will click for us really and get the production as we get to the playoffs.”
Enjoy the win.
But stay sober.
The postseason is coming.
This story was originally published December 23, 2018 at 3:35 PM.
