Why Mike McCarthy is taking blame for Dallas Cowboys red zone woes but not overreacting
The Dallas Cowboys don’t know if they will get three starters on their offensive line back in the lineup this week against the New England Patriots.
The possible returns of left tackle Tyron Smith, center Tyler Biadasz and right guard Zack Martin will begin to sort out when the team returns to practice on Wednesday.
What the Cowboys do know on offense, whether one or all of the trio are back in the lineup or not, is they must find way to solve their offensive woes in the red zone.
It’s easy to point to the absence of the starting Pro Bowl threesome, including possible future Hall of Famers in Martin and Smith, as reasons for the struggles to score touchdowns inside the 20 in last Sunday’s 28-16 humbling loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Cowboys were 1 of 5 in the red zone against the Cardinals, while settling for two short field goals and being denied twice with a failed fourth-down try and an interception.
But their problems in punching it in down close are now a two weeks old. The Cowboys were 2 of 6 in the red zone in the 30-10 victory against the New York Jets on Sept. 16.
And they don’t want it to be a three-week problem in Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots (1-2).
The Cowboys (2-1) are tied for third-worst in the league in red zone touchdowns and coach Mike McCarthy said it will be a focus in practice this week.
“Yes, we will spend more time on the red zone this week,” McCarthy said. “And that’s just the way I’ve always done it. When things aren’t right, you work harder at it, and you spend more time on it. It’s Week 3, and we know what our numbers are.”
The numbers are not good.
But it’s still early in the season. Last year was an example of early stats not telling the whole story of a season.
“We were last in the league on third down a couple of weeks into it last year, and that turned out pretty good,” McCarthy said. “We’re not gonna overreact to it.”
Last year, the Cowboys led the NFL in red zone touchdowns at 71.4 percent.
But that was with Kellen Moore as the offensive coordinator and running back Ezekiel Elliott leading the way with 12 rushing touchdowns. Moore was fired and is now with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Elliott was cut and will having a homecoming on Sunday as a member of the New England Patriots.
McCarthy has taken over play calling and incorporated more West Coast offense principles into the team’s attack.
But he said the team hasn’t strayed way from what was successful under Moore.
“We looked at everything we did in the spring — the last two years [worth] — and built this offense off of the foundation of what our players currently knew and, conceptually, on how we could move forward,” McCarthy said. “We’re not going to go back and look at last year [now]. We’ve done that part. It’s part of how we planned to attack this year.”
The Cowboys new “Texas Coast Offense” has moved the ball up and down the field this year but has struggled in the red zone.
“The most important thing is we’re getting down there more than anybody,” said McCarthy. “We lead the league in [drives with 10 or more plays]. So we’re moving the ball. That’s the hard part.
“We have some strong feelings about it that we’re not gonna talk about (publicly). But, yes, we’re aware of it.”
The question is what are they going to do about it?
The Cowboys had 416 yards of offense in the shocking loss to the previously winless Cardinals (1-2) and controlled the time of possession by almost 10 more minutes.
But they lost by double digit points because they were only able to score one touchdown down close.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said the red zone struggles were the difference in the game.
“We’ve got to do better,” Prescott said. “Just as a team and as a unit. Myself, I have to make some throws. Maybe use my feet more. Obviously, that’s an area that we haven’t been good in these last two weeks and even with the win last week that was the sore spot in the win and obviously, look at this loss. We moved the ball up and down the field but just couldn’t score so that’s the reason for this loss. We’ve only got to get back to the drawing board and it starts with me with making some throws and making some plays with my feet and trying to get it done.
“We get better right there, we win this game. We have to fix that area. Period”
Most disappointing were three second-half drives.
A 3rd-and-3 at 4 became 3rd-and-13 thanks to holding flag on Smith’s replacement Chuma Edoga late in the third quarter with the Cowboys down 21-13. It was followed by a 10-yard completion to Jake Ferguson and incompletion to CeeDee Lamb on fourth down that had no chance.
And then early in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys had to settle for a 26-yard field goal after turning a 1st-and-goal at the 10-yard line to 4th-and-8 after two runs and and incompletion.
Most depressing was the Cowboys final attempt at a comeback when they had 1st-and-goal at the 5 with 4:04 left in the game. A run by Tony Pollard lost two yards. Another Pollard run gained one yard and then Prescott was intercepted by linebacker Kyzir White on a late throw over the middle to receiver Brandin Cooks.
McCarthy said he was too conservative down close on three drives with more runs than passes.
“It was really more of a reaction to how they were playing,” McCarthy said. “But I wish I would’ve been more aggressive in the passing game there on first and second down.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2023 at 12:53 PM.
