Cowboys’ OL losing identity with struggling running game

New England coach Bill Belichick repeated a line earlier this week that has been said a countless number of times about the Dallas Cowboys this season.

“They’re a good football team — best offensive line in the league,” Belichick said.

But is the offensive line playing like the best in the league through four games?

Some are wondering what’s wrong with the offensive line with their penalties up and the running game struggling out of the gate. That comes with the territory, however, of being labeled as the top offensive line.

“We don’t listen to nobody on the outside,” left guard Ronald Leary said.

Said Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick, “We’re not too worried about it in here. We’re continuing to work and improve.”

Even though the offensive line has successfully blocked out the outside noise, that doesn’t mean they’re content with their play.

As Frederick said, “Obviously, we haven’t been able to do everything we wanted to do in taking over the game, but I think there’s good things and things we’ve got to clean up. A lot of that comes down to small technique stuff that you’ve just got to clean up.”

The best way for the offensive line and the offense to take over a game is by establishing the running game.

That’s what they did so well last year with DeMarco Murray and, for whatever reason, it hasn’t translated with the committee approach headed by Joseph Randle and Darren McFadden.

Maybe defenses are loading up the box to stop the run with Tony Romo and Dez Bryant out.

Or maybe it’s not as simple as plugging in any running back with the thought they’ll have automatic success.

Murray had the best rushing season in franchise history, and maybe the Cowboys took his season for granted by not re-signing him or using a draft pick for a back.

Regardless of the reason, everyone on offense knows the running game must improve.

“I don’t feel we’ve reached our full potential at all,” McFadden said. “We have to keep grinding, getting better each week.”

Added Jason Witten, “We’re confident in being able to run the football. That’s a big part of who we are and we continue to work at it and stick with it.”

Being a hard-nosed, physical offense became the identity of the Cowboys last season and they are still searching to set that tone this season.

The No. 1 hurdle in doing so is getting the ground game going in the right direction. The Cowboys have had minus runs on almost 10 percent of their carries, losing 22 yards on 12 carries (excluding kneel-downs).

“We’ve got to understand that sometimes you’ve got to cut your losses,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “We don’t consider a zero or 1-yard run a loss. Sometimes they’re going to defend it well. So it’s kind of a mindset we use as a group, not just the runners, but as a group to understand we’ve got to avoid those situations.”

Three of their four negative runs last Sunday against the New Orleans Saints came on first down. The other happened when Christine Michael was stopped for a 1-yard loss on third-and-1 in the fourth quarter, forcing the Cowboys to punt with less than 6 minutes left in the game.

According to Pro Football Focus, not one player had a positive run blocking grade on the day.

“It’s still early in the season and we have a lot to work on,” All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith said. “We have to limit our mistakes and continue to move forward.”

The improvements needed on the line are subtle. It’s not as bad as it might seem on the outside, those in the know say.

The right hand placement or foot placement could be the difference between having a running back run through an arm tackle as opposed to a shoulder tackle.

Those things, in the end, could be the difference between breaking off a 20-yard run compared to a no gain at the line of scrimmage.

“You just kind of keep chugging,” Frederick said. “You get these small runs and every once in a while you pop them out. We’ve had a couple that have popped out, but they just haven’t happened as often [as last year].

“I think that that is not anyone’s fault in particular, it’s just everyone has to be on point for that to happen.”

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Cowboys’ OL losing identity with struggling running game."