8. The Cowboys offense had the ball for 40:30 Sunday and scored one touchdown and just 13 points. That's hard to do when you think about it.
Even in the Giant game, there was disorder in the offense until the 2:00 drill. Romo was so good at that drill before each half that in 2012, Garrett tried to run the 2:00 drill for the whole game. (648 senseless passing attempts). Haven't really got to see what Linehan can do by himself yet. We will this week because without Romo, his on-field OC, the plays will all fall on Linehan and if the Eagle game is any indication, the running game could be only a sad distant reverberation of last years dictator of games.
Jason used to exclaim "we do get a lot of yards". Jerry used to amend that to "we do get a lot of yards but I'm going to have to start talking to Jason about getting some points from those yards".
I just wonder if the key to Dallas would have to be the productive tension between a running game coordinator and a passing game coordinator. Air Coryell offenses are supposed to be set up by strong runners (like Muncie or Riggins or Emmitt or Robert Smith or Stephen Davis or Edgerrin James) but if the running game is milk toast or not threatening then the passing game is easier to anticipate and worse, the QB is easier to pressure. Notice that first down and inches from the goal in the Eagle game, look at their LBs. They were not stacked on the line to stop the run. They didn't think for a second that Romo would push it in like Brady or Eli or Drew or Rothlisberger...and they were right. They weren't even afraid of Randle.
All this to say that unless Linehan can contrive successful running plays that attack the defense at varied points of the LOS then the disorder that happened in the Philly game will be even worse. The running game has to be scary good. Not just to pick up where last years team left off but to cause the rest of the offense and defense to thrive.
This is from a Rams article from 9/16/2006:
Gregg Rosenthal of NBC Sports said " . - Keep in mind Linehan's history in the red zone. It is not good"
The teams that dominate the top of the NFL in red zone TD% share one obvious trait, that appears to be the #1 catalyst for Red Zone efficiency. THEY CAN RUN THE BALL !!
In 2005, for instance, the top seven teams were Seattle, San Diego, New England, Washington, Indy, Pittsburgh and Denver, who all had backs that know how to find the end zone.
In 2004, the top five were San Diego, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Indy, and Carolina, again, all teams that could run the ball, with Donovan McNabb providing some of that for the Eagles.
In 2003 , the top five were the Chiefs, Packers, Eagles, Seahawks, and Texans, with all but Houston having very good running attacks.
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Dallas could run the ball last year and the year before, and the red zone efficiency and offensive scoring improved both years. This year with 4 TDs and 4 FGs, it smells like those Garrett years of 2.5 TDs and 2 FG average per game unless they really start running the ball.
Parcells said two years ago: "it's not as much about yards per carry, but it's about number of times per game"