The Dallas Cowboys found something on offense this past week as they dropped 40 points, but offensive coordinator Scott Linehan doesn’t instill confidence with his words.
Week 6 saw the Dallas Cowboys move to 3-3 on the season as they also stayed undefeated at home. More importantly, they played their best game of the year and scored a season-high 40 points while playing the defensively strong Jacksonville Jaguars.
So what was different in this game as opposed to their previous ones where they seemed offensively inept? The answer is a simple two words — Dak Prescott.
While he had just 187 yards passing, Prescott was impossible to stop as he put up 82 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. It was a great performance which reminded fans that No. 4 can make things happen when he’s played to his strengths, which is using his legs to keep defenses honest.
Time and again, we have seen the Cowboys look like a team to worry about when Prescott is cut loose. So, we should see it again, right? Well, maybe. I mean, they will at least ‘aspire’ to (whatever that means).
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That was the message offensive coordinator Scott Linehan gave when he discussed his team and how they will attack defenses moving forward.
"“We have to continue to aspire to do that,” Linehan said in regards to using Prescott’s running ability via Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. “It’s going to depend on who we’re playing and how they defend us. I think some teams will say, ‘You’re not running your quarterback,’ or they’ll try.”"
Those words leave a lot to be desired. First off, Linehan doesn’t say his team will continue to use their strengths, just that they will aspire to. Second, he basically said what he and the offense will do is all about what defenses allow.
Yes, the team that has invested three first-round picks in an offensive line so they can assert their will is not going to assert their will with the ground game. Instead, they plan to kindly ask the defenses they face how they would like to be attacked.
While Linehan did follow up by saying teams will “try” to stop them, he showed his hand. Rather than continue to do what this offense does best he wants to see how things play out. Linehan gets a lot of grief for his lack of creativity, which is overplayed. The truth is this — he doesn’t need to be creative, he needs to let this team do what they do best. And a big part of that is Prescott hurting teams with his legs.
If this offense is ever to be fixed, they need to stop trying to get cute and stop trying to force ugly passes downfield. Instead, they need to line up and let their big linemen win the game and use Prescott to the best of his abilities.
Unfortunately, Linehan’s track record and his latest comments don’t generate much confidence this will happen consistently moving forward. But hey, at least they’ll aspire to do that.