After showing interest before he took the job with USC, the Dallas Cowboys need to go all in now that Kliff Kingsbury is reportedly looking at the NFL once again
After winning in the Wild Card Round, the Dallas Cowboys silenced a lot of their doubters. Heading into the game, their critics all claimed Dallas would just fold in the playoffs and end up losing to the Seattle Seahawks.
That didn’t happen as they not only won, but they even did so on the strength of a fourth-quarter comeback which even featured a huge 16-yard run by quarterback Dak Prescott on a third-and-14 near the goal line.
While it’s true the win was impressive, thinking all that was wrong with this team is fixed would be folly. Moving forward, they’re going to need to dig deep to keep up with the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round.
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Their shortcomings there are a reminder that this team is selling themselves short with their current staff. Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan has been accused of calling painfully predictable games. He’s also clueless at how to best use Prescott as those impressive runs he made seem to happen more because of Dak than the coach understanding how to use the mobile quarterback.
This is why fans were salivating at the idea of Kliff Kingsbury joining the staff after he was let go at Texas Tech. A young and creative offensive mind like that would do wonders with the talent Dallas has. He would have a better idea of how to get Prescott moving the ball with his arms and legs, which would, in turn, open things up for players like Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper.
It didn’t happen as Kingsbury took a job at USC, but Jay Glazer now says there could be another opportunity for the former quarterback to land in the NFL as he’s again talking to teams about joining the pros.
I’m hearing Kliff Kingsbury is interviewing with NFL teams, which likely means he has resigned as USC offensive coordinator. USC was blocking him from interviewing foe NFL head coaching openings @NFLonFOX
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) January 7, 2019
Dallas can’t afford to let Kingsbury get away a second time. The fact is, they make things so hard on themselves offensively. The telegraph their runs — even tipping which side they will go by stacking the line to one side and predictably running there.
Despite this, they have had the leading rusher in two of the past three seasons. Imagine how much better Zeke could perform with an offensive coordinator who can make life a little easier on him by forcing defenses to actually guess what’s coming up.
The only argument against hiring Kingsbury now would be the feelings of Linehan, but winning needs to be secondary. Yes, bringing Kingsbury in lets Linehan know that he’s on borrowed time, but that could also help as it would force him to finally try something different in the playoffs — because not every team will be as forgiving for the slow start Dallas had as Seattle was.
Dallas needs to get Kingsbury on staff now and have him in line to be the offensive coordinator and play caller in 2019 and beyond. Their defense is doing enough to win big games and it’s time their offense can do the same.