Dallas Cowboys: 3 Vital statistics for 2019 season

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It’s a Cowboys defensive unit led by a lot of talented young players and it has come a long way from the days when the team’s running game protected it by keeping it off the field. Only six teams in the league allowed fewer total yards per game than the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys in 2018. Meanwhile, just four clubs in the league surrendered fewer yards per game on the ground than Rod Marinelli’s defensive unit this past season.

But a closer look at that second number shows that, while the likes of defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith and defensive backs Jeff Heath and Byron Jones make up quite the unit, this group could be had on the ground against some of the better offensive lines.

If you include this past season’s playoff split with the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, the Cowboys won eight of their final 10 overall outings. In seven of those victories, they held the opposition to fewer than 100 yards on the ground. But in losses to the Indianapolis Colts and the eventual NFC champion Rams, Dallas surrendered 178 and 273 rushing yards, respectively.

Is it a matter of not matching up with those offensive fronts? Or a lack of experience by some of the younger defenders? It’s a matter the team will need to tighten up if they want to progress in 2019.