The Dallas Cowboys Week 8 bye week probably couldn’t have come at a better time. Not only were they coming off a huge win against a divisional opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, but as a team they were banged up. The week off should’ve allowed them to rest up and hopefully make a few much needed adjustments.
Today, I want to discuss a few of the offensive adjustments I hope the Dallas Cowboys made during the bye week. We’ve seen kind of a mixed bag of results from the Dallas Cowboys offense this season. At times they look like one of the best units in the entire league and at others they look almost unrecognizable. With just a little bit of tinkering I think we could see a much more dangerous unit rest of the 2019 season.
Let’s take a look…
Get Tony Pollard More Involved
It took nearly half the season, but Ezekiel Elliott finally started looking like the player we all know him to be in his Week 7 performance against the Philadelphia Eagles. He will no doubt be a huge part of the game plan for the rest of the 2019 season, but that doesn’t mean he has to shoulder the majority of the workload alone. Tony Pollard can help out as both a runner and receiver if given a chance.
It’s time to get the rookie RB more involved on a weekly basis. I’m not talking about a huge increase in playing time, especially with the way Zeke is starting to round into form. I’m talking about at least 10 touches a game, something Pollard has only been given twice thus far this season. Once in the season opener and the second time in Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins, a game he just so happened to turn his 13 touches into 103 rushing yards. No better time for this to happen then after the bye week.
Less Jason Witten More Blake Jarwin
No offense to Jason Witten, but it may be time for him to take a step back and let Blake Jarwin cut into a little bit of his playing time. To date, Witten is playing 74.49% of the Dallas Cowboys offensive snaps compared to Jarwin’s 39.59%. No. 82 hasn’t done anything wrong if I’m being completely honest. In fact, he’s playing better than I expected since his return from retirement. I just believe the Cowboys offense will benefit a little bit more with No. 89 getting more involved.
How many times have you heard either the coaches or his teammates refer to Blake Jarwin as one of the most athletically gifted players on the entire roster? That athleticism is a huge asset in the passing game, but it’s not being utilized enough in my opinion. I fully understand his limitations as a blocker, but when you have that kind of a mismatch weapon at your disposal you have to find ways to take advantage of it. That’s what the Cowboys need to do from here on out.
Play Smarter, Less Penalties
When it comes to the Dallas Cowboys offense there may not be a more talented and explosive unit in the entire NFL. When they are on their game they are arguably one of the best in the entire league, but unfortunately they have a tendency to make some boneheaded mistakes that causes them to shoot themselves in the foot more often than I would like to admit. Hopefully this is something they addressed and fixed during the bye week.
I believe you can directly correlate every single one of the Cowboys losses this season to penalties. They are after all one of the most penalized teams in the entire league. Every time the yellow flag flies it usually negates a positive play and ends up putting QB Dak Prescott and his offense in unfavorable down and distances. It’s hard to overcome these boneheaded mistakes and if the Cowboys want to make it to the playoffs this is an area they absolutely need to clean up. It’s time to play smarter!
