When Hunter Luepke punched in a three-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Patriots last Sunday, it weirdly felt like a weight off our shoulders.
Luepke’s first career touchdown gave the Cowboys a 37-3 lead in a game that was never close.
But getting those points on the board carried more weight than a routine touchdown in garbage time.
It broke an increasingly worrying trend for the Cowboys’ offense… Red zone success.
Before the touchdown, the Cowboys failed to put six on the board from inside the 20 in their last seven visits. Dating back to Dak’s touchdown pass to Rico Dowdle in the second quarter against Arizona.
Dallas has been on a downward spiral regarding red zone conversion since week one against the Giants.
A game where Dallas scored touchdowns three out of the four times they were in the red zone.
Against the Jets, the Cowboys fell to two touchdowns in six.
Against the Cardinals, they were one for five.
And most recently hosting the Patriots, they were one for four.
This has brought their red zone conversion percentage to 36.8%, with only Houston and New Orleans with worse conversion rates.
As expected, the media are in a frenzy over this stat line.
And of course, Dak and Mike McCarthy are getting the heat for it. But is this really something we should be worried about moving forward? Or is all this panic a little premature?
An overriding factor in this argument is the Cowboys’ 3-1 record.
And the fact they are still a top-5 team in points per game.
The Cowboys also have the highest third-down conversion rate in the league and are tied with Buffalo in first downs gained.
Dallas has a potent offense. There’s no denying it. But in the red zone, they have been falling apart.
Through four weeks we have seen mishaps, miscues, and sheer bad luck in our visits to the red zone.
We’ve seen Jake Ferguson drop a sure touchdown pass.
Tony Pollard and Dak Prescott run into each other.
Holding calls that have negated touchdowns.
And missed blocks causing negative plays in goal-to-go situations.
Incredibly frustrating to watch.
But the positive news is that the issues are not scheme, or play-calling related. Just bad execution.
The bad news is, there’s no easy fix.
The only way to correct this is for the players to just do better… easy to say sitting behind a keyboard.
But it’s certainly not the time for full-blown panic for Dallas.
If we go back to week one against the Giants, the Cowboys scored three times in the red zone.
Tony Pollard ran it in twice behind Zack Martin and Terence Steele. And KaVontae Turpin ran it in behind a lead-blocking Tyron Smith.
There’s no denying that offensive line injuries haven’t helped the Cowboys’ red zone woes.
Against the 49ers, a team that ranks 23rd in opponent red zone scoring percentage, the Cowboys should have a full offensive line.
The inability to score touchdowns in the red zone is something to keep an eye on, but let’s not blow it out of proportion.
We are 3-1. Dak is in great form. The defense is the best in the league.
Let’s not get dragged down and fixated on one lacking area.
