Cowboys Wishlist: Let Tony Pollard and Blake Jarwin Play

Welcome to primetime. Tonight, the Philadelphia Eagles will play the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium for an exciting NFC East matchup. The Cowboys are slightly favored for this one, but it will not be an …

Ezekiel Elliott, Tony Pollard Show 1-2 Punch Potential as Each Reach 100 Yards 1
Home » Cowboys News » Game Notes » Cowboys Wishlist: Let Tony Pollard and Blake Jarwin Play

Welcome to primetime. Tonight, the will play the at AT&T Stadium for an exciting matchup. The Cowboys are slightly favored for this one, but it will not be an easy game. Both teams sit at 3-3 and will fight for the division lead. It'll be an exciting night for Cowboys Nation.

Without further ado, let's get to this week's Cowboys Wishlist!

Wish #1: Everyone Plays

After a week of uncertainty regarding the health of several key players, the Cowboys are expected to play with both their staring offensive tackles, and La'el Collins, WR and CB Byron Jones. That's certainly surprising, but it's great news to hear ahead of such an important game for the Cowboys.

On the other hand, the Philadelphia Eagles will miss plenty of starters including OT Jason Peters. Of course, nothing will be official for Dallas until the inactives are announced. I wish the inactives list matches early reports of these key players being expected to play.

Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott Have a History of Playing Well Against the Redskins

Wish #2: Return to Exploiting Play-Action

There's no way around it. The Cowboys were being very successful using play-action during the first three weeks of the season, being among the NFL teams to use it the most. For some reason, though, they seem to have walked away from it. Somehow, they figured out what was working and stopped doing it. Many have argued about how play-action works and whether or not the run must be established for it to work. Analytics suggest it doesn't work that way.

Anyway, the trend is pretty clear. Throughout the first three weeks, the Cowboys averaged play-action plays on 39.56% of their drop-backs. The last three weeks that average has been 17.3%.

It's hard to find an answer as to why this has happened to 's offense, but I wish they go back to what was working so effectively at the beginning of the season.

Wish #3:  Let Dak Prescott Win The Game

Speaking of play-action, I truly believe is the least of the Cowboys' problems right now. He's played pretty well and has shown how much of a warrior he is, specially last week when he took a beating from the New York Jets' defensive front.

I love what RB brings to the table, but the offense should rely on the passing game. Amari Cooper and are a very solid duo of wide receivers and Dak Prescott has proven he can handle the job. I'd like to see the Cowboys putting the offense on Dak's back.

The Eagles secondary has been far from decent this season, with plenty of teams airing out against them. The key to this game is the passing game.

Wish #4: First Cowboys Drive Ends in TD

The Cowboys' slow starts have really been one of the biggest issues for this football team this season. Even when they were on a win streak and faced weak opponents, 's team started slow on both offense and . That could be the difference in such an important game for the Cowboys. It's time for them to start fast, and score fast.

The Cowboys' offense has been pretty good. In fact, they rank second in offensive DVOA on Football Outsiders. If they figure out how to score early – when game scripts matter the most – this unit could be special.

Can TE Blake Jarwin Poach Snaps Away From Jason Witten?

Wish #5: Let Tony Pollard and Blake Jarwin Play

The Cowboys have chosen to give Jason Witten the vast majority of the offensive snaps at TE this season. As a consequence, Blake Jarwin has seen the field less than he should. Through six weeks, he's only played in 38.1% of the offensive snaps. Jarwin is young and talented and has been good when given the chance. I hope his snap count increases today.

Similarly, I wish the Cowboys' give a more important role. Instead of using him as much as they did in the first three weeks, his snap count percentage has dropped all the way down to 17.68%.