The Dallas Cowboys are coming off a dominating 38-3 win over the New England Patriots, but does that mean the issues from Week 3 have been resolved?
Head coach Mike McCarthy described the team’s issues of capitalizing in the red zone, the run defense, and penalties as “blinking lights” that the focus would shift to correcting ahead of Sunday’s game against the Patriots.
Let’s go down the list to see how the team has corrected the issues from their uncharacteristic Week 3 and what needs improvement ahead of the team’s toughest matchup yet with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
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Dallas Cowboys Penalties | Green Light
So far this season, the Cowboys have 29 penalties for 212 yards. Yet, 13 of those penalties and 107 yards were from the uncharacteristic Week 3 matchup against the Cardinals.
That game was the second-highest penalized game of the season across the NFL so far.
McCarthy spoke about penalties earlier in the season, saying the presnap penalties are the real issues. But competitive penalties have some grey areas, especially if the player penalized is trying to assert aggression or draw a penalty from the other team.
Dallas’ offense will need to tighten up on any presnap penalties during Sunday’s game against the 49ers to avoid getting behind the sticks and getting into third-and-long situations, especially with the pass rush Nick Bosa and Javon Hargrave will bring.
Cowboys’ Run Defense | Yellow Light
The Cowboys’ run defense has been its Achilles heel before the 2023 season. In fact, it was a downfall to ending their season against San Francisco in the 2021 season during the Wild Card Round and again in the 2022 season during the Divisional Round. So they must proceed with caution on Sunday.
So far this season, the Cowboys’ defense has allowed 447 rushing yards, ranking them 17th in the league for total rushing yards allowed.
In retrospect, this isn’t horrible, considering 189 of those yards came in Week 3 against Arizona. The most encouraging aspect of the defense is their ability to bounce back even after failure. In Week 4, the unit held the Patriots to just 53 rushing yards.
It was hard to notice the run defense with two interceptions from Daron Bland — one being a pick-six — and a scoop and score by Leighton Vander Esch. Run defenses aren’t questioned when they make big plays while minimizing offenses from making big plays.
Although the improvement is there, San Francisco’s defense will pose the most challenging test yet to Dallas’ run defense. The 49ers currently lead the league in rushing with 612 yards in 132 attempts with nine rushing touchdowns.
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn says the matchup is fun because they have versatile players playing at different positions like the Cowboys’ defense does as well. The DC said he liked how practice went the week before and the unit’s mindset ahead of the game.
If they can keep the focus, stuff the trenches, and not allow Christian McCaffrey to establish a run, the Cowboys can put themselves in a better position to win this battle.
Dallas’ Red-Zone Production | Red Light
The biggest issue the Cowboys can’t figure out is how to score on opportunities in the red zone.
The offense is 7 of 19 in their red-zone attempts so far this season, meaning they have a 36.8% success rate. The issue isn’t getting inside the 20-yard line, as the Cowboys lead the league with trips. So what is?
A few things could be playing into this, but a lingering question going into Week 5 is that Dallas needs a consistent playmaker within the red zone. Without Ezekiel Elliott, the team doesn’t have a consistent playmaker within this range.
MORE: Dallas Cowboys RB Options After Rico Dowdle Injury
All eyes continue to be on the tight ends to fill this role. Although Dak Prescott has attempted to pass the ball to all of the tight ends multiple times this season, there have been some execution mistakes around the room.
However, Jake Ferguson is coming off his best game yet with 77 yards on seven targets, indicating that the rapport is growing between the two.
Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer says the team is comfortable with their players and schematics. It’s just a matter of execution. He mentioned communication mistakes and penalties that have not been consistent issues but that have kept them from scoring when the opportunity was present.
One of the aspects Schottenheimer says the team is doing well with is their third-down efficiency, and that’s a balancing act with the red-zone struggles. The Cowboys lead the league in third-down efficiency with 32 successful conversions out of 62 attempts.
Dallas needs to score in the red zone to help push to a win against San Francisco, especially considering the 49ers have their established red-zone threat in McCaffrey.
McCaffrey has five rushing touchdowns and an 84.6 scoring percentage in the red zone. So it’s a guarantee that the 49ers can get points on the board, and the Cowboys will need to do the same, not solely rely on Brandon Aubrey to make kicking attempts every time.
If the Cowboys can turn their blinking lights off and execute this week, they have a shot at making the upset happen for the 49ers this weekend on Sunday Night Football.