The Dallas Cowboys inability to cash in on their red-zone trips through the first three weeks of the season has been well-documented. In the first two weeks, when the defense was taking the ball away, Dallas' inefficiency in that department was glossed over.
But after the 28-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals? There's no glossing-over now. So what's the problem?
"It's not a personnel issue,'' coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. "We've got plenty of good players.''
Last season, Dallas scored touchdowns on red-zone trips 71.43% of the time (No. 1 in the NFL), but this season, on 15 trips, the Cowboys have scored touchdowns on just six of them (40%, ranked 27th).
That means, it seems, the foundation is in place.
“In my experience in this league, it comes in ebbs and flows,” Schottenheimer said. “You get off to a slow start in something, you emphasize it, then they bounce back. It’s not just the receivers; it’s the entire unit that has to play better, including us as a staff.
"We know the importance of scoring touchdowns, and we have to do that. If we do that (vs. the Cardinals), we probably win that game.”
No Cowboys receiver has scored a receiving touchdown through the first three weeks. With CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, and Michael Gallup, that seems an oddity.
“Certainly, they are some of our best players,” Schottenheimer said. “I think it’s going to happen naturally. We talked about the execution, the efficiency. We’re close on a couple different things. We will certainly look at our formation builds and how we want to move guys around.”
With the 2-1 Cowboys coming crashing down to earth thanks to Arizona and the poor red-zone trips, there is a lot of work to do at The Star this week. The Cowboys coaching staff has acknowledged their shortcomings, and now we will see if they have made the necessary adjustments to get their red-zone attack - part of a new foundation with head coach Mike McCarthy as the play-caller in the "Texas Coast Offense'' - clicking against Bill Belichick's New England Patriots defense.
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