Full Dallas Cowboys Report Card Heading into Week 11 Bye

If you would have said the Dallas Cowboys would be 7-3 entering their bye in Week 11, you would have likely been met with ridicule. However, here we are at Week 11 and the Cowboys are indeed four games above .500 and in prime position to make a push toward the playoffs. 

The craziest thing about the Cowboys' superb record is that it could be even better without a few timely injuries; most notably, Tony Romo's back injury during the Washington Redskins game that caused him to miss the game against the Cardinals.

If Romo was healthy for the end of the Redskins game and the entire Arizona Cardinals game, the Cowboys would have had a very good chance of coming away with a win in both games. 

The biggest reasons for the Cowboys' stellar start has been the dominance of the offensive line, DeMarco Murray's tough running, the efficiency of Tony Romo and the opportunistic defense. All three deserve a great deal of credit for the success of the team as a whole. 

Now let's take a look at how each position has performed up to the bye.

Quarterback

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Romo is the most valuable player to the Dallas Cowboys this season. Say what you want about DeMarco Murray and his gaudy stats, but Romo is the most important player to Cowboys success. 

Just look at the game against the Cardinals for validation of this fact. The Cowboys didn't score a single meaningful touchdown on offense and looked extremely stagnant as the Cardinals loaded up the box against the run. Without Romo, Murray had his only game with less than 100 yards rushing, and the Dez Bryant had only 15 yards receiving.  

The Cowboys are one of the best teams in the NFL with Romo in the lineup; they are barely average without him. 

This season, Romo has thrown for 2,244 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions on a 68.8 completion percentage. Romo has been extremely efficient and effective in every game except for two; the game against the San Francisco 49ers where Romo had three interceptions and against the Redskins where Romo injured his back. 

The one thing that should give the Cowboys pause is their backup-quarterback situation. Behind Romo, Dallas has Brandon Weeden and Dustin Vaughan as the reserves. Vaughan is a rookie and nowhere near ready to play in a regular-season game, and Weeden proved that he is not capable of being a capable spot-starter for Romo. 

If Romo re-injures his back and is not available for any stretch of games late in the season, the Cowboys will be in serious trouble. 

The Cowboys' season hinges on the health of their signal-caller. 

Grade: A-

Running Back

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Even though Romo has been the most valuable player, Murray has been one of the two best overall players for the Cowboys (more on who the other player is later). 

Murray has displayed the necessary abilities to thrive in the Cowboys' offensive scheme. He gets downhill fast, cuts well into running lanes and is always falling forward. These traits led to Murray breaking Jim Brown's record for most games with 100 yards rushing to start a season with eight games over the century mark.

Murray has also been stellar in pass protection for most of the season except the Redskins game. A huge reason why Murray gets so many carries is that he is the only running back whom the Cowboys trust to protect Romo, which makes it hard for them to take him off the field. 

As a whole Murray has accumulated 1,233 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 244 carries, which is good for 5.1 yards per carry. However, Murray also has five fumbles, all of which were recovered by the defense. 

For as great as Murray's been, he can't have that many fumbles, and it is something that he needs to fix for the stretch run of the defense. 

Outside of Murray, the Cowboys have gotten decent contributions from Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar. 

Randle has done a good job in his limited opportunities to spell Murray, and Dunbar has been a big contributor in the screen game for the Cowboys. Each player has added a facet to the Cowboys' offensive attack. 

As the weather gets worse in the winter months, the Cowboys will have to rely on Murray, Randle and Dunbar to pick up the slack. 

Grade: A

Wide Receiver

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The only players who have had any semblance of significant production at wide receiver from Terrance Williams and Dez Bryant. 

Cole Beasley has done a good job getting first downs on his limited targets, but he hasn't been featured in the offense as much as he should. On the season, he only has 16 catches for 143 yards, which is significantly less than what he should have in this offense. 

Dwayne Harris and Devin Street have been largely absent from making any impact on offense as the Cowboys employ a lot of three-wide receiver sets. 

Williams has developed into a solid No. 2 wide receiver, even though he hasn't been very productive in the last couple of games.

What Williams has done is make huge plays at important junctures of the game, such as his tip-toe grab against the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth quarter. Williams hasn't had a lot of catches (27) or yards (426), but he has made critical plays that have been directly responsible for the Cowboys' success. On top of that he has gotten into the end zone quite a bit, with six touchdowns on the year. 

As anyone who follows the NFL knows, Bryant is the best receiver on the Cowboys and one of the best in the league. Bryant's physical style has allowed him to dominate opposing cornerbacks on a regular basis. He still has areas he needs to improve, such as his route running, but he has done a great job of being more consistent this year.

In the last six games of the season, the Cowboys need to find a way to get Beasley more involved in the passing game, while still being able to feed their beast in Bryant. If the Cowboys can do that, then their offense may be even better than they were in the first 10 games. 

Grade: B+

Tight End

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If you glanced at the tight end group's statistics, you would likely come away unimpressed; however, most of their effectiveness has come through means that are captured in your box score. 

Jason Witten only has 39 catches for 431 yards and three touchdowns, but he has been an extremely effective blocker. If you go back and watch some of Murray's best runs, most are aided by a great block from Witten. His stats may lead some to say that he is declining, but anyone who watches the tape knows how big of an impact he makes on a game-by-game basis. 

Probably the most disappointing player among the tight ends has been Gavin Escobar. Coming into the year, Escobar seemed to be on the verge of a breakout season after he came on strong at the end of last year.

Nonetheless, he has received the least amount of snaps out of the three tight ends, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and he only has eight catches for 99 yards three touchdowns. It would be nice to see more production out of the former second-round pick. 

James Hanna is another player whose impact goes outside of your normal statistics. He only has one catch for seven yards, but he has done a great job blocking when he has been asked to do so. 

Overall, the tight ends have been as effective in the passing game as years past, but they have made up for it some with their blocking abilities. 

Grade: B

Offensive Line

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The offensive line has been the catalyst for the majority of the offensive successes this year, especially in the run game. 

It has led the way for Murray's breakout season and does not show any signs of slowing down. 

Earlier in this article we talked about how Murray has been one of the two best offensive players for the Cowboys. Well, the other has been rookie offensive guard Zack Martin who has exceeded even the loftiest of expectations for his rookie year.

Martin is a bulldozer in the open field, couple that with his great ability to get to the second level and hit back-side cut blocks and you have a player who should be in consideration for Offensive Rookie of the Year. 

Travis Frederick has been solid all year, and the same can be said of Doug Free when he wasn't injured. Ronald Leary has played surprisingly well for the Cowboys as he has made a huge leap with technique from last year, which is evidenced by his great performance against All-Pro J.J. Watt. 

Tyron Smith has had a disappointing year by his standards. You expect him to be nearly perfect in almost every game; however, that has not been the case as he has had some great games and some below-average games, punctuated by his game against the New York Giants. Last year, Smith really hit his stride late in the year, and this year there is no reason to think he won't do the same. 

As a whole, the offensive line has been incredible in the run-blocking department, while it has been above-average in pass protection. With Romo's back and the backup-quarterback situation, it has to up the ante to being elite in pass protection or risk losing its most valuable player. 

Grade: A- 

Defensive Line

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The positional unit that the Cowboys will need significantly more production out of in the final six games of the regular season will be the defensive line. 

Tyrone Crawford and Henry Melton have been very impactful and disruptive from the 3-technique defensive tackle position. They have both been able to get past their opposing blockers to get upfield and create havoc. Together, Melton and Crawford has notched seven sacks (note: PFF counts any half-sacks as full sacks in their system), 12 quarterback hits and 33 quarterback hurries, per PFF.

Another player, who has played extremely well, has been Jeremy Mincey who leads the Cowboys with 23 hurries, per PFF. Mincey has done a great job of utilizing his power to push the pocket and his hands to disengage from blockers and generate pressure. This was showcased best when he beat Trent Williams for a sack in the Redskins game. 

Outside of those three, the Cowboys haven't really gotten much production from their other defensive linemen. Anthony Spencer has been stout against the run, but he hasn't been able to break through as a pass-rusher. DeMarcus Lawrence has only played in two games this season, and Nick Hayden has never been one to play at a high level. 

In the last six games of the season, the Cowboys need either Spencer or Lawrence to break out and be able to add to the Cowboys' pass rush. 

Grade: B-

Linebacker

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The most surprising positional unit on the Dallas squad has been the linebackers. After losing Sean Lee, this group appeared destined for mediocrity. Nevertheless, it has rallied together to become an above-average linebacking corps. 

Rolando McClain has been the most impactful and productive linebacker for Dallas thus far. His ability to come downhill and make plays in the running game, coupled with his surprising prowess in coverage has made him a front-runner for the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award.

He has brought a physical presence to a defense that hasn't had that for many years. McClain has recorded 42 tackles and 25 stops (for an explanation of stops go here), per PFF. 

Beside McClain, Justin Durant was in the midst of a career year before he tore his bicep, which led to him being put on injured reserve. He seemed to fit the role of a "Will" linebacker perfectly with his athleticism and instincts. He recorded 40 tackles and 28 stops before his injury per PFF.

Bruce Carter has been very up-and-down for the majority of the season. There are times where he looks like an All-Pro, but there are other times where he looks inept on the football field. The Cowboys need him to be a lot more consistent in the stretch run. 

Another player, who has exceeded expectations, has been rookie fourth-round pick Anthony Hitchens. Throughout the year, Hitchens has started at every single linebacker position. His best positions appear to the "Mike" and "Will" linebacker positions as he is a much better player in space. He is very good at diagnosing plays and is rarely out of position. The Cowboys appear to have a steal on their hands with Hitchens. 

The linebackers are a group that needs to get more consistent, but if they play at a similar level for the final six games as they did the first 10, then they will be just fine. 

Grade: B

Secondary

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Through the first three games, the Cowboys secondary were struggling mightily as it couldn't stop opposing receivers and tight ends. Nonetheless, after a season-ending injury to Morris Claiborne, the secondary has picked up its play quite a bit in the following seven games. Whether that has anything to do with Claiborne not play is tough to say, but the fact remains that the secondary has stepped its game up. 

Orlando Scandrick is the best the cornerback on the Cowboys and has proven to be among the top-10 cornerbacks in the league for at least this season.

He has done an incredible job covering out of the slot as he dominated players such as Brandin Cooks, Percy Harvin and DeSean Jackson, whose yardage came from when he was defended by other cornerbacks on the Cowboys. Scandrick has been one of the few constant positives for this defense over the last couple of years, and it is time he received some recognition for it. 

J.J. Wilcox came into this season as the prime candidate to play the single-high safety role when Dallas is in Cover 1 or Cover 3 defenses. However, he proved that he could not handle that responsibility, so the Cowboys have moved him into the boxed formation more where he has been much better. 

Barry Church has proven to be at least adequate in the single-high safety role as he has rarely been beaten deep. He still needs to work on the angles he takes and his recognition skills, but he is an adequate choice for the time being. 

The most disappointing player in the secondary has easily been Brandon Carr. Throughout the first 10 games, Carr has struggled to defend any type of crossing routes and has also developed a bad habit of poor technique when he is in run support. The Cowboys need Carr to improve a great deal, or he may be a target that opposing teams try to exploit more. 

Grade: B

Special Teams

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The Cowboys special teams were some of the best in the NFL last season, but this season has been a totally different story. 

Dan Bailey has been his usual spectacular self, as he has gone 17-of-20 on his field-goal attempts. He hasn't even been helped by his special teams counterparts as two of his misses are due to malfunctions in his protection, which led to two of his attempts being blocked. 

Chris Jones has been an adequate punter with his 46.3 average yards per punt with a net of 38.8 yards per punt. 

Dwayne Harris hasn't been able to be the same prolific return man that he was from last year. This has likely been due to a combination of poor blocking and indecisiveness from Harris when he is in the midst of a return. 

The special teams, outside of Bailey, really need to pick up their slack because there will be a game that is decided by special teams, and it is paramount that the Cowboys come away with a win in that scenario. 

Grade: C+

Coaching

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You really have to nitpick to find reasons to complain about what this coaching staff has done over the first 10 weeks of the regular season.

Head coach Jason Garrett hasn't committed any clock-management errors that have really cost the Cowboys, and he has done an admirable job of creating a great environment that the players are thriving in. 

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli may be the biggest reason the Cowboys defense has improved so much. He has made some tweaks to the defense from last year, and they have worked out well. Marinelli has proven that he is one of the best defensive minds that the NFL has to offer. 

Play-caller Scott Linehan has done a great job with the Cowboys offense outside of the Cardinals and Redskins games where he made some questionable decisions. However, Linehan should be lauded for his commitment to the running game, which has had numerous positive effects on the team as a whole. 

Special teams coach Rich Bisaccia needs to do a better job with the talent he was given. Several players made the team even though they couldn't contribute on offense or defense because of their abilites on special teams such as Cameron Lawrence. It is up to Bisaccia to turn that disappointing unit around. 

The Cowboys were an 8-8 team last year, but they have already gotten to 7-3 this year without any major additions to their squad; therefore, a lion's share of the credit should go to the coaching staff for turning this ship around. 

Grade: A

Statistics are courtesy of Pro Football Focus (subscription required), unless noted otherwise.