Dallas Cowboys' Offense May Have Figured It Out

Thanksgiving was great for Dallas Cowboys fans. Not just because the team posted another victory, but because a struggling offense found its way out of a slump.

Sure, it was against the lowly Oakland Raiders, but they do have a good secondary, and Tony Romo found a groove against them, hitting Jason Witten and Miles Austin consistently for big gains.

This is what we wanted to see from this offense. We knew the Cowboys' defense would stop Oakland all day and force punts. We knew Romo and company would have several possessions to get clicking and score some points.

And they did. Twenty-four to be exact.

Now, 24 points may not seem like a whole lot (and I argue that Dallas could have scored 40), but it’s a big deal after the Cowboys only posted 14 total points over the previous two games. It’s an even bigger deal when the defense continues to hold teams to 17 or less.

However, my main point centers on how the Cowboys moved the football. The way the Cowboys executed on offense on Thanksgiving was the way I had envisioned it when the season started. They reverted back to plays that made them an electric offense in 2007, while adding in new wrinkles with their running backs.

I must give credit to Jason Garrett for going back to what made Romo an MVP candidate in 2007. That is, he took his best wide receiver (Miles Austin), moved him around, and, most importantly, had him running short/intermediate routes over the middle.

See folks, contrary to popular belief, the Cowboys were never a home run hitting team in the passing game when TO wore the star. They got lots of big plays, but only on a couple of occasions did they execute the 75-yard TD pass.

That offense centered on hitting TO 10-20 yards down the middle of the field and having him run for another 10-20 yards. The Cowboys got chunks of 20, 30, and 40 yards, and not necessarily 60, 70, and 80. Nevertheless, they still put lots of points on the board, being the second-best offensive team only to New England just two years ago.

Well, the Cowboys must have looked at the old tapes of TO.

On Thanksgiving, they had Austin running over the middle of the field and getting big chunks of yards. His line had receptions of 49, 11, 27, 20, 14, 9 (TD), and 15 yards (totaling 145).  

Austin made all of these plays working the middle of the field either on slants, crossing patterns, or bubble screens. He lined up in the slot on almost all of these connections.

This was different from the Kansas City and Atlanta games, where Austin made most of his catches near the sideline (with one exception being the long touchdown versus the Falcons running a deep cross), especially on that comeback pattern.

Having Austin work the middle of the field is about as Romo-friendly as you can get. Romo is more accurate in between the numbers, and is twice as dangerous when he is shuffling in and out of the pocket hitting guys running across the middle of the field.

This is exactly how the Cowboys piled on the points in 2007. I just looked at the tape of the blowout wins over the Bears and Eagles in that season, and Romo made a killing attacking the belly of the defense.

The Cowboys scored 34 points and 38 respectively in those games—against good defenses no less.

Romo had over 300 yards in both games.

TO against the Bears had eight catches for 145 yards with a long of 35.

In Philly, he had 10 for 174 with a long of 45 (TD).  

In those games, Owens was moved around and was working the middle of the field, mainly on crossing patterns. If you don’t believe me, go to the NFL.com video archives and watch for yourself.

There were no home run balls. It was catch and run all day long.

That, my friends, is the way Romo and this offense are suppose to operate. Tip your hat to Garrett for finally figuring this out just before December.

At the beginning of this season, everyone who was worried about not having a guy who could streak down the sideline for those sexy 70-yard touchdowns wasted a bunch of anxiety.

A) Because Austin can do this if the Cowboys ever need him to.

B) Because the Cowboys main worry should have been finding a guy who could work the middle of the field just like TO used to in order to confuse defenses, create mismatches, and run well after the catch (Austin is this guy too).

It should also be no coincidence that Jason Witten also had his best game of the 2009 season this Thanksgiving. Despite a bad foot, he caught five passes for 100 yards, including the return of that beautiful seam route that Romo and Witten have made a living on the past few years.

What made Thursday’s performance even better is that the Cowboys also added a good dose of Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice into the mix. All three made plays, and they all got involved from the beginning of the game.

The Razorback run by Choice came at the right time in the game. Ditto for Jones’ 46-yard touchdown run.

Of course, it was all capped off by Barber grinding out the clock in the end.

I was satisfied with a 16-9-3 split of touches between the three backs. That’s perfect when Austin and Witten both catch 5+ passes for over 100 yards apiece.

On Thanksgiving the Cowboys had just the right portion. They had the right amount of turkey, sides, and pie, and didn’t overeat anything to their demise.

It was the epitome of a “Romo-friendly” offense in that they executed plays that tailored to his strengths, and coupled that with a ground game that featured three effective running backs.

If they follow this formula from here on out, the Cowboys might finally peak at the right time...in the playoffs.

We’ll see if they continue this at New York this Sunday.