Dallas Cowboys Offense Needs To Show Up in Preseason Dress Rehearsal

Wade Phillips is calling the Cowboys game Saturday night against the Houston Texans a dress rehearsal, and the offense needs to show some sign of life if they're going to be on the field for three quarters, as they've shown nothing in the first three games. 

The Cowboys starting defense has played great in three games this preseason, allowing just seven points in three games, and in the first two, the opposition didn't score until the fourth quarter.

Even last week while the Chargers moved down the field easily, the Cowboys forced two turnovers, ending drives. 

The starting offense was boring in the first two games as they had just a couple of drives in each game, but they were downright horrible against the Chargers.

Romo and company had just three first downs and 49 yards and had the ball for just over six minutes in the first half. The one TD they had was set up by safety Barry Church's 80-yard fumble return.

The running game has been non-existent, although with all the injuries to the offensive line I'm not too surprised.

However, Phillips said earlier this week that Marion Barber and Felix Jones will see a lot more action in this game, so we'll finally get a real look at the new and improved tandem. 

It's the passing game that really intrigues me, however. Roy Williams and Miles Austin aren't having problems getting open, they're having problems catching the ball, which is nothing unusual for Williams, but for Austin it's a shock.

So far, Austin has five catches for 64 yards and a TD, while Williams has three catches for 29 yards and Jason Witten has just one catch for 18 yards (although with the injuries at tight end, the Cowboys want Witten healthy, so he hasn't seen much action).

Tony Romo has done well—throwing just one interception in three games—but he needs to lead this offense on a legitimate drive, something they haven't done yet and something that former Cowboys QB Drew Bledsoe taught him is important. 

The Cowboys are going into this season as a legitimate contender, and while I wouldn't invest much in the preseason (the Colts treat it as a joke, and in 1989, the Cowboys had a 3-1 preseason record and finished the season 1-15) it's still nice to see something besides a nine yard fade pass to Austin.

Romo said yesterday that the offense is stepping their efforts up in practice this week and it's showing, which is an encouraging sign, but it needs to show up Saturday night as well.