Decoding McCarthy/Zimmer Report, Wk 14

Looking at the close battle against the Bengals and the Xs and Os that went into it.

Tuesdays – since about 2008 – have been my day to evaluate the offense in this space. However, due to circumstances beyond the Cowboys control, evidently, we have modified this space from now through the end of the regular season as the games themselves have become less compelling. Therefore, we will attempt to combine the offensive and defensive reviews as best we can and that leaves us room for other (college football) projects here in the final weeks of 2024:

Our objectives today:

• The Offensive Overview vs the Bengals

• Rico Dowdle continues

• The Defensive Overview vs the Bengals

• Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase destroy the Cowboys

• Plays that defined this game - Xs and Os breakdown

Let’s get busy:

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The Offensive Overview vs the Bengals

The Cowboys offense definitely misses Dak Prescott. They just have such a stunted passing game that lacks verticality or powerful throws. Cooper Rush can run the offense, but the offense he runs is a significantly different.

Yet, the rushing game continues to tease us into believing they might be continuing to figure things out.

For me, the Cowboys showed some good things at the start of each half, but then, as the game left the script, it appears that Rush and the offense began to hit walls of resistance as each half went along. See below, the two blue box levels would show the spots in each half where the offense started producing results. But, then, it would just end and the drives were ineffective again.

The issues with the offense seem to repeat each week. The Cowboys now appear to be better at running the ball, but they still seem to pass the ball way too much. I am sure the coaches will tell you when you run the ball is as important to how you run the ball, so I don’t want to act like that isn’t part of this.