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Cowboys lesson learned: The problems on offense are still there Another away game Robert Newhouse Jersey , another frustrating loss for the Dallas Cowboys. And has usually been the case, this is squarely on the offense (albeit with a big assist from the special teams). The defense only allowed 13 points, and outside of the first drive of the game for Washington, they largely shut things down, especially in the red zone. No, this was one caused by another collection of huge mistakes and miscues on the offense. And that was the whole offense, coaches and players alike.One theme that has run through this season, and this particular weekly look at what we learn from each game, is that the offensive woes of the Cowboys are due not to any discrete issues, but spring from how different problems compound each other. So let’s break those problems out to see how they affected this game.Some things might change with the addition of Amari Cooper, but for now we’ll just look at what we saw in Washington and how those issues are still valid.The offensive line was, once again, inadequate and outplayed.The Cowboys have invested a huge chunk of their salary cap in building a stellar offensive line. In 2016, we saw that working at just about peak efficiency. But now, this looks like a shell of that dominant unit.The loss of Travis Frederick due to Guillain-Barre Syndrome has had a major impact, and the poor job of adjusting the blocking against the defense on Sunday is likely a direct cause. Joe Looney has not been bad filling in, but is not the same level of player both physically and mentally. But he is just the start of the issues. Only Zack Martin has continued to play at a high level, while Connor Williams is undergoing not unexpected growing pains as a rookie and La’el Collins has not been consistent. But the real problem is the play of Tryon Smith. He has been frequently beaten, and almost every game there seems to be a big play called back because of a penalty on him. In the latest loss, that is exactly what happened on the first drive of the game. After Dallas received the opening kickoff, Dak Prescott used his legs on third and six to gain 22 yards and set the team up at the Washington 49 - only to have it called back on a Smith holding penalty. The next pass would go incomplete, the Cowboys would punt (one of several bad efforts by Chris Jones, netting only 33 yards) and Washington would capitalize on the excellent field position to get their lone offensive touchdown of the game.That was the real start of things going severely downhill. Had the run by Prescott stood, the Cowboys may have maintained the offensive efficiency from the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the entire course of the game might have been different. At the least Daryl Johnston Color Rush Jersey , there would have been much less of a chance of Washington scoring a touchdown on their first possession with the way the defense played for most of the game. It is sad to contemplate, but the question has to be asked: Is Tyron Smith now washed? He just does not look right out there, and the holding calls are mostly because he is getting beaten by speed on the edge. The Cowboys may have a huge decision to make about his future if he does not recover at least some of his old form.Prescott continues to raise questions about his ability to be the quarterback this team needs.Social media is full of looks at how Dak is holding the ball too long and not seeing open receivers. While some, such as Bryan Broaddus, have disputed whether Prescott actually looked at Gallup in that first play above, the issue of his lack of ability to see the field and missing open receivers is still valid.He also missed some throws as well, notably one to Ezekiel Elliott (although that would likely have been stopped for little or no gain as defenders were closing in, so it may not have mattered much). But on the touchdown drive that pulled the Cowboys to within three points late in the game, he missed too many plays and burned too much time off the clock that the team could have used on the failed final possession. It is hard to argue that Prescott doesn’t hold the ball too long, especially with pass protection that seems to break down all too often. To win more games, especially on the road where the team is playing significantly worse than at home, he needs to be more decisive and get the ball out. He just may not be capable of that. The now infamous “hot hand” decision of 2016 may have thrust the Cowboys into the dreaded “quarterback purgatory”, where they can’t break through, but win just enough games to make it very difficult and expensive to get a more legitimate franchise QB in the draft. If the O line was the wall of protection that it was just a couple of seasons ago, he might still be able to thrive. But under constant duress, partly because he does hang on to the ball so long, he is going to struggle unless he makes a sudden, and very unlikely, leap forward in his vision and accuracy.However, there is still a chance the team can find a way to make it work. He did have his best output passing of the season, completing 22 of 35 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown, and did lead the team on two drives at the end of the game. Still, his own mistakes fumbling the ball cost the game, and his four sacks were also at least partly on him because of the holding the ball problem already mentioned. Whether the team can figure things out is dependent on another thing, which we’ll get to shortly.Zeke is not able to carry this team.At least with a true lack of running lanes https://www.dallascowboysfanshop.com/Leighton-Vander-Esch-Jersey , as was the case in this game. His longest run on the day was only for six yards. And he also dropped a touchdown pass that would have saved some precious time at the end of the game. He is still very talented, but is being met far too often behind the line in the losses. As dependent as Dallas is on running the ball, this is a prescription for failure.The wide receivers took a step forward, but it wasn’t enough.It was something of a breakout game for rookie Michael Gallup, who had three receptions on five targets for 81 yards, including the big 49-yard touchdown to knot the score with a minute to play in the first half. And Allen Hurns, although he had one significant drop, had his best game of the season with five catches for 74 yards. Cole Beasley was also reliable, although somewhat contained by the defense, pulling in seven catches on eight targets for 56 yards.And now the Cowboys have sent a first round pick to the Oakland Raiders for Amari Cooper. If it works out, it could certainly change things for Prescott and the passing game.Meanwhile, the coaching is still a big problem.A lot of focus has been on the final drive, when the decision was made by Jason Garrett to play for the field goal to tie and go to overtime rather than hurry up and take more shots at the end zone. That may have been influenced by the repeated drive-killing penalties and turnovers, but it still rankles, especially after a similarly conservative decision cost them a chance to win the game at the Houston Texans. That is hardly the only thing to criticize about the coaching. After Gallup had an outstanding first half, he seemed to disappear from the offensive plan. And it has to be asked whether the plays where Prescott held the ball too long were due to what was being sent in by Scott Linehan. That is a bit of an unknown, since we don’t know what was intended on each play. Did something break down, was the coverage too tight, or did Prescott just miss a read? Nonetheless, the players need more help from the staff. At the same time, Linehan needs better execution as well. He had nothing to do with Dak’s fumble on fourth and one, for instance, and hardly can be held accountable for those play-killing penalties by Smith, Williams, and Collins. That does not exonerate Linehan https://www.dallascowboysfanshop.com/Connor-Williams-Jersey , or Garrett for that matter. They still need to put this team in a better place to succeed.So we are stuck in the whole chicken or egg situation, where the blame for the offensive struggles on the road have to be shared. The most frustrating part of all this is that the Cowboys have had a real chance at wins in three of their four losses, all one score games - one an overtime loss, plus this latest flop. But outside the scoring explosion against the Jaguars, the wins have also been close affairs. That is a path to mediocrity over a season. At the moment, that looks exactly the way this year’s team is headed. Unless Amari Cooper’s presence can shake things up and put the offense on a path forward instead of being stuck in neutral. With the 28th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select... Taco Charlton, defensive end, University of Michigan. There were many boo’s coming from the Philadelphia Museum of Arts after the pick was announced. Some of that is due to the draft being held in Filthadelphia, and part of it was due to the fact that a lot of Cowboys fans weren’t huge fans of the pick.Through a season and a half of the Taco Charlton experience, there has been little to be excited about. So far in his career, Charlton has recorded four sacks, nine QB hits, and just seven tackles for loss in seven starts. Charlton finished his rookie season on a high-note and left Cowboys fans feeling good about his development moving forward. When training camp kicked off just four months ago, Charlton was showing signs of making strides as one of the teams best pass rushers, instead he has fallen off the map through nine weeks of the Cowboys season.To make matters worse for the former Michigan edge rusher, Charlton’s production has regressed heavily from the start of the season to now.In the first two games of the season, Charlton had recorded a sack, two tackles for loss, two QB hits, and a fumble recovery. Since week two, Charlton has recorded zero sacks, zero QB hits, and just two tackles for loss (week four & week six). This is coming with the second-year pass rusher playing the fourth-most snaps among all defensive lineman on the team, and the second most snaps among the defensive ends on the roster.Taco’s lack of production has not gone unnoticed which is something we should all give credit to Rod Marinelli for noticing. In weeks one through five https://www.dallascowboysfanshop.com/Darren-Woodson-Jersey , Charlton was playing in more than 50% of the defensive snaps, in weeks six through eight, Charlton has played in 50% or less of the defensive snaps, with Dorance Armstrong taking on a larger role in the defense. The lack of production from the defensive end unit (outside of Lawrence), is part of the reason that the defense has struggled to sack the quarterback in the last few weeks, after an extremely hot start. Film RoomTaco’s lack of a plan when rushing the passer is one of his biggest weaknesses. In preseason and in 2017, we saw him use a spin move on a lot of his rushes, while it wasn’t the cleanest spin move in the NFL, he started to figure it out towards the end of the season. Here he allows Taylor Lewan to take away his length by allowing Lewan to get inside his breastplate due to a missed hand swipe. Once Taco misses with his initial jab, Lewan is able to gain control of Charlton’s hands, and upper body and drives him straight into the ground.First off, before we get to Taco I have no idea how you miss this hold on Leighton Vander Esch. Charlton has to set the edge here with Jaylon Smith lined up next to him on the line of scrimmage. Smith is expecting Charlton to fill his gap and plug the hole that Lewis runs through. Charlton again ends up on the ground and is in no position to make a play on the ball carrier. As you can see, Taco Charlton starts the play clearly in the picture. Washington runs this football right at Taco Charlton and before Adrian Peterson touches the football, Charlton is completely out of the picture and nowhere close to the ball. The most concerning thing about this play is that Taco shows no awareness on this play. Out of the offensive formation, either Peterson is coming right at you, Alex Smith is pulling this and taking it off the right edge, or throwing an RPO and getting the football out quick. Rushing wide and up the field is a recipe for disaster against this look.Charlton has time to turn it around, and the Cowboys are by no means giving up on the second-year pass rusher, but it seems as if they are starting to play the more consistent player instead of playing the guy with the higher draft status. Charlton isn’t the fastest or strongest defensive end on the field, so he needs to work on playing smarter, and developing more of a plan. He needs to learn how to use his hands better to win his battles. Until that happens, he will struggle to play with any kind of consistency.