Cowboys Offensive Efficiency

As was the case for the team as a whole, the offense largely remained steady this week in terms of efficiency. It was an uneven performance within the game, though, as the Cowboys engineered long drives with chunk plays in the first and fourth quarters but largely struggled in the second and third quarters.

That’s partially a reflection of the caliber of defense they faced, but also a reflection (to some degree) of the absence of Tyron Smith at left tackle. We’ve seen better games from this offense, but the initial impression that this was a bad game from this unit doesn’t jive with the data.

Dak Prescott’s Efficiency

This wasn’t Dak Prescott’s best game of the season, but it was certainly an improvement from last week. He completed 62.5% of his passes for 253 yards, throwing two touchdowns and one big time throw against zero interceptions or turnover worthy plays.

The biggest area of concern, though, is Prescott’s time to throw in this game clocking in at 2.98 seconds. For the second straight week, Prescott was forced to hold the ball longer because his first read was often taken away. That’s a potentially huge Achilles heel in this type of timing-based offense, and one that needs to be corrected if the Cowboys want to have any staying power in the postseason.

Cowboys Offensive Line Efficiency

As mentioned earlier, Tyron Smith’s absence was felt in this game. Chuma Edoga wasn’t a turnstile, but he definitely struggled. Edoga gave up five pressures, two hits, and a sack. He had two especially egregious plays where he appeared to simply block the wrong way, likely a result of simply not having played in a game for some time.

That being said, Edoga can’t make those mental mistakes if he’s to be relied on as the primary backup for Smith, a left tackle who is still very good when playing but has proven he can’t be relied upon to actually take the field.

Defense