Random statistical thoughts and musings to keep me occupied through the bye week.

1. Can I kick it?

Yes, you can.

After five games, Buehler is tied for third in NFL in Touchbacks with 9, and 4th in touchback percentage with 33% (9/27). This is already twice the amount the Cowboys achieved in the 08 and 07 seasons combined.

With the help of Buehler's kickoffs, the Cowboys' opponents are averaging a starting position after kickoffs of 23.1, 8th in the league and a significant upgrade over the 31.0 of last year.

The Cowboys are fifth in the league behind McBriar's healthy foot in Net Yards per punt attempt with 41.2, significantly up from 36.4 last season (ranked 22nd).

Our kicking game is providing us with a significant advantage in hidden yardage, now if our so-so returns could improve with Rossum on board, we may just start winning the battle for field position.

2. It's alive!

Ever wonder what happened to our fabled 2-TE formation (aka 12 or 22 personell packages)? Well, Bob Sturm at DMagazine argues convincingly that the 2 TE formation is a large factor in the success of our running game. Full article here.

The Cowboys are destroying the opposition out of 2 TE sets.

Check this out. "22″ personnel. 2 RB, 2 TE, and just 1 WR [The Boys have run this formation on 17.8% of their snaps so far this season]. Basically, you are telling the defense you are about to run the ball because off comes a Wide Out like Patrick Crayton, and on comes a FB, Deon Anderson. With 5 OL, a FB, and 2 big TEs, you are not kidding around about your intentions.

The "22″ which should just be a power "3-yards-and-cloud-of-dust" is getting 7.47 yards per [attempt]? That is crazy production. And they already have more yards than in all of 2008.

[With the 22 on the field, the Cowbuys have run the ball 67% of the time and averaged 8.44 yards per carry]. The defense knows it. And yet they are getting steamrolled.

To show run, and to still get 8.44 yards per carry is something that the coaches realize, and the rest of the NFL does, too. In 2008, the Cowboys ran this look 5.75 times per game, now they are running it over 10 times. And this is why I would suggest that 2 TEs is working, despite the weak receiving year for Marty B so far. In preseason, I thought Martellus would replace Deon Anderson. In reality, the combination has made the offense a bulldozing machine. Some might call it, 'Romo Friendly'.

3. Bye Weeks

The Cowboys are 7-3 coming out of their bye weeks over the last 10 years. The three losses came in 00, 02, and 04, where we finished the seasons 5-11, 5-11 and 6-11 respectively. We have not lost after a bye week for the last 4 seasons.

4. The Curse of 370

The Curse of 370 is a statistical phenomenon discovered by Football Outsiders' Aaron Schatz in 2004. He makes the case that there is statistical proof that a running back with 370 or more carries during the regular season will usually suffer either a major injury or a loss of effectiveness the following year

27 different times in NFL history, a RB has carried the ball 370 or more times in the regular season. Most of these backs got hurt and were never the same or their productivity just fell off, with three notable exceptions. Eric Dickerson went over 370 carries four different times (83, 84, 86, 88), our very own Emmitt Smith (92 & 95) and Ricky Williams (02 & 03) did it twice.

Why is this relevant? Atlanta's Michael Turner carried the ball 376 times last year, and is currently ranked 'only' 15th in the league with 353 rushing yards and a disappointing 3.5 ypa after 6 games.

Advancednflstats.com of course refute this with impeccable science, but still...

5. Roy Williams the downfield blocker

The Cowboys lead the league in 20+ yard runs with 9. We managed 12 for the full season in both 08 and 07.

And it's not like Felix Jones is doing all the 20+ runs. Felix has 4 20+ runs (56, 40, 24, 22), MB3 has 3 (35, 27, 23) and Choice has 2 (36, 24), which leads me to conclude that this is not an accident, it is by design, and it requires outstanding downfield blocking.

Unfortunately, there are no stats for downfield blocking by WRs or TEs, but Skip Peete is clear on why his RBs are pulling off these big runs:

"The biggest thing that you notice is there have been some bigger runs in the first three games than we had last year. Last year, we were getting 20s and 15s, not 40s, 50s and 60s.

Everybody has to be involved when you talk about the running game. The offensive line gets the back to the line of scrimmage and through the line of scrimmage, but in order to get big runs, the receivers have to get involved in blocking the safeties and corners down field.

Deon has been doing a good job. He’s the lead blocker on a lot of these runs, and the three tight ends have also contributed. Everybody has to work together in order for it to work. "

Link to article Downfield blocking a factor in Cowboys' run game.

6. The 2:02 timeout. 

In case you missed a delightful Raiders-Eagles game, Andy Reid may have set a new NFL record (somebody somewhere will hopefully run the stats) by calling a timeout 2 seconds before the two-minute warning. Read up on it in Michael Lombardi's Sunday funnies article.

This ranks as my favorite on a gameday that had me shaking my head in utter yet joyous disbelief at the state of the other teams in the NFC East.

7. Gratuitous cheerleader shot of the week