Lack of Points: a Concern!

I posted this fanpost entitled "Lack of Points: a Concern?" on August 31st, 2009:

"I've absolutely loved the way the Cowboys have been moving the ball downfield while taking large chunks of time off the clock during the preseason. I think during the Niners game we moved down something like 94 yards in 8 1/2 minutes. Outstanding. That's the way to do things. Spread the ball around and be unpredictable. Everything that didn't happen last season. However, it's only logical that the more time devoted to a single drive, the less points there may be to score Frankly, I think it's sometimes been a bit discouraging as to how few returns the team has gotten as a result.

The Cowboys managed to move the ball and drain the clock numerous times during the Tennessee game and yet at one point the Titans were up 10-7, despite putting out a significantly less amount of yards and possession time. The Titans were just more efficient.

It's not a concern yet, as we have yet to see the starters play a full game. But while I like the Cowboys controlling the clock and moving the ball down the field, they may not be doing it as efficiently as possible. It might not be a good idea for the team to run every drive like that.

Something to think about."

The way the NFL ranks offensive and defensive performances is misleading. Of course, the most important aspect of winning football games comes down to scoring and denying points. This is oddly not how offense and defense is ranked. The NFL ranks offense and defense by yardage. The Saints led the NFL in offense this season averaging 403.8 yards per game. Our Cowboys were second with 399.4.

One large difference: the Saints averaged 31.9 points per game. The Cowboys? 22.6, less than both the Giants and Eagles. With all the talk about how bad the Jets' offense (passing game anyway) was this season, that team on average scored 21.8 points on only 321 yards per game.

If you were to rank the NFL by points scored, the Cowboys were 14th in 2009, between the non-playoff Falcons and the below .500 Dolphins. Not so good for the league's second-best offense.

The Cowboys had a wonderful defense (9th in yardage allowed, 2nd in scoring allowed), but on days when they can't hang with tough offensive teams like Minnesota (second in scoring offense with 29.4 ppg, 379.6 ypg), the scoring offense needs to be significantly higher.

I think it was Bill Parcells who said that for every 100 yards a team should have a touchdown. With 400 yards per game, the Cowboys fell about a single touchdown short all season.

The offensive focus for next season must be to score more points. Here's a few things that can be done:

-better kicking; Nick Folk is to blame for many of those missing points

-better catching: here's looking at you, Roy

-better OL/power running/play calling: you would think Jason Garrett would stop running Barber up the middle inches from the goal line after two consecutive failures.