Scott Linehan customized the Cowboys offense and it failed, he should be held responsible

This past offseason we talked here at BTB how the 2018 Cowboys were totally, completely, and unequivocally all in on offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

At one point last season the Cowboys went through a three-game stretch (at Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Chargers) where they failed to break double-digits in each of them. This was the first time in the history of the Dallas Cowboys where the club failed to do this in three consecutive games. The first time ever.

The Cowboys front office didn’t lose faith in Linehan, though. Over the offseason they actually responded by giving him a custom-tailored suit. Scott got to choose the sleeve length, color of vest, and even what type of tie he wanted to wear (he chose Kellen Moore as his quarterbacks coach). With things completely how he wanted them, it was fair to expect him to look as sharp as possible and dominate the dance floor.

Dallas did anything but dance on offense on Sunday in Carolina, and Scott Linehan’s suit looked tattered and four sizes too big. It was as inept of an offensive performance we’ve seen from the Cowboys since, well, since last season.

In Scott Linehan’s defense the Cowboys wide receivers are headlined by Deonte Thompson, Allen Hurns, Tavon Austin, and rookie Michael Gallup. To Scott Linehan’s detriment, he literally is part of the brain trust tasked with choosing who those names will be, so he hardly gets a pass.

The Cowboys offense looked more than inept in Carolina, it looked more than predictable. There are many Cowboys fans who proclaim they can tell what the Cowboys are doing while watching from home, and while that may be true it still doesn’t tell the story of just how completely broken the Cowboys offense truly is.

Consider that the offense was given a life that they certainly didn’t deserve at the end of the game. DeMarcus Lawrence and Co. gave Dak Prescott one last chance down eight points. If they scored they could try the two-point conversion and hopefully send the game to overtime. The offense had a chance to erase the nots of earlier.

In this moment, their most critical of the young season, the Cowboys offense completely folded. They were terrible on both first and second down, and on third down Dak Prescott fumbled. Think about that. When the pressure was highest they folded harder and faster than ever. That’s a state of dysfunction that’s quite troubling with 15 games left on the schedule.

Scott Linehan got things his way this past offseason, that’s well on the record. Considering how flat his offense fell in Week 1 he should be held responsible, but that was the case last season just as well and here we are.

Maybe next week the Cowboys will break double-digits.