The Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys will be reeling when they arrive at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, but it’s two teams with different records and different problems.
Baltimore was about to run a two-point play to try to grab a win in Kansas City before Isaiah Likely’s toe-on-the-line replay sparked a reversal. Then, the Ravens blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against Las Vegas.
One game the Ravens could have won. One game the Ravens should have won. And yet they‘re here trying to avoid an 0-3 start.
In Dallas’ case, there are no should haves and would haves. The Cowboys dominated Cleveland and were obliterated by New Orleans. Two clean-cut cases. But there is a “should” that could work in Dallas’ favor against the Ravens.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy SHOULD stop talking about a need to see more of the Dallas running game in order to make an appraisal. The Cowboys SHOULD give up on the run and understand their path to the playoffs — if one actually exists — is with a pass-dominant offense that uses the run sparingly. Now 40 pass attempts per game might get their $60 million QB on the injured list, but it‘s their only hope.
McCarthy disagrees. He said this on the running game of Zeke Elliott, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn this past week: “A better evaluation will come when we get the attempts up. We’ve played two games, and we really haven’t had a full dose of the running game.”
Heaven forbid any of us, paying customers especially, are forced to witness a full dose of Zeke, Rico and Deuce behind an offensive line with two rookies. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer called the running game “a funny thing,” acknowledging that many pieces had to fit in order to make it function.
The Cowboys are missing a bunch of pieces. And I can’t imagine Dalvin Cook is going to fit this puzzle any better than he did the Jets last season (3.2 average per carry).
The Ravens’ running game issue is different from the one here. They haven’t quite figured out how to incorporate Derrick Henry into their offense. Henry was drafted the same year as Zeke and has plenty of mileage, but he has shown none of the decline that Elliott‘s résumé is filled with in recent seasons. Henry ran for 2,000 yards in his fifth NFL season and more than 1,500 in his seventh. Even last year, on a bad Tennessee team with no real passing threat, Henry had 1,167 yards rushing on a 4.2 per carry average.
Henry has 31 carries after two games with Baltimore, but was barely used when the Ravens needed him most in the fourth quarter. In two possessions, leading Las Vegas 23-16 at the start of the first possession, Baltimore went three-and-out twice. Henry got one carry for 5 yards in the two series.
“We’re trying to find our mojo,” a disappointed Lamar Jackson said.
The Ravens’ mojo is that full dose (the one McCarthy mentioned) of Henry and the best running quarterback in the league. Cowboys fans hope that John Harbaugh‘s staff doesn’t figure this out before Sunday. But even with 31 carries and having faced the Chiefs’ stout defense, Henry has more rushing yards (130) than Zeke, Rico and Deuce have managed in 36 carries (127). In fact, that two-game total for Dallas’ three backs is fewer yards than the Saints’ rushers had BEFORE CONTACT (134 yards) last Sunday.
We really don’t need to see a whole lot more from Zeke and the fellas before figuring this thing out. It’s true that neither Elliott nor Dowdle have received a ton of touches. They’re tied for 48th in the league in rushing. But among the top 50, Dowdle ranks 45th in yards per carry and Zeke is 47th. It’s only two weeks, but what are we really expecting to change on this front?
Running backs do not have comeback seasons. I could try to argue that Larry Csonka did at some level, returning to rush for 800 yards for Miami after wandering away from a back-to-back Super Bowl champ to chase World League money, then winding up stuck for three years on a bad Giants team. But that’s a 240-pound fullback and it was nearly 50 years ago. That’s not in the cards for Zeke. Dowdle is in his fifth season.
The idea that the Cowboys have a diamond in the rough is unlikely. Jerry doesn’t hide diamonds, he displays them and charges admission to see them.
But all is not despair. The Cowboys can still escape AT&T Stadium with a 2-1 record Sunday night as long as McCarthy and Schottenheimer are merely blowing smoke about trying to get the running game going. The Raiders came back to upset the Ravens on Sunday when Gardner Minshew threw for 212 yards after halftime. Davante Adams, still near the elite level at receiver, finished the day with nine catches for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Is it really hard to figure what the Cowboys need to be doing? If Lamb has fewer than 16 targets Sunday, Dallas is wasting time. With the money Jerry has poured into Dak’s and CeeDee’s accounts, figure the combination to be worth 12 catches for 150 yards and two TDs.
We don’t need to see 20 carries from Zeke and Rico unless this game is sewn up by the third quarter. And having just witnessed the Saints scoring six straight touchdowns on this defense — they only got to third down three times total on the first five drives — this does not have the feel of an easy, early win. Dallas only has a chance if it establishes that it’s coming to throw the ball and throw it often.
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