It seems Jerry Jones fell into the trap of believing running backs don’t matter, and the Dallas Cowboys are dearly paying the price through the first four weeks of the 2024 NFL season.
Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry has gone on record that the Cowboys never even made an attempt to sign him this past offseason during free agency, but the first month of the 2024 campaign suggests Dallas desperately needed to.
Dallas Cowboys’ Rushing Offense Nonexistent
Through four games, the Cowboys rank dead-last in the NFL in explosive runs (of 10 yards or more), which seems to be a significant strain on quarterback Dak Prescott and the rest of the offense.
Most big plays through Week 4: pic.twitter.com/29zY5RGmT9
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) October 1, 2024
While the Cowboys sit at 2-2, in second place behind the Washington Commanders in the NFC East, Dallas’ ground game has been virtually nonexistent.
Rico Dowdle leads the Cowboys with 134 rushing yards with Ezekiel Elliott chipping in 81.
While the Cowboys’ injuries along the offensive line compound both the lack of explosiveness and contribute to the offense’s consistent inconsistency, it is difficult to ignore the potential impact Henry may have made on this offense.
Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills, Henry rushed for 199 yards and scored two total touchdowns. Meanwhile, as a team, the Cowboys have rushed for just 301 yards and two touchdowns all season.
Henry, on his own, has logged 10 explosive runs of 10+ yards through the first four weeks and is averaging 3.33 yards after contact which would have gone a long way to disguising some of the Cowboys’ issues along the offensive line and perhaps have been a missing ingredient for Dallas’ success this season.
Instead, the Cowboys are going to need to try to manufacture some sort of running game without a lead dog, and perhaps if they fail to, this whole debacle could prove to be a valuable lesson for Jones this winter.
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