The Dallas Cowboys fell to 3-3 after losing to the New York Jets on Sunday. In many ways, this game felt like deja vu. They gave up 21 points in the first half and only scored six. Against the Packers, it was 17-0 at half time. Like the week before, the Cowboys mounted a valiant effort in the second half only to come up just short of tying the game.

You can read the stats and analysis from previous games here.

Even though they were down by 15 points in the second half, Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore stuck to his plan of maintaining a reasonable run/pass balance.

How running the ball can aid a passing attack

Fans and pundits are quick to denounce Moore for what they see as his stubborn dedication to running the ball, particularly when they believe the Dallas offense is having success moving the ball through the air.

It seems possible, perhaps even probable, that some of the Cowboys aerial success is at least partially a result of Moore’s insistence on running the ball.

Last week, I pointed out a variety of benefits to running the ball in terms of keeping the defense honest. The reality is a team doesn’t always have to run the ball successfully in order for it to help with the passing attack. The mere fact that Dallas runs with some regularity forces the defense to respect the run.

Forcing a defense to respect the run has a multitude of benefits for the opposing offense. Imagine what Dallas defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli could do with the defense if they didn’t have to worry about defending the run. He could:

Take out both defensive tackles and replace them with faster, more agile, pass-rushing defenders.

The defensive line could focus exclusively on rushing the passer and not worry about setting the edge or maintaining any gap responsibilities.

The defensive line could run stunts, twists, loops, and/or slants on every play.

Take out one, possibly even two linebackers, and replace them with coverage specialists (cornerbacks or safeties).

Blitz speedy defensive backs (or linebackers) frequently from the slot.

Use the extra defensive backs to double team multiple receivers.

Allow the linebackers to focus on pass coverage without being concerned about filling the running lanes.

Play two deep safeties all the time.

Running the ball, even when not successful, prevents a defense from making the adjustments listed above, and that should make it easier to pass the ball effectively.

I have a suspicion, an intuitive hunch, not an observation or statistical-based conclusion, that many of the Cowboys successful passes come on plays when the defense has run-stopping personnel in the game and/or it has at least one safety in the box due to the threat of Ezekiel Elliot ripping off a big run.

Another way in which running the ball can help the passing game is when an offense goes no-huddle after running on first down. This is particularly effective when you have a history, as the Cowboys do, of running a lot on first down. The reputation, and success, running on first down leads many defensive coordinators to bring in run-stopping personnel. Going no-huddle after a first-down run allows the offense to throw the ball against the defense’s run-stopping unit.

Kellen Moore has used the no-huddle fairly frequently in some games: 12 times against Green Bay, 15 times versus Miami, six times against the Redskins, and 11 times versus the Giants.

The frequency with which Moore uses the no-huddle when they are not trying to conserve time suggests that they are doing it to keep specific personnel units on the field.

The raw data from Week 6

Where these numbers differ from the official stat line, it is because offensive plays that were negated for penalties were intentionally included.

Another disclaimer: when Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is forced from the pocket and runs for positive yardage, that play, for the purposes of the numbers below, is still tallied as a pass because the intention was to attempt a pass. Remember, the objective is not so much to track the results of the plays, but to ascertain the intentions and tendencies of the play-caller.

Dallas ran 82 offensive plays against the New York Jets, the most they have run this season.

Prescott took 26 snaps from under center and 56 in the shotgun (68% in shotgun). This is a similar division to what we saw against the Saints (68% in shotgun) and Green Bay (71% from shotgun). But, it is very different than the under-center/shotgun balance Moore achieved in three games that the Cowboys won (32-34 against the Giants, 32-36 in Washington, and 32-39 versus the Dolphins.)

Given the fact that they fell behind by 15 points, it is remarkable that Moore was able to maintain any semblance of a run/pass balance.

Snaps from under center in first half

Dallas ran 34 plays in the first half. Prescott was only under center for nine of those plays. Of those nine snaps:

six were rushes

two were passes

one was a play-action pass

Snaps from the shotgun in the first half

0f the 34 first-half snaps, 25 were from the shotgun. Those 25 snaps included:

seven rushes

15 passes

three play-action passes

Dallas was fairly balanced in the first half (13 runs, 17 passes, four play-action passes). They netted 162 yards (125 passing and 37 rushing), but managed to score just six points.

Despite trailing by 15 points to start the second half, the offense did not become as one-dimensional as it did in the second half the previous week against Green Bay.

Snaps from under center in the second half

The Cowboys ran a whopping 48 plays in the second half. Prescott was under center for 17 plays. They were:

14 runs

two passes

one play-action pass

Snaps from the shotgun in the second half

Of the 48 second-half plays, 31 were from the shotgun. They were:

six runs

23 pass attempts

two play-action passes

Dallas was also fairly balanced in the second half: 20 rushes, 25 pass attempts, and three play-action passes.

Totals for game

Moore called 49 passing plays:

four from under center

two off play-action from under center

38 from the shotgun

five off play-action from the shotgun

Moore called 33 runs:

20 from under center

13 from the shotgun.

Observations

Several things jump out.

First, Moore called just seven play-action pass attempts. Does he forget that Prescott was anointed “Captain Play Action” after the first three weeks? Remember, there were games this season when close to 50% of Prescott’s passing attempts came off play-action.

Second, Moore appears to fall into the same predictability that the offense suffered from under former offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. As discussed in previous posts, for three years under Linehan, the Cowboys ran the ball more than 80% of the time when Prescott took the snap from under center, and they passed more than 80% of the time that he was in the shotgun.

In some of the early games this season, we saw Moore distance his play-calling from those tendencies. Against Washington, he called running plays on just 65.6% of the snaps taken under center; he called passing plays on just 66.7% of the snaps from the shotgun. Against Miami, they ran 75% of the time when Prescott was under center (although that was likely a result of having a big lead in the second half), and called for passes on 70.3% of the shotgun snaps.

Last week against the Jets, the percentages were disconcertingly reminiscent of Linehan: the Cowboys ran on 20 of the 26 snaps taken under center (77%), and they passed on 43 of the 56 plays from the shotgun (77%). This sort of predictability can not be a good thing.

Third, it was suggested a few weeks ago that Moore should call more running plays from the shotgun if they wanted to continue using play-action from that formation. The Cowboys were fairly successful running the ball from the shotgun.

Despite having three carries for no gain or less, they still gained 57 yards on the 13 carries from the shotgun (4.9 average), and that included two touchdown runs.

On the day, the Dallas offense had 129 yards on 34 carries (3.8 yards per attempt).

Fourth, the Cowboys actually ran the ball more in the second half when they scored 16 points compared to the first half when they only scored six. In the first half, they ran the ball on 38.2% of the plays (13 rushes on 34 snaps); in the second half, they ran the ball on 41.6% of the plays (20 runs out of 48 snaps).

Last, in addition to attempting two play-action passes, Prescott threw four passes after dropping back from under center. Prescott has never dropped back from under and passed more than four times in a single game.

Miscellaneous Observations

It was reported that the Cowboys had 124 yards on penalties in Week 5 versus the Packers. Against the Dolphins in Week 3, I noted that they lost 124 yards of offense due to penalties. The penalties continue to be very costly.

The official stats indicate that Dallas was charged with nine penalties.

Despite playing from behind the entire game, the Cowboys only went to the no-huddle four times in the Jets game, and all four of those were in the second half.

In all of the previous games, except the one against New Orleans, the Cowboys offense used the no-huddle at least a few times in the first half.

The Cowboys averaged less than three yards a carry in the first half, although Elliott averaged 3.5 yards a rush.

Dallas was 10-17 on third-down attempts (59%). They are now 34-67 on the season (50.7%). That ranks them second in the NFL at converting third downs.

The weekly look at Moore’s first-down play calling as well as their success on third and short will follow in due course.

You can follow Twitter @CJosephWright.