The Dallas Cowboys sit at a crossroads with a 3-4 record coming out of the bye week.

The rest of the Cowboys season can go one of three ways. One: The Cowboys continue down this maddening road of alternating wins and losses until the team once again finds itself between 7-9 and 9-7 when the season ends. Two: The Cowboys can tank, sending the season into the gutter. Three: the team can improve in a few key areas and make a playoff run.

It's no secret that Dallas believes that the third option is firmly within the team's grasp, as the Cowboys decided to send a first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders for 24-year-old, two-time Pro-Bowler Amari Cooper.

The reality is that the Cowboys do have a real shot at making a playoff run with the current state of the NFC East. The team must make some stark improvements in some distinct areas for that to actually happen.

Let's take a look at three areas where the Cowboys must improve to make a playoff run.

Passing game

Starting with the most obvious, the Cowboys passing attack must improve. The team currently has a 38 percent success rate through air, 29th in the NFL ("a play is successful when it gains at least 40% of yards-to-go on first down, 60% of yards-to-go on second down and 100% of yards-to-go on third or fourth down," per Sharp Football Stats).

While some may be quick to pile the blame on Dak Prescott, the blame for the passing game's woes should be spread evenly among multiple parties.

Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan certainly deserves a share of it. Many have criticized Linehan for his play-calling tendencies, but his play-design has been a much bigger issue for the Cowboys offense.

It's 3rd-and-19 and DAL needs a first down. So what do they draw up? 3 curl routes before the sticks with mirrored routes to the flats. pic.twitter.com/ejOz5LvCtA — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 23, 2018

Instead of creating unique ways to get the receivers open in the passing game, Linehan has relegated the receivers to running a bevy of isolation routes, where route-running is at a premium. The Cowboys wide receiver crops (sans Cole Beasley) has struggled with route-running so far.

The #DallasCowboys need to use bunch formations more frequently.



Look at how Beasley gets because WAS' miscommunication playing the bunch.



A Tyron hold negated Dak's scramble, but Beasley was wide open on the little pivot route from the bunch pic.twitter.com/WBvkJVZUbx — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 23, 2018

Even with Cooper in the fold, Linehan would be wise to utilize more crossing patterns, rub routes, bunch formations and run-action in his play designs on passes. This would scheme the Cowboys receivers open more, giving Prescott larger throwing windows.

I would not consider myself a QB expert (yet) but I don't think the front foot is supposed to move backward like that. There was a little bit of traffic but Dak had plenty of room to step up here. Leads to poor placement on the throw and an interception. pic.twitter.com/NVb1UjpEFa — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 9, 2018

Prescott still deserves a big share of the blame even though he hasn't been the sole reason Dallas has struggled through the air. He has been inconsistent with his lower-body mechanics, which forces him to rely solely on his arm to make throws, leading to a surplus of inaccurate passes.

No idea what #Cowboys QB Dak Prescott was thinking here. HOU is in a 2-high shell so Dak should get eyes toward the 2 vertical routes that are applying a horizontal on the deep safety, especially with Swaim's deep dig route occupying the other deep safety.



Should have been a TD pic.twitter.com/UyJAzsI9F6 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 10, 2018

Prescott has inconsistent reading defenses both pre and post-snap, leading to missed big-play opportunities.

Adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) is the passing stat most correlated with wins, and Prescott ranked 28th (5.51) going into the bye week. On top of that, Prescott was 27th in completion percentage (62.1), 24th in touchdown percentage (3.9) and 27th in yards per attempt (6.9) going into the bye week. Prescott simply isn't playing well enough. He's quickly running out of excuses with Cooper in the fold.

One way the Cowboys can get improved play out of Prescott is providing him with better pass-protection. The Cowboys offensive line may look like the best unit on paper, but it's been far from it. The Cowboys have allowed the sixth-highest adjusted sack rate (9.7 percent) in the NFL.

More communication issues for the OL on the road. Tyron and Connor Williams struggle to pass off the E/T stunt, which results in a sack for WAS. pic.twitter.com/RImMNwXcNu — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 22, 2018

The loss of Travis Frederick has hurt, but each member of the starting unit has had their own share of struggles. Zack Martin has been the best of the five, but he's been beaten a tad more frequently than in the past. Tyron Smith hasn't been bad, but he's certainly not been as consistent as in previous years. La'el Collins has had an up-and-down start to the season, playing phenomenally at times while struggling mightily at others.

Connor Williams is dealing with the ups and downs of a rookie season. Joe Looney hasn't been perfect, but he's been about as good as anyone could expect filling in for Frederick, though the Cowboys have struggled with communication since Looney took over the center spot.

If the Cowboys can shore up their issues in protection, whether it's communication or execution, it would pay massive dividends for Dallas' passing attack. When under pressure, Prescott has a 79.1 passer rating compared with a 91.4 passer rating when he's been kept clean. It's not a coincidence the three teams with the lowest adjusted sack rate entering Dallas' bye week (New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs) have three of the most potent passing attacks in the NFL.

It's pretty simple: better protection equals a better passing attack.

You know what else leads to a better passing attack?

Here is the #DallasCowboys new No. 1 WR: Amari Cooper. 225 career catches for 3,183 yards and 19 touchdowns. 2-time Pro-Bowler. pic.twitter.com/U2CXfc0M7d — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 22, 2018

More weapons, and that's exactly what Cooper will provide for the Cowboys offense. The Alabama product is a masterful route runner with the ability to be productive from the slot and outside. Cooper is adept at beating press coverage, and he has not had problem getting open on isolation routes. Cooper is the perfect receiver for Prescott because he can create large throwing windows with his ability to generate separation from defensive backs with his routes.

The addition of Cooper should only make life easier on the remaining Cowboys targets, especially Cole Beasley, who should have even more space to work with since defenses can no longer consistently double him.

The Cowboys front office did its part to improve the passing attack by trading for a former Pro Bowler in Cooper. Now it's time for the Cowboys coaches and players, namely Prescott, the offensive line and Linehan, to hold up their end of the bargain.

Rushing on first down

For a team whose identity on offense is the running game, the Cowboys have been awful running the ball on first down, recording a 48 percent success rate on first down runs (15th in the NFL). If you take Prescott's legs out of it, it looks even worse -- Dallas has just a 44 percent success rate (20th) on first down runs with a running back, per Sharp Football Stats. This is a problem for a team that runs the ball 57 percent of the time on first down.

Because the Cowboys aren't productive enough running the ball on first down, it's leading to issues on third-down. The Cowboys offense averages 7.5 yards to go on third downs (10th-most in the NFL), which is forcing Dallas into pass-only situations, where the team has the worst success rate in the NFL (22 percent success rate on third down passes).

The best way to mitigate the issues on third down is to be more productive on first down, especially on the ground, where Dallas has invested a ton of resources. The Rams, Colts and Chiefs all rank inside the top five in success rate on first down runs and top six in third down conversion percentage. If the Cowboys can be more productive with their first down runs, it will lead to more manageable third downs and more third-down conversions as a result.

Even though it may seem easy to place the blame for Dallas' first-down rushing woes on Ezekiel Elliott, the offensive line and tight ends deserve far more of the criticism. Elliott hasn't had a lot of room to work with, illustrated by the fact that 20 percent of Dallas' runs have been stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage, per Football Outsiders.

The tough part of the running game is that the entire offense has to work in unison, one missed or badly executed assignment can unravel a whole play, which has been an issue for the Cowboys. All too regularly this season, a potential big play has been thwarted because of one missed block.

This pin-and-pull could have worked, but a miscommunication between La'el Collins and Zack Martin leads to no one even attempting to block Bobby Wagner. Could have been a big play if some got a hand on Wagner. pic.twitter.com/GbDvY5gfjH — John Owning (@JohnOwning) September 25, 2018

If the Cowboys offensive line and tight ends starts playing to their potential in the run game, it will lead to more productive first-down runs and more manageable second and third downs, which should allow the Cowboys offense to be more efficient as a whole.

Forcing turnovers

Even though the Cowboys defense ranked third in yards allowed and second in points allowed going, it has been awful at forcing turnovers. Dallas only has six turnovers on the season and have been especially poor in forcing interceptions. The team ranked 28th in interceptions (two) going into the bye.

The problem for the Cowboys defense is that it's not creating opportunities. Going into the bye, the team ranked 27th in passes defended (21) and 18th in forced fumbles (five) -- the Cowboys defense has done a poor job of creating turnover-worthy opportunities.

The easiest way for the Cowboys to create more turnover opportunities is by generating more pressure on the quarterback. Going into the bye week, the Cowboys defense ranked 11th in adjusted sack rate, which is good, but Dallas needs to turn the heat up even more moving forward, whether that means better individual execution from the pass rushers or more called blitzes.

On top of that, Byron Jones could do a better job of converting on interceptions when his hands touch the ball. Jones has arguably been the best cornerback in football through the first half of the season, but the one area where he has struggled in converting on his interception opportunities. The Connecticut product leads the team with seven passes defended but has yet to record an interception.

Fantastic job by Byron Jones here. DAL is in cover 3 and Jones does a good job of passing off the vertical route to the deep safety and taking the deep corner coming into his zone. Should have been a pick for Jones, but Jeff Heath is able to clean up after the deflection. pic.twitter.com/TI8VogqoBR — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 16, 2018

Jones grabbing more interceptions would take this defense to a new level, and could warrant Defensive Player of the Year consideration - he's been that good.

The Cowboys defense has been very good thus far this season, but for the Cowboys to make a playoff run, especially if the offense doesn't drastically improve, it needs to be elite. And the easiest way for this defense to become elite is by forcing more turnovers.

John Owning writes about NFL player evaluation for SportsDayDFW.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnOwning.