IRVING, Texas - The last time the Cowboys had 11 rushing attempts in a game, 21-year-old Emmitt Smith was a non-factor in his first professional start and Jimmy Johnson's young team got blown out by the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants.
Eighteen years later, the current Cowboys offense matched the second-fewest single-game carries ever in last Sunday's 26-24 loss to the Redskins.
It might take another two decades to see such a one-sided offensive attack again. And it's nearly impossible to imagine Pro Bowl tailback Marion Barber and first-round pick Felix Jones having such a limited role this Sunday against a struggling Cincinnati Bengals run defense - even with receiver Terrell Owens and tight end Jason Witten playing "pick your poison" downfield against wide-eyed secondaries each week.
"We don't want to be one or the other," head coach Wade Phillips said. "We don't want to be just a passing team that throws in the run or just a running team that throws in the pass. We'd like to establish either one and go back to the other. And I think we're strong enough to do that."
The Cowboys certainly were strong and versatile enough last season in Jason Garrett's debut as offensive coordinator. They finished with the second-highest point total in team history (455) and fell 117 yards short of the total yardage record (5,968).
Their success was predicated on balance. Quarterback Tony Romo broke Danny White's single-season record for passing yards (4,211), but Marion Barber nearly became the team's second 1,000-yard rusher (975 yards) since Smith in 2001 while splitting carries with Julius Jones (588 yards).
The Cowboys finished with a 56:44 run-pass ratio in 2007. Through the first three games of 2008, Garrett's offense produced basically a 50:50 split (90 rush attempts, 93 pass attempts), and the Barber-Jones duo had 34 combined carries in a decisive win over Green Bay.
"I think he does a good job of just going to who's open and what the defense is giving us more than anything else," Witten said of Garrett.
The scales tipped dramatically last Sunday when Romo threw 47 passes (tying the second-highest total of his career), Barber had just eight carries for 26 yards and Jones didn't get a single offensive touch one week after his 60-yard touchdown run against the Packers - much to the dismay of the Cowboys' fandom.
But the Cowboys spent most of their time in a mostly unusual position: playing from behind with fewer possessions.
"The (run) production wasn't there in the beginning, so we had to go throwing a little bit because of some of the looks we had," Romo said. "And then on top of it, we didn't connect on the third downs to extend drives.
"Usually if you only have 58 plays, it's because you're either very explosive or you had some three-and-outs."
Four, to be exact, if you count Romo's lone interception on the fourth play of a third-quarter drive.
Those abbreviated possessions, a scoreboard deficit throughout the second half and the Redskins' defensive fronts - often dragging a safety into the box - shifted the game-plan to Romo's right arm.
"I think we kind of controlled that a little bit," Witten said. "We had four three-and-outs in that game, and that's not the Cowboys offense that we've seen."
Order should be restored Sunday against Cincinnati. Phillips and Garrett acknowledged the need for more rushing attempts, and the Bengals have allowed 164.3 yards per game on the ground.
Like Smith in that 1990 loss to the Giants, Jones had little impact last Sunday. But teams are well aware of his ability - Witten came free down the seam for a second-quarter touchdown after Jones split wide, stretching out the Redskins' defense.
And the rookie has made the most of his carries, no matter how few and far between. In the first three games, Barber appeared to soften up defenses with bruising carries that helped Jones break loose for a big change-of-pace run.
"I've always felt that way, that initially in the beginning of the game, defenses are very fired up. They're geared up; they're fresh," running backs coach Skip Peete said. "And the running game is going to be tough. The same runs that you may get four or five yards on in the fourth quarter, initially in the first quarter you may get a yard or half a yard, and eventually it gets easier and easier."
The Cowboys drastically got away from that approach last week. Don't expect a repeat performance anytime soon.
Home | Email | Print | Register for New Alerts | RSS
Rob Phillips - 
