FRISCO, Texas — Over the first five games of the season, the Dallas Cowboys' usually high-powered offense has sometimes been anything but. At times, they've delivered a fast start and a fast finish to put them in position to win games and, other times, they've mostly stalled in the first half before awakening in the third quarter.
Currently owners of a 2-3 record heading into Sunday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers, the fix for what ails the offensive side of the ball could be as simple as re-establishing the run behind Javonte Willams — a part of their game that's been mostly an afterthought to this point.
"Yeah, we have to develop an identity, and we're still searching for that." said offensive coordinator Klayton Adams. "So far, what you've seen from us is streaky and somewhat inconsistent. … I would say some of that is because we've really been, for the most part, been able to kind of hit with one hand. We need to be more balanced.
"We need to use the boxing analogy. We need to be able to hit you with both hands and we've kind of been playing with one arm behind our back right now, because we really haven't been very good [in the run game]."
Williams had a career season in 2025, racking up more than 1,200 rushing yards with 11 rushing touchdowns while averaging just under five yards per carry. That has certainly not been the case in 2026, though not due to anything Williams is or isn't doing.
That said, the sudden loss of Malik Davis just before the start of the season left the Cowboys without their true complementary back to Williams, and after test driving Emari Demercado in that role, it's Tyler Goodson that appears to be the most suited to provide what Davis would've.
"Yeah, that was actually a conversation that I had with Javonte yesterday," Adams said of Goodson. "Some of the things that we're asking him to do, it's not because we don't think [Javonte] can do it. It's because we think that those are things that [Tyler is] good at and we're gonna need to take some reps off of [Javonte].
"So, to answer your question, we're in the process of figuring that out right now. He's doing a nice job."
For his part, All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott says finally establishing the run would be "huge" for what the Cowboys are looking to do offensively, tying the lack of it into other things he feels can and will be repaired, effective immediately.
"Consistency, start fast and stay that way," he said. "Different games, at different times, whether it's started early and slowed down or didn't put together until the second half, and we just wanna see all four quarters put together. … It's frustrating when you don't score, and particularly understanding that the best defense against us, at times, is keeping us off the field."
Needless to say, fellow All-Pro CeeDee Lamb agrees, and then some.
"We've got to be complementary when the defense does get a stop," Lamb said, only one game removed from a career outing against the Houston Texans. "I feel like, personally, we gotta go score. We can't just score when we feel like it. The pressure's on us. …
"I feel like we do score, but it's an off-and-on thing. When our defense does get a stop, I feel like we do have to capitalize and, if we do that, then we'll be able to pull away, and then our defense will be able to do what they gotta do as far as getting sacks … and we can go from there. We really just need to start playing from ahead."
There hasn't been many football minutes in this season wherein the Cowboys have had a lead, mostly having to climb back into games, and they've not delivered a blowout victory in either of their two wins — something that's uncharacteristic of a unit with this much firepower and, in 2023, nearly averaged 40 points per game at AT&T Stadium.
It's time to bring that energy and execution forward to 2026, and to then make sure it travels with them on the road, and there's no better time to begin than against a Packers' team that has, time and again, been the reason the Cowboys have had to sit with heartbreak.
