Mailbag: Why is the offense better when trailing?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

The offense seems to find another gear once Dallas is trailing. Is this a matter of the players needing that extra sense of urgency? Does the play-calling become more aggressive when they're behind? Or is there something else going on? Why can't they play with that same urgency all the time? – William Wilson/Salado, TX

Nick:

I think if you look around the league, that's probably pretty normal. I don't think this is just a Cowboys thing or a current issue. I remember Dak putting up a lot of numbers a few years ago in garbage time. Some people call it hollow numbers but I think it's usually a product of teams having more urgency like you said, but also defenses that play a different scheme, allowing more underneath routes and nothing too deep.

When that happens, the better quarterbacks are going to find the receivers and dink-and-dunk down the field. Now, that's not exactly what happened Sunday in Houston. The Cowboys never trailed by more than 10 points so I don't think Houston changed what it was doing.

What changed for the Cowboys was an adjustment up front with the blocking scheme. They did a better job of protecting Dak and if he's got that, with these receivers, he's always going to put up yards and of course, some points to go with it.

The Texans should have switched it up defensively at not rolled the coverage towards Pickens the entire game. But they were content with CeeDee beating them, and he did over and over.

But there's also one other factor that I think is specific to the Cowboys when they get down and need to score quickly. They are a better passing team than a running team. The personnel, both on the line and in skill positions are suited to pass it around the yard. So when they're balanced, they're good, but when they just have to sit back and pass it and the defense allows them to play pitch and catch, then they're really good.

Kurt: The Cowboys have never started out with the intention of taking it easy early on or just playing lackadaisically. But there can be a learning curve, so to speak, in regard to getting into the flow of the game. In turn, I think seeing the urgency then ramp up later when time and the scoreboard are not on your side is only natural.

In looking at the offensive stats through the first four games on Pro Football Reference, the Cowboys have run exactly 125 plays in both the first and second halves. In addition, the number of runs and pass plays are the same as well with 47 and 78 in each half, respectively, although quarterback scrambles are counted as running plays on the website. Still, what are the odds of the numbers being so evenly split?

Not surprisingly, with the way Dak Prescott has been playing, the passing game has thrived in the second half. His completion percentage from one half to the other jumps from 65.8% to 74%, his yards per attempt goes from 5.3 to 8.8 and his quarterback rating surges from 87.0 to 122.1, which ranks first among quarterbacks with at least 60 fourth-quarter passing attempts.

For the season overall, Prescott has posted a 70% completion percentage while averaging 7.1 yards per attempt with a 105.0 rating. When trailing in the final two minutes, his percentage drops to 64.3%, but his yards per attempt improves to 7.4 with his rating going up to 110.4.

So the answer might be as simple as that: As the game moves along, Prescott is learning the defense, he's finding his rhythm and, to throw out a cliché, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Sure, there are other factors – taking more risks in the play-calling, the defense giving the offense more chances, etc. – but that extra gear or urgency the Cowboys need when playing from behind begins and ends with Prescott.