(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
Is the offense finally feeling the pressure of having to be perfect every game? Have teams simply figured out what Brian Schottenheimer and Klayton Adams are scheming? How do you explain the sudden struggles on that side of the ball? – Paul Thomas/Houston, TX
Patrik: You have to start with the offensive line and go from there. Against the Broncos, they couldn't get much push (not the first time I've seen that this season) and got moved around a lot. The same happened against the Cardinals, only worse, to the point where they allowed a total of 19 (!!) pressures on Dak Prescott in 39 drop backs (nearly HALF of them) along with nine quarterback hits and five sacks. Add to that the penalties, pre-snap and post-snap, and move outward to the rash of drops that plagued Prescott's targets in Week 9; and you're beginning to get the picture. If the Cowboys can't use the threat of the pass to help the run game, because there's no time to pass, and can't move bodies in the rushing attack to set up the play action — then hoping drops and penalties don't negate a big play — then you're in all sorts of trouble offensively, as we're seeing.
Tommy: I think the last two weeks, it's been a struggle to hold up on the offensive line against the pass rush. There's way too many guys getting to Dak Prescott and hitting him around, which is causing a good bit of the struggles. Some of Dallas' big plays on offense come on those long-developing plays, where Prescott needs the extra half-second or so to get the ball out so he can layer it over the defense.
Mailbag
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