Cowboys' third-down work off the mark lately
A month ago it didn’t much matter what opposing defenses tried to do against the Dallas Cowboys on third down, they were going to convert.
Third-and-short. Third-and-medium. Third-and-20. It didn’t matter. Heck, remember Terrance Williams’ toe-dragging catch near the sideline in the win against the Seattle Seahawks? The film from that game on Oct. 12 isn’t grainy and in black and white. That might be the signature play of the Cowboys’ season so far.
After the Cowboys beat the New York Giants on Oct. 19, they had converted on 57.4 percent of their third-down plays, which led the league.
“To be over 50 percent week after week after week, I haven’t been around that in my life as a player or as a coach,” coach Jason Garrett said.
The Cowboys are second in the NFL behind the New Orleans Saints in third-down conversions. On the season they have converted 66 of 130 tries (50.8 percent). The Saints are converting at a 51.6 percent clip.
But the last three games have been a major difference for the Cowboys.
They have converted 12 of 36 third-down opportunities, which is 26th best in the league over the last month. Even in the win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Cowboys were just 4-of-13 on third down. What made up for their inability to convert were three touchdowns of at least 35 yards.
“I think the best thing we did was different guys were making plays,” tight end Jason Witten said. “I don’t think there’s any formula for converting third downs. It’s just execution.”
The Cowboys must execute better on third down. It makes everything about their team better. The better the offense performs on third down, the less the defense is on the field. The less the defense is on the field, the more aggressively it can play. The Cowboys have won only one game in which they did not win the time of possession stat (Houston).
“I think when you’re good on third down you have a chance to be a really good offensive football team,” Garrett said. “So we got to make sure that we get back to the levels that we have been throughout most of this year.”
