The Dallas Cowboys struggled on offense in the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, failing to score a touchdown for just the second time this season. Both of those games occurred on the road, where the team’s had issues for the majority of the year, finishing with a 3-5 mark.
Winning away from home is hard in the NFL, but the Cowboys appear to look like a completely different team at home versus on the road. Dallas destroyed the Los Angeles Rams last week at AT&T Stadium, but got beaten soundly by a less talented Eagles team at Lincoln Financial Field.
The offense, in particular, feels like a different version of itself when they go on the road. It’s been well chronicled how WR Amari Cooper has struggled during away games, but he’s not the only problem for the team when they play on the road.
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Quarterback Dak Prescott has fared much better at home as well, throwing for more touchdowns (16-10), yards (2,317-2,282), and has a higher passer rating (104.8-91.4). Ironically, Prescott has more attempts on the road than at home, likely because the Cowboys often trail more away from the friendly confines of AT&T Stadium.
However, Prescott’s yards per attempt on the road sits at 7.36, which would put him 16th in the league, versus 9.15 at home, which would rank Prescott second in the NFL in yards per pass.
RB Ezekiel Elliott, meanwhile, has better numbers while on the road. Elliott has 39 more carries, more yards (649-586) and more total touchdowns (7-5) away from home. The star runner also has more targets and receptions in road games. With the Cowboys usually playing from ahead or in close games at home, while trailing so many games on the road, you would think Elliott should have more carries at home, and by a decent margin. That doesn’t appear to be the case.
Compare that with how the team uses back-up RB Tony Pollard. The rookie runner has had some big moments, but almost all of them came at home. Outside of the game in Detroit, Pollard hasn’t done much on the road. Pollard has just 18 road rushes for 87 yards on the year, but has 54 carries for 308 yards and two scores at home.
Pollard has turned out to be an explosive player for the Cowboys, and one who has shown he can produce when given the opportunity. The team hasn’t given Pollard enough chances to make plays on the road.
These are three specific players who demonstrate what the Cowboys do when they play away from home. The game plan and play calling goes into a protective shell and the offense loses much of their aggression on the road. Dallas’ offense averages 22.1 points on the road, but was held to 10 points or fewer three times. They average 30 a game at home and scored at least 31 points three times at Jerry World.
We can speculate about who’s to blame for the home/road splits for the Cowboys, but it’s clear they don’t trust the quarterback or much of the offense to win games on the road. There are more handoffs, shorter throws and a lack of creativity when Dallas plays away from home.
The question is why? The Cowboys have a very good QB, elite skill players and a formidable group blocking for them all; why is the game plan so timid on the road?
Perhaps a question best answered by the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Hopefully that coach won’t let the offense lose their aggression for half of the games on the schedule.
You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.
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