Much like Jerry Jones off the field, the Dallas Cowboys have been far from boring on the field. And like their fearless (to a fault) leader, they haven’t quite been able to come out ahead, still falling behind .500 through the first month. 

But, there are signs of, if not progress, then at least hope that they can be a winning team when it’s all said and done this year. That hope will have to start being validated against subpar teams such as their Week 5 opponent, the New York Jets. Let’s take a look at some key to victory that the Cowboys will need to use to ground the Jets. 

Continue to Get the Ball Out Quickly on Offense

While much has been said about how the offensive line kept Dak Prescott clean all day, as evidenced by him being sacked only once, that stat is a bit misleading. The Green Bay Packers pass rush was still effective, but Dallas' staff had the perfect gameplan to counteract it. 

Out of Prescott's 40 pass attempts, 19 were considered short, or between zero and nine yards past the line of scrimmage. On these throws, he was 17-of-19 for 136 yards and two touchdowns. 

These quick throws allowed Prescott to get the ball out quickly, minimizing the impact that the Packers pass rush could have. With the Cowboys offensive line struggling to protect Prescott all year and potentially missing three starters in Week 5, being able to replicate that production on quick throws will be key for Dallas against the Jets. 

Take Aways the Underneath Routes

 While Justin Fields has completed 65% of his throws with zero interceptions, he’s done so on only 60 pass attempts so far this year while tossing a meager two touchdowns. He protects the ball well enough, but that’s due in large part to him rarely being asked to push the ball down the field. 

On short throws, he’s completing 77.8% of his passes but, in intermediate passes (10-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage), he struggles to a 53.8% completion percentage, a mark that would be good for No. 23 in the league. 

All this is to say is that, if the Cowboys can contain Fields on the ground and take away the underneath throws, they should be able to take advantage of the weak spot in his game while giving Prescott and friends plenty of opportunity to build a lead. 

Continue to Get Ryan Flournoy Involved

After playing a career high 24 offensive snaps in Week 3, the second year wide receiver actually played less snaps on Sunday, logging only 16 against Green Bay. But, even if the quantity of snaps went down, the quality went up. 

Flournoy recorded two catches in both games, but what’s interesting is that he had a play called for him specifically, as he took the ball on a sweep for 12 yards. Negligible, yes, in the micro sense, but not insignificant in the macro. 

With CeeDee Lamb being out for at least one more game, Dallas will be looking for a spark beyond George Pickens. While Jalen Tolbert flashed on Sunday night, his contract is up after this year and is unlikely to be re-signed in the offseason. 

Getting a cost-controlled player such as Flournoy up and running is something that could pay off not just this season, but in the years beyond.