Why Have Cowboys Forgotten How To Run The Football?

It is no secret that the Dallas Cowboys haven't been able to run the football well at all through six weeks.

Having had just one game of 100+ yards, the Cowboys, for whatever reason, just can't get it rolling like they did last season when Javonte Williams helped this offense have a top 10 rushing attack.

In the 23-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys had their lowest return from their rushing attack, just 48 yards.

That is surprising, considering Brian Schottenheimer stated midweek that he knows he has to get the run game going.

But Williams had just 11 carries while Dak Prescott had a whopping 54 pass attempts.

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So why was Javonte forgotten? That is what fans want to know.

Looking at the numbers from the Packers game, in the second half, including plays where penalties were called, the Cowboys had 45 pass attempts, including 18 straight, and just seven run plays, one of which was to CeeDee Lamb.

That is so lob-sided.

And it wasn't like Dallas was down 28-0; it was only a two-score game after the Cowboys' opening third-quarter touchdown drive, which saw Williams run for seven, four, eight, and two yards before his one-yard touchdown.

After that? He touched it just once.

It is no wonder that Dak Prescott got lit up by the Packers' pressure packages because they were literally throwing it on every play.

So why? There have been several reasons that people in the industry have put forward, as well as fans.

One theory is that because Schottenheimer is a former quarterback, he wants to air it out more often.

Our friend Bryan Broaddus of 105.3 The Fan stated: "I don't think this guy wants to run the ball."

To which Zach Wolchuck followed up with, "Yeah, I think there is a bit of stubbornness there. Maybe he just doesn't even realize it in time. You're in the moment, bullets are firing, and you're like I'm just dialing up the passes, I mean, 32 straight passes is insane."

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So, there are a lot of theories out there, but last year, the run game was good with Williams, so what has changed?

Javonte has just two games of 19 carries, and ironically, they were games that Dallas won (Houston) and should have won (Baltimore); the rest are 12 attempts or fewer, and four of the games have been decided by one score.

Hardly a reason to not have No. 33 running the football.

So, for all of the talk about this offense and the passing game against Green Bay and how bad it was, don't forget that, for whatever reason, the offense announced to the Packers it was going to be one-dimensional.

After half time, 45 pass attempts to just seven runs isn't complementary football, and in truth, it made the Cowboys' offense easy to pick apart.

Which is exactly what Green Bay did.