Cowboys mailbag: Questions on winning on the road, defending the run, and Brandon Aubrey.
Every week, we take questions on Twitter and Facebook about Dallas Cowboys players and other questions surrounding the team. So let’s get right into it.
“Is there a reason why the Cowboys struggle on the road but are so dominant at home?”
Mike:A difficult topic, but the Cowboys team’s age is one factor I can think of. Given that their roster is the sixth youngest in the league, the Cowboys are lacking a little bit of experience. Being a road player requires experience and leadership, which may contribute to the team’s ability to succeed away from home.
Brandon:
I have no doubt that the Cowboys would be thrilled to hear a fantastic response. Sadly, aside from the fact that they have traveled to face four of the top 10 teams—Philadelphia, Miami, Buffalo, and San Francisco—there isn’t much of a cause. The Eagles and Dolphins losses shouldn’t be viewed as heartbreaking because Dallas can win those games if a few things go their way.
The most alarming results should be the lopsided defeats to the 49ers and the Bills. But if the Cowboys can prove they can defeat the Lions at home and triumph in Washington, it should provide them enough momentum to go on the road and win during the playoffs—at the very least, in the Wild Card round.
“Why do the Cowboys struggle to stop the run?”
Mike: The lack of a solid run stopping linebacker is one problem. The Cowboys have fine linebackers, but a guy like Markquese Bell is more nickel linebacker or hybrid type defender. Damone Clark is the only true linebacker on the roster and that is showing up on run defense.
The Cowboys defense isn’t doing badly at stopping inside runs, but runs off tackle is where they struggle. If they face teams that have a mobile quarterback, things get pretty messy for this defense that’s predicated so much on the pass rush. But on the other side of this argument is this defense just showed it can stop the run. They faced Miami last week who was fourth in rush yards and just held them to 91 rush yards.
Brandon: It’s unfortunate that Leighton Vander Esch and Johnathan Hankins are currently missing, as both are key contributors to stopping the run and their absence is felt greatly.
The front office has made an effort to add resources to the defense to bolster this area, but the lack of proven depth at linebacker has really hurt the team. While the development of Damone Clark and Markquese Bell as linebackers hasn’t been the worst, there are still growing pains.
Despite these challenges, the Cowboys’ defense has been relatively successful in limiting opposing running attacks. For a long stretch of the season, they didn’t allow a single rusher to go over 100 yards in a game.
If the team can somehow improve in the following weeks and get more comfortable at their positions, it would help a lot. However, given how late in the season it is, it may be difficult to make significant improvements.
“If Brandon Aubrey stays perfect on the year, should he win Offensive Rookie of the Year?”
Mike: It’s a fair statement since that would be a remarkable achievement. It’s rare for a kicker to stay perfect on the year and no kicker in his rookie year has done what Aubrey has managed this year.
The issue facing Aubrey winning the award is obviously he’s not an offensive player (but I get the idea of a kicker being classed as one), but also the award goes to the quarterback position or occasionally wide receiver. Both those positions are well represented this year.
Brandon:While I believe the conversation would be fascinating, Aubrey isn’t as well-liked as athletes like Puka Nacua and C.J. Stroud. But in my opinion, he has already established himself as an All-Pro and Pro Bowl kicker. That is more valuable in my opinion than being named Offensive Rookie of the Year. Whether or whether he continues to be flawless on field goal attempts this year, he has been outstanding for Dallas this season, and I hope he gets recognized for it.
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