A quick glance at the Dallas Cowboys offensive stats this year won't return much of note. Even with a Week 1 beatdown over the New York Giants, they sit right in that lukewarm space of not great but also not bad.
Dallas ranks 11th in total yards and 17th in yards per play, with an eighth-worst rank in yards per passing attempt and an exactly middle 16th overall in yards per rushing carry. Their scoring and point differential look great, but a peer under the hood shows we've got a budget car underneath a luxury frame.
Beneath the pile of mediocre sits one concerning stat, though, and it has to do with the passing game and the effectiveness of routes run and passing route identification.
Cowboys struggling maintaining separation from defenders
We'll look at two Next Gen Stats for this analysis. Firstly, cushion, which is how far receivers are lined up from defenders at the time of the snap and separation, which is how far receivers are from their defenders at the time of the catch or incompletion.
An interesting look through three weeks is what teams have receivers that maintain adequate separation by the time the distance is measured.
Worst 10 teams in receivers with 50% or greater decline in cushion-to-separation through Week 3
The following table details teams and the No. of games for wide receivers where their average cushion burned by 50 percent or more (separation is 50% or more decline from cushion).
The Cowboys are right up there with seven such occurrences, a stat that clearly puts them with some of the most struggling offeneses in the league. The Panthers and Texans, led by rookie starting quarterbacks, are on the list. Only the Chargers and Rams sit on the list as top-10 offenses in terms of offensive yards per game.
The Niners, Lions, Dolphins, Chiefs, Eagles, Ravens and Bills all have fewer than five of these games to speak of among thier wide receivers so far in 2023.
The list has been occupied by Brandin Cooks in three games, Michael Gallup twice, and CeeDee Lamb twice. Cooks is averaging a career-low in yards per target (3.5), with only Lamb of the trio above 150 total receiving yards this year.
It's tough to nail down specifically what that struggle tells us, but it can come down to one of a few possible things: Strong man-to-man defense from opponents, poor route running, or Dak Prescott having a relative inability to recognize good passing opportunities.
If it's to do with the latter two causes, Dallas should have a serious amount of concern here and look to diagnose the issue swiftly. History tells us it could be Prescott's struggles with field vision, something that has been a source of criticism in playoff losses previously (subscription required).
One thing Kevin Gray Jr. floated that could help maintain the separation is some pre-snap motions for Cooks, something that Kyle Shanahan gave credit for the Dolphins and how they utilize Tyreek Hill:
The Cowboys improving their cushion maintenance is surely something to watch against the Patriots in Week 4.
