Cowboys Today: A 100-yard anniversary highlights this team's running struggles

In the second iteration of our new Dallas Cowboys newsletter, Cowboys Today, we take a look at an inglorious anniversary. Two years ago, on Oct. 30, 2022, Tony Pollard popped off against the Chicago Bears. The then-Cowboys running back had a little bit of everything that day — a 54-yard run, three touchdowns and 131 rushing yards.

That game — a 49-29 victory — was the last time the Cowboys had a 100-yard rusher in a winning effort.

The Cowboys have played 36 games since — regular season and postseason. They have had a 100-yard rushing performance just twice — a 115-yard effort by Pollard on Nov. 13, 2022, in an overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers and a 122-yard game from Pollard last season in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

The lack of a workhorse runner hasn’t always resulted in a running game as porous as the 2024 iteration. The Cowboys were the NFL’s No. 9 rushing team in 2022 and slipped to No. 14 in 2023. Now, they are 32nd in 2024. The overall results were also fine as the running game was decent. The Cowboys went 12-5 in both 2022 and 2023. This season they are 3-4.

When Mike McCarthy took over the offense from Kellen Moore after the 2022 season, he said that he wanted to “run the damn ball.” The Cowboys were a middling rushing team in the first year of McCarthy’s offense and have fallen off a cliff in Year 2. There’s plenty of blame to go around, from the coaching to the offensive line and, of course, the runners.

It’s also been a microcosm of how the front office has handled the running back position. They invested the No. 4 pick in Ezekiel Elliott in 2016, then gave him a monster contract in 2019. This year, their entire running back room has a lower cap hit ($4.3 million) than dead cap hit from Elliott’s first stint with the team. Instead of finding a comfortable middle ground, the Cowboys’ investment in running backs has gone from one extreme to the other.

Dallas doesn’t need a dominant running back, but it does need a functional running game. So far this season, the Cowboys haven’t had it.

Where are Dak’s legs?

Let’s stick with that game against the Bears two years ago for another moment. In that game, quarterback Dak Prescott had five rushes for 34 yards and one touchdown. That included a quarterback sneak on third-and-1 that resulted in a surprising 25-yard run, which serves as Prescott’s longest run since 2019, the season before he broke his ankle.

Through seven games this season, Prescott has 24 yards on 10 rushes. Joe Flacco, 39 years old, has 26 yards this season, and he’s only started two games and played in four games. Brock Purdy had 56 yards rushing this past Sunday.

Prescott is on pace to finish with less than 60 yards rushing on the season. It would be by far his lowest rushing output of his career when he plays a full or most of a season, which is 146 yards in 2021, the year he came back from the ankle injury. For context, Tom Brady rushed for 81 yards as a 44-year-old in his second-to-last NFL season in 2021.

On Tuesday, Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones was asked on 105.3 The Fan if Prescott’s reluctance to run the ball is because he’s physically unable to or a choice not to.

“I think it’s both,” Jones said. “You really don’t want to see him take off with that ball. These quarterbacks that run, you know they’re going to get injured. That happens. It happens to the youngest, it happens to the best. It’s happened to Dak … I’m satisfied with Dak, in terms of his ability to run is there. There’s no question about that, as far as him physically. He can run.

“If you look back on it, you’ll see times this year, but we want Dak, in the future, to do the kind of job with his arm and get the ball out to the outside — you see us trying to do that a lot — and make up for anything we might want to do risking him.”

The Cowboys don’t need Prescott to be Lamar Jackson running the ball. They don’t even necessarily need Prescott’s legs to be a weapon. They do, however, need his legs to be a presence. There’s a residual impact that can have on the rest of the offense, including the running game and passing attack.

Living on the extremes is not necessary. Calling for Prescott to run the ball does not mean running wild and taking hits. It doesn’t even have to mean installing a bunch of designed quarterback runs. A scamper every now and then, ending in a slide, is good enough. Right now, Prescott’s legs have been a total nonfactor.

What we’re saying

Frustrated with the Cowboys this season? What fan isn’t? Listen to what Jon Machota and I have to say about the loss to the 49ers, replacing McCarthy, play calling and more going into the Week 9 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons in our latest “One Star Cowboys” podcast episode.

Personnel department

In Jones’ heated exchange on the radio last week on The Fan, he posed a question to the hosts when the personnel came under question.

“First of all, where are you going to go to get any players?” Jones asked

Turns out, teams do turn to the trade market this time of year. Bigger moves have been made over the past month, notably with Buffalo acquiring Amari Cooper and the New York Jets acquiring Davante Adams. On Tuesday, the 5-3 Baltimore Ravens acquired wide receiver Diontae Johnson and a sixth-round pick from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a fifth-round selection. It’s not a blockbuster move but it should improve the Ravens for a relatively low price.

Whether this Cowboys team is worthy of investing in is a separate topic but don’t get that confused with there not being the opportunity to do so.

More trade talk

• When is the 2024 NFL trade deadline? Why it’s later, notable deals

• What every team should do at the trade deadline: Buy, sell or stand pat

• Russini’s what I’m hearing: Trade deadline chatter on Kupp, 49ers and big-name defensive players

(Top photo of Tony Pollard: Richard Rodriguez / Getty Images)