Last season was a tale of two separate offenses, one in the beginning of the year that was considered elite and the other one after the Patriots game that was considered average at best. Certainly, there are many factors, but the way Denver devised a plan to defend our offense was the blueprint.
In the early going, teams were stacking the line and taking trying to take away the team's rushing attack, but Fangio, the Denver HC, did the opposite;
-Played extra men in coverage, with two safeties back. His goal was to take away the big passing plays and force Dak to throw into tight windows. Dak had one of his worse games of the season as it was his first game back after injuring his calf.
Other teams followed a similar game plan and had success just like the Broncos did. Force Dak to be patient and throw passes into tight windows. What compounded the offensive struggles was their inability to run the football in light boxes, but also their inability to stay away from the big drive killing penalties. Take away the big play, force the Cowboys to drive the entire field, they will beat themselves. Also, Dak was clearly still hurt and was unwilling to use his legs when his receivers failed to get open.
We saw a similar blueprint against Mahomes and the Chiefs, that really held their elite offense in check. It really took them a lot of time to adjust and they still showed their warts in the playoffs.
Will Dak and Kellen Moore be able to make the necessary adjustments to bring this offense from being average back to elite standards?
