Jones Hopes To Avoid 'Poes' As Cowboys Offense Evolves
IRVING (105.3 THE FAN) -- Twenty five yards on 12 carries. That's all Cowboys' starter DeMarco Murray could manage on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
While Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admits that the running game has room to improve, the real cause for the team's ground struggles may in fact have nothing to do with the Cowboys at all -- according to Jones.
"The big thing though that I'd like to point out is, Kansas City's got a good defensive front," said Jones to New School on 105.3 The Fan. "This [Dontari] Poe, we all got real familiar with him. He was the talk of the combine a few years ago."
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Poe, who was largely matched up against rookie center Travis Frederick, collected four tackles and two sacks on the day and was constantly in the Cowboys' backfield.
"He's a handful and he did give us fits inside there. Hopefully there won't be many Poes around the corner," said Jones.
Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett expressed a need to re-committ to the running game on Monday, and Jones believes the Cowboys have the tools in place to do so.
"We are very improved in the offensive line," said Jones. "When I look at where we are, how we've bolstered up our tight ends, I think we've got a lot of ways to improve the running game."
After sitting out last season and missing training camp, guard Brandon Waters played in spots on Sunday in place of right guard Mackenzy Bernadeau. Jones suggests that we might see more of the 8-time Pro Bowler next week, which he believes will upgrade the offensive line.
Also at the forefront of conversation is the play-calling by offensive coordinator Bill Callahan. The Cowboys made the switch from Garrett to Callahan after an "uncomfortable" offseason at Valley Ranch, but has anything really changed?
"There's been a lot of changes," said Jones. "Some of that is evolving. Obvious we wouldn't have made the change if we didn't think it would be beneficial to us. You're going to see more play action passes..more zone blocking. You'll see us emphasize tight ends more."
With St. Louis coming to town on Sunday, the Cowboys need the offense to "evolve" quickly -- whatever that looks like. The ground game is struggling, and the Rams defense is allowing just 2.9 yards per carry.
Hopefully for Dallas, the Rams lack of 'Poes' will make the difference.
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