A 12-yard scramble by Tony Romo is the Dallas Cowboys' second-longest run this season, which pretty much tells you all you need to know about their running game so far.
The Cowboys have just two runs of 10 yards or more this season. No team has fewer.
Joseph Randle is averaging 3.4 yards on 34 carries and has yet to gain more than 65 yards in a game, while Darren McFadden is averaging 2.9 yards on 16 carries.
“We have to do a better job running the football. We were behind the chains way too much in this ballgame and kind of digging out,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "You have procedure penalties and holding penalties and you see a lot second-and-12, second-and-16 and first-and-20, and those are hard drives to overcome.
"We’re at our best when we’re balanced. We’re at our best when we control the line of scrimmage and run the football because it gives us great looks down the field to throw it and make the big plays down the field that we've made in this offense over a number of years."
The Cowboys will need to get more from their running game over the next 8-10 weeks while Romo recovers from a broken left collarbone. The best way to make backup quarterback Brandon Weeden comfortable is to create manageable third-down situations for him, and the way to do that is to have success running the ball on first and second down. It's potentially good news for Randle owners but at the same time expect defense to perhaps focus on the Cowboys run game even more and make Weeden beat them.
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