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'Boys still struggling to understand oppenents' defenses

By Lance Fleming / Abilene Reporter-News

IRVING -- A 27-3 win, even over a sub-par team like the one Chicago served up Sunday, is usually reason for rejoicing in the NFL.

Much back-slapping, a lot of smiling and a lot of merriment normally follows such victories. But that wasn't the case Sunday in the Cowboys' post-game dressing room.

Instead there was enough frowning and head-scratching that one would have thought the Cowboys were on the long end of the score. Either that or they were all trying to figure out how to split the atom.

It seems that's how hard it's been lately for the Cowboys to decipher NFL defenses.

Yes, the Cowboys beat the Bears as they should have. But no, the Cowboys didn't look any better on the offensive side of the ball.

A mere 180 yards of total offense is evidence of that.

Following the pattern established in the Cowboys' first three games, the Bears blitzed the Dallas offense unmercifully, pouring through the offensive line time after time. They disrupted Troy Aikman's passing rhythm (12 of 27 on the day) and shut down Emmitt Smith (43 yards on 13 carries).

The blitz did hurt Chicago one time and cost it a touchdown on a 26-yard strike from Aikman to Michael Irvin in the third quarter. But otherwise, the Bears frustrated an already struggling Dallas offense.

"It's frustrating for everybody," running backs coach Joe Brodsky said. "We have outstanding personnel, and there's nothing age-wise about missing a block, or missing a running lane, or dropping a pass.

"It's about making plays and winning games," he said. "We are talented enough to win most of the games we play. We have the best talent in the NFL on the offensive side of the ball."

So why isn't it performing like it?

"I don't know," Brodsky said. "I know that right now it stinks. We have to straighten out our problems; it has to be done. If I had the answers we wouldn't be in this situation with the offense."

The Cowboys thought they had remedied their problems with the blitz during the bye week. They spent a good portion of the two weeks working on protection schemes. They might as well have spent the time working on their Christmas card lists.

"The big question was how we spent our time during the bye week, and obviously what we did wasn't good enough," Aikman said. "We have to do a better job offensively than we did today."

What's so perplexing about the Cowboys' struggles is that hardly anybody used to blitz them because they simply ate it up. Now, though, every team is going after the Cowboys with a reckless abandon.

"We loved it when teams would blitz us," Brodsky said. "Are we having fun with it now? You'd have to ask Troy, because I'm not getting hammered 25 plays a game. But I know that if we don't fix it, we'll lose Aikman and then I'll get fired."

That aside, this isn't a humorous situation for a once-unstoppable offense.

"We can't accept the mediocrity we've had the last three weeks," Aikman said. "If we pay attention to detail, we'll have an excellent offensive football team. But if we continue to go through the motions like we did today, I'll continue to stand up here and say we need improvement."

So far there's no evidence that points to him saying any different.