Are Cowboys red zone issues really tied to missing Ezekiel Elliott?

The Dallas Cowboys are sitting at 2-1 three weeks into the schedule and the overreactions have hit both sides of the spectrum. First they were a team ranked among the best in the league, but after a rough loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3, many claim the Cowboys appear to be on the brink of collapse and ruin.

That’s life in the NFL, and the commentary will get even more interesting with the New England Patriots coming to town with former running back Ezekiel Elliott. The offense’s failure to convert in the red zone against the Cardinals, a place where Elliott has been one of the best goal line backs in the league since entering in 2016, makes the perfect conversation piece.

It led to the inevitable question.  Would the Cowboys be more efficient in the red zone if Elliott were still in Dallas?

Elliott's success in Dallas

The return of Elliott will likely be a feel-good story until the game begins and then it’s all back to business. If the third-leading rusher in franchise history scores a short touchdown against his old team, expect the reaction to be less than favorable from Cowboys fans.

Elliott scored 80 touchdowns in seven seasons with the Cowboys, which included four years of double-digit scores. Before getting released, Elliott had back-to-back seasons of 12 touchdowns. Of those 80 career scores, 71 of them were red zone touchdowns.

Of those 71, 47 were from inside the 5-yard line, while 57 came from inside the 10.

Regardless of Elliott’s speed or explosiveness throughout his career in Dallas, he found success in the red zone. There is little doubt the offense counted on Elliott to produce near the goal line and he was one of the best in the league.

Recent red zone efficiency

With Elliott in the backfield, the Cowboys were among the better offenses in the league in red zone efficiency over the last four years with Kellen Moore as the offensive coordinator. As Moore improved as a OC, the offense improved in the red zone.

Last year, Dallas’ offense led the NFL in red zone touchdowns, scoring a touchdown on 71.43% of their drives inside the 20-yard line. In 2021, the offense was sixth with a 63.64%, which was an improvement from 2019, Moore’s first as coordinator, where the Cowboys were 16th in the league scoring touchdowns on 57.41% of their red zone trips.

In 2020, the Cowboys were near bottom of the league, but that coincided with quarterback Dak Prescott missing most of the year because of injury.

Current red zone woes

After leading the NFL in red-zone efficiency last season, the Cowboys are 27th through three games, scoring a touchdown on just 40% of their trips. The year began on a high note, the offense scored on three of their four red zone drives against the New York Giants, but things have bogged down considerably in the last two games.

In Week 2 against the New York Jets, the Cowboys mustered touchdowns on just two of their six trips in the red zone, but it didn’t mean much with the team winning in a blowout. However, the troubling signs were there.

Against the Cardinals, things got worse. Dallas only scored one touchdown in the red zone, despite moving the ball well and having five trips inside the 20-yard line. That putrid performance in Week 3 was a big factor in the loss, and opened the speculation the Cowboys were missing their former RB.

There’s little doubt, Elliott’s biggest strength in his final years with the team was in short-yardage situations, but even if the veteran RB was still in Dallas, he isn’t making the difference. Through three games with the Patriots, Elliott has yet to hit paydirt and has just one carry for no gain in the red zone.

Reasons for Cowboys red zone struggles

The reasons for the troubles in the red zone are about much more than missing Elliott. The Cowboys played against a Jets defense that’s considered one of the best in the league, so it’s understandable struggling to score against them.

Against the Cardinals, the Cowboys were missing three starting offensive linemen, including All-Pro and Hall of Fame players Zack Martin at RG and LT Tyron Smith. The line was also missing its Pro Bowl center Tyler Biadasz and was forced to play linemen who were starting their first games in the NFL; Brock Hoffman at C and T.J. Bass at RG. That was more likely the reason for the red zone failures in Week 3.

The Cowboys are also missing Moore as the OC. Through three weeks, the Chargers are a top 10 team in red zone efficiency, while Mike McCarthy’s offense has grinded to a halt inside the 20.

Change isn’t always smooth, and so far, the Cowboys haven’t had the same type of success in the red zone under McCarthy they enjoyed with Moore. Time will tell if that’s a coincidence or not.

The play caller, the opponents and the offensive line are a few of the explanations why the Cowboys haven’t found their red zone groove yet.

Even in their red-zone misery on Sunday, Dallas was 5-for-5 in third and fourth-and-short situations; Elliott’s bread and butter.

Elliott might be missed in Dallas for his leadership and intangibles, but there’s little evidence that he’d be performing any better than the current group of Cowboys RBs, who have accounted for three red zone scores.

That isn’t as fun of a storyline heading into this week’s matchup, though, is it?

Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire