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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Maybe it was the loss. Gold the offensive line playing like a poor facsimile of itself. Gold the quarterback looking like a guy who could belong in the lower third of the starters at his position. Or maybe Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did not want to be asked about Randy Gregory, yet again.
Whatever the case, Jerry did a rare opening-night side of Bank of America Stadium after his Cowboys lost 16-8 to the Carolina Panthers in an uninspired start to the season. As his team showered, Jones headed for a black SUV – apparently with no answers for the media members eager to pick his brain.
But that was a Dallas theme for the night: After an offseason of questions about the offense, the first chapter of the season provided no answer key. Just a bunch of blank spaces that are already being filled with plenty of negative data.
Ezekiel Elliott ran for 69 yards on 15 carries in Dallas' season opening defeat in Carolina. (AP)
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The offensive line? Bad. Six sacks. Ten Dak Prescott hits. Shadow of itself."data-reactid =" 39 "> The offensive line? Bad. Six sacks. Ten Dak Prescott hits. Shadow of itself.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The quarterback? Shelled. Out of spells. Inaccurate. Does not look like a progressive player."data-reactid =" 40 "> The quarterback? Shelled. Out of spells. Inaccurate. Does not look like a progressive player.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The wide receivers? Just a bunch of average guys. Subtracting Dez Bryant may not have hurt the Cowboys' group, but it does not make it any better, either."data-reactid =" 41 "> The wide receivers? Just a bunch of average guys. Subtracting Dez Bryant may not have hurt the Cowboys' group, but it does not make it any better, either.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The running back? Rarely used creatively, but the offense is definitely built around him. Can the supporting cast function be better when opponents remove him?"data-reactid =" 42 "> The running back? Rarely used creatively, but the offense is definitely built around him. Can the supporting cast function be better when opponents remove him?
That's a rundown that should sound familiar. As problems go, it was basically the majority of the "to-do" list that spanned spring and summer. Now it has been officially updated, where it will not be resolved quickly.
Of course, the rationale will be sliced and diced, and consumed a variety of ways. The lack of talent at wide receiver will get blamed. Connor Williams starting out at Travis Frederick out of commission. There will be questions about not playing the veterans enough in the preseason. Dak Prescott's development will be a big thing in Dallas again. Ditto for the play-calling of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.
All of that is worthy of consideration, of course. And it's also worthy of considering this just one game and one bad start – on the road, no less.
But there was one thing that came out of the locker room Sunday night. One thing that is worth absorbing and focusing the rest of the season through one reality: The Dallas offense is built around Ezekiel Elliott; Every single opponent knows this is the design. If the Cowboys can not learn to function without the medium, then this offensive mediocrity will never change.
Teams are not afraid of Allen Hurns gold Terrance Williams or Cole Beasley beating them. And they know Prescott, who ran five times for 19 yards, is not going to morph into a run-pass option like Cam Newton's monster.
Dak Prescott and the Cowboys did not find the end zone too often, but here we go 2-point conversion in the second half. (AP)
That means the offensive line was in 2016. This, frankly, might never happen. Smith, Frederick and Zack Martin (not to mention La'el Collins providing some spot depth). Maybe if it's going to be galvanized and meet expectations. But if Sunday night was a hint at things to come, it's going to be a long season for the group. The same can be said for the wideouts and Prescott.
All of that brings back to Elliott. This offense was made to run by him. The Cowboys know it. Opponents know it. That means this offense is fundamentally solvable because it is dependent on the use of Elliott in a head-on brute-force approach. And if Dallas can not win with that kind of punishment and every single week, the offense must grow into a more creative entity than it is right now.
As Elliott said Sunday night: "[The Panthers] did not run anything new [on defense]. They did not run anything we did not see. We've just got to keep working on the offense. … They loaded the box, but you guys keep bringing it up. That's every week. There's no point in even talking about it anymore. Every week they're going to load up the box. We know they're going to load the box. … We've got to start faster. We can not come back to the first half. "
That's a mouthful of true statements. Not exactly answers, but definitely some truth. Since 2016, the Cowboys have engineered an offense that lives and dies with Ezekiel Elliott. In 2016, it thrived with him. In 2017, it's in a stretch without him. And all the while, the opponent has a fundamental fact about this team. Elliott is the driving force of the offense Remove him any way you can, limit his opportunities, force the play-calling against other pieces.
Do this as an opposing defense, and teams have solved a Cowboys offense that can not seem to solve itself first.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "More NFL coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Bengals player is 1st ejected under new NFL helmet rule
• Cowboys' player may face more discipline after relapse
• Steelers RB mobbed by O-line after 1st career TD
• Report: NFL No anthem policy this season
"data-reactid =" 77 ">More NFL coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Bengals player is 1st ejected under new NFL helmet rule
• Cowboys' player may face more discipline after relapse
• Steelers RB mobbed by O-line after 1st career TD
• Report: NFL No anthem policy this season
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