The Secret Service

The Secret Service

 

The job of The Secret Service is providing protection to those in positions of power. On America’s Team there are no bigger positions of power than the quarterback and running back. When your quarterback is staying upright and your running back is taking the league by storm, then you, as The Secret Service are doing your job and doing it extremely well. To serve and protect on the frontlines and to sacrifice your well-being for the sake of others, that is the mantra that is being learned and engrained in the minds of the best of the best. 

Spread offenses and read options may be common practice in the NFL these days but there is one team bucking that trend. There’s one team that isn’t interested whatsoever in gimmicks and reaching into its bag of tricks. There’s one team that isn’t interested in lining up primarily in the shotgun. There’s one team that doesn’t use the pass to set up the run. That team is the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, you read that right. The Dallas Cowboys are going against the grain and having tremendous success in doing so.

The Dallas Cowboys are running the ball down teams’ throats and are extremely successful for two reasons. One, even if they fall behind they are not abandoning their game plan. They know running the ball is their bread and butter and nothing will stop them from doing so. Second, and most importantly, they have the best offensive line in football, and truthfully, it’s not even close. The line is young, powerful, talented, and they are imposing their will on teams. 

I do not want to take anything away from DeMarco Murray because he is a great running back and is having an MVP type season but even he will tell you that his numbers are where they are because of the big, physical line opening up holes for him. Murray leads the league in yards before contact and yards after contact. After contact is all on him because he uses his power and elusiveness well but before contact his line is creating holes that a grandmother could get through untouched.

All 5 members of Dallas’ starting O-Line are young, three are first round picks, and they have allowed DeMarco Murray and also Tony Romo to shine. Last week against the Seahawks Romo had 3 seconds on average to progress through his reads and find the open man. Seattle doesn’t get bullied like that at all. Ever. On Sunday though, the bully got hit bullied back.

Another advantage of such a dominant offensive line is long drives that eat away at the clock and keep the defense off the field. Coming into the season all the talk was that the Cowboys would have the worst defense in the NFL by far. Now certainly the defense is younger and hungrier, but the less time they have to be on the field, the less worn down they are. Make no mistake about it, this defense is still average at best, but DeMarco Murray and the O-Line are turning them into a very confident bunch.

Dallas still has to exercise its demons of December and January, but with Murray running the ball the way he and the O-Line are dominating, there’s no reason to think it can’t happen. This is a different Dallas team than we’ve seen before. The more the wins pile up early and the more confidence that is built up early will only help when December rolls around.

 It’s funny to think of the Dallas Cowboys as an underdog or a feel good story but that is the narrative this season is providing. They are a throwback to a time when teams would punish you up front and run right through you. Their success may be a surprise, but the even bigger surprise is that everyone knows how to stop them; they just can’t do it effectively. Dallas is letting you know here’s what we’re going to do and we dare you to stop it. So far, no one has been successful, and as long as The Secret Service is doing its job, that’s the way it should be. HOW ‘BOUT THEM COWBOYS!!!!