There are a few things to point to when figuring out why the Cowboys won four straight games and swept the month of November. For me, it's not only the improved running game, but really a commitment to run that was definitely evident in the last two weeks.
But against the Cardinals, the Cowboys flipped the switch yet again and went to more of a pass-first attack that didn't exactly work either.
Now, I understand the Cardinals' played a defensive scheme that tried to take away DeMarco Murray and the running game. There were many eight-man fronts and other run-blitzes that attacked the line of scrimmage and forced the Cowboys to pass more than they probably wanted to.
But in a game that was relatively low scoring the entire way, and the Cowboys led for majority of the contest, it doesn't seem like there should be a 42-20 disparity from pass to run.
The Cowboys threw it 42 times to just 20 rushes, including 12 from DeMarco Murray, who, rushed for just 38 yards, easily his lowest output since becoming the starting tailback.
The biggest discrepancy comes on first down. The Cowboys threw the ball 21 times on first down, to just nine running plays. Some of that occurred at the end of each half with the team running a two-minute offense. But still, the Cowboys were never in a lot of pass-only situations, yet decided to attack Arizona that way.
Not saying, they had much of a choice. But we shouldn't be looking too far down the list to why the Cowboys scored just 13 points on Sunday.
They couldn't run it and stopped running it as much as they've done in recent weeks.
