What three things would you change over the bye week to make this team more competitive in big games? – Shane W./Long Beach, CA
Nick: Just three? Is this one of those things back in school when you use two wishes and then ask for the three more? I think this team needs a lot of changes, but I appreciate the question because even though it's a bye week, you can't make wholesale changes in mid-season. For me, I have to see what Dalvin Cook as for my running game? If you're not going to use him, then he's taking up a practice squad spot. If not him, take someone's young running back on a practice squad and give it a shot. Secondly, I need a little more creativity on offense. Use more lineman as blockers - even defensive guys if you need to. No reason you can't have some "tackle eligible" plays in the middle of the field. Establish a running game way before you get to the red zone - that will open up big plays down the field. And if ... and ONLY IF there is an option to make a trade, I need for it to be someone who makes sense beyond this year. But if there's a pass-rusher to get for a mid-round pick, make sure you can use him in 2025 when that position is going to be hard to fill either way.
Patrik: First and foremost, I'd ramp up the presnap motion. It's something Mike McCarthy has shown he's not adverse to but, for one reason or another (as determined in real time), he's scaled back on it and that's making the offense less unpredictable and, as such, opposing defenses don't have to think as much. The next thing I'd likely do is to establish a more consistent plan at running back that creates a true two-back feature and less of a group approach, because I feel it's a bit stretched over when it was simply Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard doing the cooking. Nowadays, it's either Elliott or Dowdle or Deuce Vaughn (before he began landing on inactives) or Hunter Luepke or CeeDee Lamb, and the fact Lamb is regularly in that equation just goes to my point. Finally, I suppose I'd put Lamb and Dak Prescott on a field together and chain the doors like I'm Joe Clark in "Lean on Me" and not allow them to leave until they finally got on the same page again with their timing and communication on the field.
