FRISCO, Texas – When head coach Jason Garrett reviewed the film from Sunday's 24-13 loss to Seattle, he didn't see just one problem area in the Cowboys' passing game.
"A lot of components" are causing issues in that facet of their offense, he said – and in turn, their overall inconsistency sustaining drives and scoring points.
"Certainly the position that we're trying to put our players in, that's where we start as a coaching staff," Garrett said. "There's a protection component. There's a decision-making component. There's a throw-and-catch component. There's a winning-on-the-route component. We have to improve in all of those areas."
Through three games, the Cowboys (1-2) are 31st in scoring average (13.7). Quarterback Dak Prescott has not thrown for 200 yards in a game yet. Tavon Austin currently holds the highest single-game receiving total (79 in Week 2 against the Giants), which included a 64-yard touchdown.
Prescott has been sacked 11 times, including five against Seattle, though one came on a bootleg play outside the pocket. The Seahawks intercepted him twice on dropped and tipped balls. And what looked like an Ezekiel Elliott touchdown catch was nullified by an illegal touching penalty on the star running back.
A primary issue is the Cowboys' inability to convert third downs. They're 8-of-34 on the season, 31st in the league, and they converted only 3-of-13 against Seattle despite some favorable down-and-distance situations.
"It's not good enough," Garrett said. "We have to get better throwing the football. We have to be more efficient and we have to be more explosive throwing the ball. We weren't either of those things yesterday in the game."
When pressed by reporters Monday on the play-calling operation, Garrett reiterated the coaching staff must put its players in the best spots to succeed. But he expressed confidence in offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.
"We haven't played well enough on offense. So everybody has to look at it," Garrett said. "I think it would be false for me to say this is about the play calling. This is about everything we're doing offensively.
"We have to do better. We have to coach better, we have to play better, we have to run it better, we have to throw better, we have to protect better. We have to do all the things that good offenses to do. We have to do all those things better. We're working hard to do that."
