The Cowboys’ problem isn’t that they can’t score. It’s that too often, they never get the kind of start that lets those points matter.
That’s the real thread running through their recent seasons, including last year and the three 12-5 teams from 2021-23. The early-quarter numbers can look ugly at first blush.
In 2024, Dallas had four games - 24% - in which it didn’t score at all in the first quarter, and in 10 of 17 games it managed no more than a field goal. But that picture gets a lot less dramatic once you compare it to the league as a whole.
Across the NFL last season, teams were blanked in the opening quarter 32% of the time, and held to a field goal or less in 52% of first quarters.
So the Cowboys weren’t some outlier disaster in the first 15 minutes. By league standards, they were roughly average. The bigger issue was what happened after those early possessions: those points rarely turned into a lead.
And that’s where the difference really shows up. Last year, teams that were ahead after the first quarter won 70% of the time, and that edge held up pretty steadily as games moved along.
Being in front changes everything. It alters the play-calling, forces the other side into riskier choices, and opens the door to mistakes that the team with the lead can punish.
That’s why the contrast with Dallas’ 12-win teams is so stark. The 2025 team held a first-quarter lead in just three games.
The 12-5 teams from 2021-23 averaged almost 10 such games per season. When those teams were tied or trailing after the first quarter, their winning percentage was 41%.
For the 2025 team, it was 39%.
The gap wasn’t about late-game resilience. It was about failing to get control early.
There are a few reasons that kept happening. One starts with the opening script.
The first 15-20 offensive plays are planned during the week, and those drives can go sideways for plenty of reasons: execution breaks down, the defense has seen something coming, or the plays simply don’t work. Sometimes the point of that script is to test the defense rather than attack it immediately, and that kind of probing doesn’t always help a team get on the board fast.
When those early series stall instead of producing first downs, the offense is left chasing later.
Then there’s the coin toss choice. The Cowboys almost always defer if they win it, which is usually the right call because it can create back-to-back possessions around halftime.
But that logic assumes an average defense. If your defense is one of the league’s worst, asking it to make the first stop may not be the best move.
Dallas won the toss eight times last year and chose to receive only once, in Week 7 against Washington. The team may have still felt better about the defense early in the season, but by the second half it was clear how bad things had gotten.
Even then, the Cowboys won three coin tosses in Weeks 14, 15 and 18 and still deferred each time. Those decisions look a lot harder to defend once December rolled around.
The Cowboys also hurt themselves on opening drives with penalties, dropped passes and early turnovers. Those mistakes piled pressure onto a defense that was already in a bad spot.
That’s why the familiar line about the offense staying mostly the same misses the point. Last year’s Cowboys didn’t fail because they couldn’t score enough to keep up. They failed because they spent too much of the season trying to catch up.
The 12-win versions of this team weren’t built on dramatic comebacks. They were built on playing from ahead. If Brian Schottenheimer is going to get Dallas back to the playoffs, the work starts immediately - with the first two drives of every game.
In Other News...
Cowboys Fans Are Loving This Embarrassing Giants Coaching Moment
A viral locker-room clip out of New York has given Cowboys fans another reason to smile, even if the moment itself was supposed to be about energy and belief. Giants coach John Harbaugh tried to fire up his team with a repeated rallying cry centered on The New York Giants, but the scene landed awkwardly because the players never seemed to match his intensity.
Instead of becoming a clean pregame boost, the speech spread quickly for all the wrong reasons and drew plenty of criticism online. For Dallas, it is the kind of early-season theater that only adds to the intrigue around a division rival, especially with expectations already hanging over the Giants and a fresh round of scrutiny now following them into the new season. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Fans Stunned After Tony Romo Lands In Serious Trouble
Tony Romos name surfaced in an unexpected and troubling way in Milwaukee County, where the former Cowboys quarterback was pulled over during a traffic stop and later taken into custody. The arrest report places the incident around 8 p.m. local time, while Romo was traveling southbound on Interstate 43, turning what should have been an ordinary drive into a headline that landed hard with Dallas fans.
Romo was later released after the stop, but the situation leaves plenty of questions hanging over one of the most familiar figures from the Cowboys recent past. For a player who still carries a strong connection to the franchise and its fan base, any off-field trouble gets attention quickly, and this one is no different. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Secondary Faces Its Biggest Test In Years
The Cowboys have spent the offseason trying to give their secondary a cleaner runway into 2026, and the latest move fits that plan. Cobie Durant arrives on a one-year deal after his time with the Rams, giving Dallas another corner with starting experience while the front office waits to see how the rest of the room settles in around him.
Christian Parker is also in place as the new defensive coordinator, bringing a reputation for developing defensive backs from his time in Philadelphia. He helped shape one of the leagues most disciplined back ends, and the Cowboys are banking on that kind of influence to matter as they try to turn a group with real talent into a steadier unit, especially with DaRon Bland expected back from foot surgery. [Read more 🡒]