Dak Prescott & Dallas Cowboys Survive, But What's Wrong With Tony Pollard & Running Game?

Tony Pollard didn't give the Dallas Cowboys much on the ground in Week 17, but they didn't need it to beat the Detroit Lions. How much of a concern will it be moving forward?

From the Dallas Cowboys’ perspective, facing this Detroit Lions team is always going to come down to the performance of quarterback Dak Prescott. Against a roaring offense and a leaky secondary, it would be on the quarterback to will Dallas to victory.

Saturday’s Week 17 action didn’t take the shape of the shootout many anticipated, but Prescott showed up. He completed 26 of 38 attempts for 345 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Another red zone drive was negated by a CeeDee Lamb fumble, one of the few smudges on an otherwise immaculate night. Ultimately, the Cowboys won 20-19.

Even with Lamb’s 227-yard performance in hand, the offense was not firing on all cylinders. Once again, the run game, led by running back Tony Pollard, failed to step up.

Dec 30, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard (20) is tackled by Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone (34) and Detroit Lions safety Ifeatu Melifonwu (6) during the second half at AT&T Stadium / © Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps it was never going to thrive against a Lions defense that ranked fifth in expected points added and 11th in success rate against the run through 16 weeks. Guard Tyler Smith’s injury certainly didn’t help. But save for an 18-yard scamper, Pollard was swamped.

Head coach Mike McCarthy briefly spoke about the ground game after the win.

“The run game was clearly not the highlight of our performance tonight,” McCarthy said. “I think we had six tackles for loss. They really overloaded the front. We had some pull schemes we thought we’d be able to get the ball to the C-gap.

"The pressure and the overload defense was a challenge for us.''

In all, Pollard rushed 16 times for 49 yards. He also bailed on a handoff that resulted in an inadvertent rush attempt from Prescott. Simply put, it was another rough night in a relatively disappointing season.

This likely isn’t all on Pollard - oftentimes backs are only as good as their blocking - but the sentiment remains that this offense is solely as good as the passing game, especially once the playoffs roll around.

Their season-long marks are fairly encouraging, ranking 10th in expected points added per rush and ninth in success rate entering Saturday. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for marked improvement come January.

But ... The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a likely playoff opponent for Dallas, boast an elite run defense, potentially shrinking the margins in an “easy” Wild Card contest. That is likely the best unit they’ll face on the ground, but is anyone confident in this team’s ability to close out games?

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Between McCarthy’s propensity for late-game gaffes (see: gifting Detroit an extra 40 seconds on Dallas’ final drive) and Pollard’s struggles to find yardage consistently, Prescott seems destined to have to find answers for himself while attempting to burn clock.

The game slows down in the playoffs, and running the ball becomes even more significant. Performances like Saturday’s could waste another sublime Prescott performance, just as it almost did against the Lions.