'Track Meet': Dallas Cowboys Plan 'Fast Start' To Win at Miami Dolphins

The Dallas Cowboys offense started slowly in the loss to the Buffalo Bills, but against a Miami Dolphins team dripping with explosive potential, Mike McCarthy knows the value of a fast start.

On the second offensive play against the Buffalo Bills last Sunday, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott went deep to Brandin Cooks as coach Mike McCarthy was looking for an explosive start.

Prescott overthrew Cooks and as they say, the rest is history, as the Cowboys never got untracked in what became a disheartening blowout loss.

Had that pass hit and resulted in a touchdown, it would have been an answer to the Bills' opening touchdown, a change to get out of the blocks quickly. ... a "fast start,'' as McCarthy is phrasing it.

Well, here comes a visit to the Miami Dolphins and their track team offense. And here comes the desire one again for a "fast start.''

"We looked at our starts,'' said McCarthy regarding Dallas' self-scouting tendencies. "And, yeah a fast start would definitely be very helpful for us this week.”

The game pits the league's second-highest-scoring offense (Dallas, 30.8 points per) and the highest-scoring offense (Miami, 31.5) against each other, so there is a real chance of a shootout on Sunday.

With the Dolphins having speed on offense with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane, the Cowboys' defense is going to have its hands full.

But that's where the offense comes in.

Dak Prescott and company need to get that "jump start" offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer spoke about earlier in the week and keep pace with this speedy Dolphins offense.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy knows the offense has to get off to a fast start against the Dolphins / USA Today

There aren't too many offenses in the NFL that can go blow-for-blow and score-for-score with coach Mike McDaniel's Dolphins team, but Dallas is one of them.

There will be plenty of storylines to follow in this one as the Cowboys' poor road record is again being highlighted, and the run defense, which got obliterated by James Cook, will now get another stern test. 

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When playing on the road, maybe the two things a visiting team needs to do are 1) quiet the crowd and 2) start fast.

Dallas tried it last week and missed on a home run shot. This week, that shot has to hit. ... because as much as the Cowboys want to start fast, the Dolphins have the ability to be out of sight before Dallas is even out of the starting blocks.