Kellen Moore can only control so much. He can't control whether or not Dak Prescott suffers a freak injury and misses out on what was potentially set to be a historically productive season. He can't control whether or not the Cowboys defense allows touchdown after touchdown, acting like the Swiss cheese of the NFL. He can't control a potential COVID-19 outbreak on the team, one which could result in a forfeit.
But he can control, should his players perform up to par, how effective the Dallas offense is throughout the 2021 campaign. It started off on a pretty high note last year with the Cowboys scoring the third most points (126) in the league through the first four weeks, trailing only Green Bay and Seattle. They had 2,038 yards of offense, significantly more than the next closest team (the Packers with 1,782) in that four-game span. Dak Prescott totaled 1,690 yards and 12 total touchdowns in that span, theoretically putting him on pace for an unprecedented year of well over 6,000 yards and 48 total touchdowns.
The question is whether or not the Cowboys can do such a thing again in 2021, with a (hopefully) healthy Prescott back in action, a star-studded group of wide receivers and a dominant duo of running backs. According to one of those running backs, Kellen Moore's goal is not to be third in points scored — or any offensive stat, for that matter. Moore wants to be at the top of the list.
"In in our first meeting, Coach Kellen said our No. 1 goal this year is to be the No. 1 offense," Elliott said (via David Helman).
Now, every team's offensive coordinator could say that about their offense heading into the season, but let's be realistic: there are only a few teams' OCs who would make such a bold claim and actually believe the team could follow through with it. And you better believe that the Cowboys are among them. Who else could vie for that throne? The Chiefs, the Packers, the Bucs, the Bills and the Titans, off the top of my head, seem to be the front-runners at this point, though some other surprise teams could join that jumble.
Looking at the great work our friends at Pro Football Focus have done, it appears my quick summation of the league's top offenses was mostly accurate. In their top tier of the NFL's elite scoring attacks are the Chiefs, Bucs, Packers, Bills and Cleveland Browns. Tier 2 is where you'll find the Cowboys along with the Titans, Seahawks, Ravens and Rams. Perhaps if Moore read PFF's rankings he'd have a nice chip on his shoulder to go along with his already lofty aspirations.
Luckily, the rest of the NFC East is pretty far behind Dallas in offensive terms. The Washington Football Team has potential, seeing as Ryan Fitzpatrick can always prove the doubters wrong and the skill group of Antonio Gibson, Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel and Logan Thomas represents a lot of upside. The Giants have talented players — like Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay — but a shaky QB situation and some health problems to deal with. And Jalen Hurts could turn heads in year two, but it's tough to get too, too excited about Philly's offense at this point after a dismal 2020 campaign.
As of now, it's the Cowboys' division to lose, at least based on the odds. The Cowboys are +130 to win the NFC East, with the Washington Football Team in second (+230) and the Giants (+450) and Eagles (+550) a ways away. The offense is a big part of that, and should Dan Quinn inject some life into the defense, those odds could get even better.
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