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          Dallas Cowboys

          Cowboys' Twitter mailbag, Part 2

          Nov 29, 2014
          • Todd ArcherESPN Staff Writer
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            • Covered NFL since 1997, Cowboys since 2003
            • Previously covered Bengals and Dolphins
            • Lives in Dallas area with his wife and two children
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          IRVING, Texas – Part 2 of the Dallas Cowboys’ Twitter mailbag is ready.

          In it we discuss:

          ** A woeful home performance

          ** Cowboys road record

          ** Finding a pass rush

          ** Finding the right defense

          ** Robert Griffin III

          If you want to see Part 1, click here.

          Away we go:

          @toddarcher: This is a simple answer: Division games are always hard whether they're played at home, on the moon or in a parking lot as Jason Garrett likes to say. And let's not forget that these Cowboys are not flooded with talent. They can't show up and win. They have to follow a specific formula to win. When they don't, they lose. It's pretty easy. They have to take care of the ball, win on third down on both sides of the ball, be efficient on offense and get a couple of stops on defense. They haven't done that in this five-game span after they started 6-1. @toddarcher: If it's not at least 7-1, I don't know if they make the playoffs. I'm ready to say beating the Chicago Bears is a must win. Then they play at Philly and close the year at Washington. It won't be easy (see above answer on division games). The Cowboys somehow play better away from home. I don't know if it's an us-against-the-world mentality or what, but they play more sound football. That will have to continue. The last time the Cowboys were 7-1 was in 2007, and they mailed in that last game with homefield advantage locked up. Usually you want to win all your home games and split on the road, but why would these Cowboys make things easy? @toddarcher: They've played 12 games. They can't really do anything different. The only plan I see is for them to hope guys play better. Coaches can't reinvent the wheel here. They're not going to change into a heavy blitz team. They need their rushers to rush better. It's that simple. And these guys are average. They haven't had a difference-maker all year, so I don't know why you would expect something to change drastically for the final four games. They need more from Jeremy Mincey, more from Anthony Spencer, more from George Selvie, more from Henry Melton, more from DeMarcus Lawrence and more from anybody else you want to mention. But the feeling is that these guys are all tapped out at the moment. @toddarcher: Are you sure they would be better running man to man? I'm not. Look, this defense has been getting by all year. This was not going to be a great defense. They have too many holes. The offense helped mask some of those issues for most of the year by keeping them off the field. Lately they have been exposed because they lack talent and they're on the field for too many plays. The Eagles are a bad matchup because of their scheme and pace of play. The best they can hope for is the offense figures out what it's doing on third down. This defense is better the less it plays. @toddarcher: I received a lot of these questions during the week once Robert Griffin III was benched in Washington. I think he's done there. I don't know how they can salvage the relationship and will look to trade him. I just don't see Washington trading him to the Cowboys. And I don't see the Cowboys willing to give up picks when they have to restock the defense. The easiest way for RG III to end up in Dallas is as a free agent where he can pick and choose where he wants to go. Jerry Jones has gushed about him more than once. Romo will be 35 next year. Brandon Weeden is signed through 2015 but the Cowboys need to start the clock at some point on Romo's successor. I'm not sure Griffin can be what he was, but I can see the Cowboys taking a chance if he becomes available. Wouldn't that be a story?