FRISCO, Texas. Dak Prescott did not soften his answer when asked Thursday whether the Dallas Cowboys have established an offensive identity through eight games.
"Is it one we're proud of? I don't know," Prescott said. "We'll be better, I can promise."
The numbers help explain the frustration. Dallas is scoring 27.4 points per game, yet its offense has become less varied and less friendly to its quarterback in 2026. The Cowboys rank near the bottom of the NFL in pre-snap motion and are using play action and under-center formations less frequently than they did last season.
A year ago, Dallas ranked in the top half of the league in play-action rate at 28.2 percent, under-center rate at 38.4 percent and motion rate at 56.6 percent. With Brian Schottenheimer now leading the offensive playcalling, the Cowboys profile as second-to-last in motion rate at 36.5 percent, 22nd out of 32 teams in under-center rate at 30.4 percent and 21st in play-action rate.
This was always going to be a pass-first offense built around Prescott and his superstar receivers, but the ground game has been largely ineffective. Dallas is producing 94.1 rushing yards per game, the eighth-worst mark in the NFL, and is running the football at the fifth-lowest rate in the league at 32.5 percent.
At the heart of the issue appears to be a philosophical disconnect between Schottenheimer and his quarterback. The coach seemingly believes it is harder to use motion when trailing and that it can "cloud the picture" for a quarterback. Prescott takes a different view.
"Sometimes, it's [motion] just to dress it up and take the defense, give them a different look of us running a core play and breaking some tendencies with a motion to get this play done," Prescott said.
"Sometimes it's used strictly for me to see the disguise, to see the matchups that we've got or to create different matchups by moving them from one side to the other and really just getting all the information I can through motion."
If Schottenheimer does not reinstall the easy buttons in the Cowboys' offense, Prescott and company may struggle to keep Dallas above water while its porous defense continues to drown.
