The Dallas Cowboys are an under .500 team once again after their loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 6. To make things even more dire, the biggest issue is they have what is possibly the worst defense in the entire NFL.

Going into Week 7, it’s challenging to stop trying to win games and make a run for the playoffs the way quarterback Dak Prescott is playing, so improvements must be made before the Washington Commanders come to AT&T Stadium on Sunday. As bad as the defense has been, the turnaround isn’t only on the defense. The team’s offense —the strength of the team —has improvements to make as well. Dallas might have to be perfect on offense to win games, but asking for it to run the football efficiently isn’t too much to ask.

Better first-down defense

Dallas was awful on first down, defensively, against Carolina in Week 6. The Panthers ran 26 times and averaged over six yards per attempt. They only threw the ball five times, but two of those receptions went for over 30 yards.

Dallas generated only two negative plays on first down. The first was a sack, the other was a run for -2 yards. Leaving the opponent only four yards to go on second down is crippling for a defense, as it truly opens up the offense’ can attack’s playbook in a multitude of ways.

Get back to running the ball

The Cowboys’ offense has been extremely balanced all season. They ran for at least 117 yards every game and an average of 134 per contest going into their matchup with Carolina. However they ran the ball a paltry 19 times for a total of 31 yards, allowing the Panthers to get eight run stops. The team works best when both the rushing and passing games are effective, helping the offense keep the defense off the field.

Get Jaydon Blue some touches

Dallas got 18 total touches to RB1 Javonte Williams, even though they were going for less than two yards per touch. Jaydon Blue only had three rush attempts and zero targets. The offense gave eight different people at least one target, but Blue couldn’t get one. With CeeDee Lamb and KaVontae Turpin out, a potential playmaker like Blue needed touches.

Getting him further involved moving forward has to be an imperative for the coaching staff.