Emmitt Smith: “The Cowboys Don't Know Who They Are”

Smith believes the Cowboys are suffering from an identity crisis

It’s been 17 years since the Dallas Cowboys last reached the Super Bowl, led by a trio of future Hall of Famers in The Triplets, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. It was announced this weekend that a fourth member of that team, guard Larry Allen, will join the Triplets in Canton, Ohio next fall.

It was a different time and a wholly different team and, according to Smith, the biggest difference between those Cowboys and the Cowboys today is a sense of identity. Namely, today’s Cowboys don’t have one.

The identity is not seen in the Cowboys,” Smith told 105.3-FM The Fan last week, via the Dallas Morning News. “The Cowboys don’t know who they are. They are the Cowboys, but I don’t think they really know. We had an identity when we played football, and our identity went around the run, the pass and our defense. Everything had an identity. You knew what you were getting.”

Where the offense is concerned, Smith believes the team would be helped greatly by striking a more consistent balance between the running and passing game--something that the Jason Garrett-led Cowboys have never been able to do.

 “I knew every week that I was going to get that ball in my hands 15 to 20 times,” Smith said. “I knew that. I was going to touch the ball somewhere between 20 and 30 times. … I knew we were going to have that balance. I’m not sure that the Cowboys are that confident in what they can do in the run game. You don’t see a run game. "

“Without a run game, it makes it very, very tough for Tony Romo and for anything good to happen for the Dallas Cowboys. And in my opinion, I don’t think Romo should throw the ball no more than 30 or 35 times a game, but you’ve got to be able to have that running game to go along with it.”

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