I
would call the Cowboys week one performance against division rivalry New York
Giants, a good start to the season. The one thing we know about the NFL is that
things change week to week. As fans we have to try and not overact to anything
we saw in week one. The Cowboys ability to wear a defense down is no mirage.
This offensive line is good and with La’el Collins at right tackle, it may be
better than last season’s offensive line. Listen Doug Free was a good tackle for
the Cowboys his entire career. Collins has the ability to be a force on the right
side, and maybe take over for Tyron on the Left if he continues to struggle
with injuries and has to call it quits. I’m not pushing Smith out the door but
more and more football players are choosing to walking away in decent physical and
mental shape.
The Cowboys were able to tire out
the New York Giants. Dak wasn’t great in week one but he made enough plays to
win. I expect him to play better against the Broncos. Jenkins seems to have Dez’s
number, and there isn’t any shame in that, Jenkins is an outstanding cornerback
and Dez just will have to be patient when playing the Giants. Sure he is able
to beat Jenkins on few plays, and Dak doesn’t see him. This offense has shifted
from a pass first offense to a Dak and Zeke first offense. Dak said last season
that he would get the ball to whoever is open. I know Dez feels like he is
always open, but sometimes getting the ball to someone else is the better read.
Dez will have his opportunities to shine this season but right now the Cowboys
need to stick with their run first, play action game plan, it works!
I don’t really know what to think of
this Dallas Cowboys defense because they played against an awful Giants
offense. You may say, “OBJ didn’t play,” the Giants offense hasn’t scored more than
20 points in 7 straight games, six of those games were with Odell playing. What
makes you think they would’ve magically scored 20 points to beat the Cowboys
when they only scored 13 in the second game versus the Cowboys, with Beckhum? There
appears to be an improvement to the pass rush and the Cowboys don’t have all
their horses up front. Irving is serving his suspension; Moore should bring a
speed element off the edge when he returns from his suspension. Charles Tapper
is going to be special for the Cowboys, mark my words! The young secondary wasn’t
challenged at all by the Giants and probably won’t again this week versus the
Broncos.
What we do know is that Zeke may be
playing the rest of the season, which is great news for the Cowboys. This
offensive line will be hard to penetrate. Dak was able to get all the wide
receivers involved in the offense. We still haven’t see Ryan Switzer in this
offense with Cole Beasley. The pass rush looks improved. All this sets up for a
great showdown with the Broncos and here are my five keys to defeating the
Denver Broncos.
Do not force the ball to Dez:
I don’t know what Dak was trying to
prove last week against the Giants with all those balls forced to Dez Bryant.
Dak has the right mindset of getting the ball to whoever is open, he has to
stay with that mindset. Dez is a really good wide receiver and he will cry and
complain about not getting the ball. This offense doesn’t need Dez to catch 10
ball for 100 yards every week to win. They do need Zeke to get 20-25 carries a
game for 100-125 yards a game to win.
If the scheme is to get Dez the
ball, please get more creative with it. Dez should be motioned more across the
formation to take advantage of his physical nature. They should try putting him
in the slot, or using him on some of the wide receiver screen plays that the
Cowboys love. Throwing the ball deep down the field to Dez in an attempt to prove
something to the NFL is losing football. If you want to feature Dez do so in a
more creative way.
Stick with the run game:
This week had to be a tough one on
the body of Zeke Elliot. He had a huge workload and took a pounding against one
of the better defenses in the league. That won’t change this week. I hope Zeke
got his massages, tiger balm, or whatever treatments he need to loosen those
muscles. This Broncos defense was ranked 28th last year against the
run and they know they’re going to have to stop the Cowboys run game if they
want to win. They will commit to stopping the run first. The Cowboys will see
some with 6 and 7 man fronts. They trust their corner backs against the Cowboys
wide receivers much like the Giants did. That means that the Cowboys will have
to take a grinder approach to running the ball. A two yard run on first down is
a win!
Running the ball will set up the play
action and slow down those pass rushers. The Cowboys love to get Dak outside
the pocket on bootlegs and roll out plays. In order to get those plays working
the run game has to be effective. More importantly, the Cowboys should run the
ball down every teams throat until they show they can stop the run. This team
should never abandon the run under any circumstances. It’s going to be tough
against the Broncos at first, similar to how it was last week against the
Giants. They will eventually wear down the same way the Giants did.
Feature Cole Beasley this week:
This is a Cole Beasley game. The
Broncos have two legit shutdown corner backs on the outside. Dez will find ways
to get open and win some of those one on one matchups. Terrace Williams has
been dealing with an ankle injury and Brice Butler may not be able to beat
either one of these corner backs. Manning up on the outside means that Beasley
may see a safety, linebacker, or slot corner on him. Didn’t you all see what he
did to Dominque Roger Cromartie last week?
Beasley is a beast in space and if
they’re going to play man on the outside then take advantage of Beasley underneath
or over the middle. I would really love to see what Ryan Switzer can do with
Beasley in the middle of the field. Bradley Roby is a good slot corner but he
can’t cover Beasley. If they’re going to commit 6-7 guys to stopping the run
and play man on the outside, then Beasley will be open all game long.
Pressure Siemian:
The Broncos offensive line was
terrible last season. They signed Ronald Leary in free agency to bring an
anchor to the interior of their offensive line. Leary may not play, which means
there will be somebody in the middle that isn’t as good. Double A gap blitzes will
put defenders right in the face of Siemian or at the very least force him to
get rid of the ball quick. Pressuring him up the middle will also force line
adjustments that should free up the edge rushers giving Lawrence one on one opportunities
with those tackles.
Denver has two good wide receivers
in Thomas and Sanders. The Cowboys need to get to Siemian early and often the
same way they did Eli last week. The Broncos rushing offense isn’t scary at all
so the Cowboys can stop that in route to the quarterback. The best way to disrupt
any offense is to get to the quarterback. If this pass rush is improved then
they may not have to blitz to get to Siemian. They just need to take the
quarterback down at all cost.
Turn these young Guys lose:
Anthony Brown mad an amazing play
for the interception last week. He was able to bait in a veteran, two time super
bowl quarterback like Eli Manning. Brown has shown that he has the skill to be
a starting cornerback in this league. Its time to trust him a little more and
put him on an island sometimes. This is the perfect game for that because
Trevor Siemian isn’t that good a quarterback. Even if Brown is beat, Siemian
may not make the right throw.
Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie have
been full participants in practice all week long. With the injury to Scandrick
the Cowboys are going to need them to play a big role this week. Let’s turn
these young dudes lose! Give them an opportunity to make some plays. Bring them
off the edge and let them make an impact on the game. Allow them to rove the
middle of the field in some of the robber zone coverages. Allow them to feel
like playmakers and they may surprise us all. This Broncos offense isn’t a
threat to score 30 points. This defense can afford to take a few more risk this
week, and these young guys should really get a chance to show us what they got.
You can call it be a fan boy if you want.
I think the Cowboys are better than the Broncos overall. The Broncos have
better defensive personnel than the Cowboys, but the Cowboys have the better
offensive unit. If this Cowboys defense is indeed improved the Broncos and the
rest of the NFL have a huge problem on their hands. I expect the Cowboys to
control the clock on offense. They will get to Simieon and force a turnover or
two and I see them winning this game against the Broncos. I will go with a
20-10 score in favor of the Cowboys.
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