Gadfly22
Active Member
- Messages
- 692
- Reaction score
- 222
There are lots of ways to lose football games and sometimes only a few ways to win them. But there are 7 deadly sins that provide easy ways for the Cowboys to lose on Saturday, and 7 cardinal virtues to counter them:
Sin #1. Turnovers -- the deadiest sin. Nobody on the Cowboys is particularly prone to fumbling, but the Eagles work hard at stripping the ball. And Samuel loves to jump routes for INTs.
Cardinal virtue: protect the ball at all times, especially on receptions in the middle of the field. And the defense needs to generate some TOs to give the offense a couple of short fields to work from.
Sin #2. Short yardage failures. The Cowboys can't let 3rd or 4th-and-short slip by without getting 1st downs.
Cardinal virtue: creativity (to go against tendencies for a little surprise) and physicality (for when finesse isn't enough).
Sin #3. Breakdowns in the secondary. The Eagles lived by the big play, and against the Cowboys, have died by the lack of them. But it only takes a couple of missed assignments or missteps for Jackson or Maclin to do damage.
Cardinal virtue: keep with what's been working -- know your assignment and stay with your man. And keep crushing the run game to force the Eagles to be one-dimensional.
Sin #4. Missed FGs. The Cowboys are at a personnel disadvantage here: Akers is just more reliable than Suisham. So the Cowboys must either make their FG attempts or -- better yet -- score TDs instead.
Cardinal virtue. Get 6 instead of trying for 3.
Sin #5. Overrun McNabb. The front 7 has gotten excellent penetration lately. But they can tend to overrun the QB, leaving lots of ground open in front of him and clear passing lanes for stepping up or scrambling.
Cardinal virtue: Sack McNabb or at least stay in your lane and crowd him.
Sin #6. Untimely penalties. All penalties are "untimely" but the Cowboys lost a couple big plays last week to penalties. Penalties on offense are drive-killers, and on defense are plain giveaways.
Cardinal virtue: Discipline and smarts.
Sin #7. Blitz failure. This game will be a test for Romo and Garrett in preparing for exotic blitzes AND preparing for few blitzes. The Eagles could go either way, trying to outsmart Garrett.
Cardinal virtue: Preparation. And I'm looking at you, Roy Williams. If you're the hot read, you better be where Romo thinks you're going to be.
If the Cowboys avoid the 7 deadly sins and cleave to the path of virtue, it will be monumentally difficult for the Eagles to win.
Sin #1. Turnovers -- the deadiest sin. Nobody on the Cowboys is particularly prone to fumbling, but the Eagles work hard at stripping the ball. And Samuel loves to jump routes for INTs.
Cardinal virtue: protect the ball at all times, especially on receptions in the middle of the field. And the defense needs to generate some TOs to give the offense a couple of short fields to work from.
Sin #2. Short yardage failures. The Cowboys can't let 3rd or 4th-and-short slip by without getting 1st downs.
Cardinal virtue: creativity (to go against tendencies for a little surprise) and physicality (for when finesse isn't enough).
Sin #3. Breakdowns in the secondary. The Eagles lived by the big play, and against the Cowboys, have died by the lack of them. But it only takes a couple of missed assignments or missteps for Jackson or Maclin to do damage.
Cardinal virtue: keep with what's been working -- know your assignment and stay with your man. And keep crushing the run game to force the Eagles to be one-dimensional.
Sin #4. Missed FGs. The Cowboys are at a personnel disadvantage here: Akers is just more reliable than Suisham. So the Cowboys must either make their FG attempts or -- better yet -- score TDs instead.
Cardinal virtue. Get 6 instead of trying for 3.
Sin #5. Overrun McNabb. The front 7 has gotten excellent penetration lately. But they can tend to overrun the QB, leaving lots of ground open in front of him and clear passing lanes for stepping up or scrambling.
Cardinal virtue: Sack McNabb or at least stay in your lane and crowd him.
Sin #6. Untimely penalties. All penalties are "untimely" but the Cowboys lost a couple big plays last week to penalties. Penalties on offense are drive-killers, and on defense are plain giveaways.
Cardinal virtue: Discipline and smarts.
Sin #7. Blitz failure. This game will be a test for Romo and Garrett in preparing for exotic blitzes AND preparing for few blitzes. The Eagles could go either way, trying to outsmart Garrett.
Cardinal virtue: Preparation. And I'm looking at you, Roy Williams. If you're the hot read, you better be where Romo thinks you're going to be.
If the Cowboys avoid the 7 deadly sins and cleave to the path of virtue, it will be monumentally difficult for the Eagles to win.