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The Dallas Cowboys will play at least one more game while supposedly in contention for the NFC East division title, as they take the field for a special Saturday night edition of the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football against the New York Jets.
The Jets are 8-5 and have been playing well on both sides of the ball recently. Wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker provide an explosive element for the New York offense. And a defense headlined by defensive ends Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson, and cornerback Darrelle Revis consistently make life difficult for opposing offenses.
Let’s take a look at some things that could show up in the Dallas game plan as they attempt to take down the Jets in an absolute must win on Saturday evening.
Offensive Game Plan
The Cowboys have struggled over the last several games to move the ball with any consistency. The ineptitude reached a new high in Week 14 against the Packers as the Cowboys managed to complete only one pass in their opponents' territory all day.
Running the ball against the Jets defensive front will be a difficult task, meaning that unless they get creative on early downs, Dallas will likely face a lot of long third-down situations.
Over the last two weeks, the Cowboys have converted a total of two out of 20 possible third-down chances, rendering the offense inept, and putting the defense in very tough situations.
For the Cowboys to move the ball successfully against the Jets, they’re going to need to get the ball to the outside quickly, using efficient throws to get the ball out of Matt Cassel’s hands. If the Cowboys can force the Packers secondary to make tackles one-on-one in space, Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley should be able to generate some explosive plays and points.
Continuing to utilize the speed of Lucky Whitehead on the edges of the defense to create big plays will also help relieve pressure from the inside of the formation and help to create room to run the ball inside.
Defensive Game Plan
The Jets offense also presents a set of challenges for the Cowboys defense to navigate. Weapons like Chris Ivory, Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker and Bilal Powell give quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey a variety of dangerous options with which to attack opposing defenses.
The Cowboys are typically a team that plays their style of defense almost regardless of the opponent, and we won't see that changing all that much in Week 15. The Cowboys are likely to play one deep safety, move an extra man into the box to stop the run and challenge Marshall and Decker to beat their cornerbacks on the outside, whether in man to man, or Cover 3 zone coverage.
Then the onus to perform moves to the defensive front, as the Cowboys will likely be looking for ways to put Demarcus Lawrence and Greg Hardy in position to generate pressure on Fitzpatrick and force errant throws in hopes of creating takeaways.
Prediction:
The Jets will make life difficult for the Cowboys offense. Cassel will struggle to deal with the pressure the Todd Bowles team will generate, and Marshall and Decker will take advantage of the depleted Cowboys secondary.
The game will be closer on the scoreboard than it should be until late in the fourth quarter, when the Jets pull away.
Prediction: Cowboys 10, Jets 24
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
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The Jets are 8-5 and have been playing well on both sides of the ball recently. Wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker provide an explosive element for the New York offense. And a defense headlined by defensive ends Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson, and cornerback Darrelle Revis consistently make life difficult for opposing offenses.
Let’s take a look at some things that could show up in the Dallas game plan as they attempt to take down the Jets in an absolute must win on Saturday evening.
Offensive Game Plan
The Cowboys have struggled over the last several games to move the ball with any consistency. The ineptitude reached a new high in Week 14 against the Packers as the Cowboys managed to complete only one pass in their opponents' territory all day.
Running the ball against the Jets defensive front will be a difficult task, meaning that unless they get creative on early downs, Dallas will likely face a lot of long third-down situations.
Over the last two weeks, the Cowboys have converted a total of two out of 20 possible third-down chances, rendering the offense inept, and putting the defense in very tough situations.
For the Cowboys to move the ball successfully against the Jets, they’re going to need to get the ball to the outside quickly, using efficient throws to get the ball out of Matt Cassel’s hands. If the Cowboys can force the Packers secondary to make tackles one-on-one in space, Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley should be able to generate some explosive plays and points.
Continuing to utilize the speed of Lucky Whitehead on the edges of the defense to create big plays will also help relieve pressure from the inside of the formation and help to create room to run the ball inside.
Defensive Game Plan
The Jets offense also presents a set of challenges for the Cowboys defense to navigate. Weapons like Chris Ivory, Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker and Bilal Powell give quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey a variety of dangerous options with which to attack opposing defenses.
The Cowboys are typically a team that plays their style of defense almost regardless of the opponent, and we won't see that changing all that much in Week 15. The Cowboys are likely to play one deep safety, move an extra man into the box to stop the run and challenge Marshall and Decker to beat their cornerbacks on the outside, whether in man to man, or Cover 3 zone coverage.
Then the onus to perform moves to the defensive front, as the Cowboys will likely be looking for ways to put Demarcus Lawrence and Greg Hardy in position to generate pressure on Fitzpatrick and force errant throws in hopes of creating takeaways.
Prediction:
The Jets will make life difficult for the Cowboys offense. Cassel will struggle to deal with the pressure the Todd Bowles team will generate, and Marshall and Decker will take advantage of the depleted Cowboys secondary.
The game will be closer on the scoreboard than it should be until late in the fourth quarter, when the Jets pull away.
Prediction: Cowboys 10, Jets 24
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...