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Rarely is a game as early as Week 7 considered a must win for an NFL team. For the Dallas Cowboys, this week’s game against the division rival New York Giants is just that. With quarterback Tony Romo, and wide receiver Dez Bryant out with injuries, the Cowboys are losers of three straight, and find themselves below .500, looking up from third place in the NFC East.
Considering the familiarity between the two teams, and the personnel the Cowboys are playing with on offense, the game plan will be key to getting a win.
Offensive game plan
So far in 2015 the Cowboys have run the ball almost 56 percent of the time on first down. On second down, however, the Cowboys have thrown the ball on 64 percent of the plays. Part of this could be explained by the fact that the average yards-to-go on second down is over eight, meaning that the Cowboys need to gain significant yardage in order to have a reasonable third-down situation.
With the Cowboys having struggled to sustain offensive drives, and the Giants surrendering only 3.3 yards per carry on first downs, the game plan should be for the Cowboys to break their own tendencies on early downs.
When their opponents call a pass on first down, the Giants give up an average of 6.72 yards per play, and although they don’t do it often, the Cowboys average 7.24 yards per play on first-down passes.
If the Cowboys did sufficient self-scouting over their bye week, they will use their own first-down tendency to give new starting quarterback Matt Cassel chances to throw play-action passes against defenses set up to defend the run. If they can manage to match the numbers from earlier in the year, they will have short-to-medium second downs, which allows offensive coordinator Scott Linehan to call any play on his play sheet, and can keep the Giants defense from loading up to stop the run.
Defensive game plan
Defensively, the key for the Cowboys against the Giants is to hit quarterback Eli Manning early and often.
The Giants offensive line struggled to slow down the Philadelphia Eagles pass rush in Week 6, as Manning took three sacks and five other hits. Each member of the offensive line struggled at various times, but there are three players on the line that the Cowboys should set their defensive front to take advantage of.
Right tackle Marshall Newhouse has been the weakest link on the line, as he’s struggled with just about every type of rusher who has faced him. Right guard Geoff Schwartz has disappointed against rushers who play with quickness and can put him in a bad position. Rookie left tackle Ereck Flowers has played well when players try to use power to rush against him, but he has struggled with guys using speed around the edge as he just doesn’t have the foot quickness or technique to keep up with them.
With rookie defensive end Randy Gregory expected to be back this week, the Cowboys have their full stable of pass-rushers available to set up favorable mismatches. Gregory’s speed and explosiveness gave Ereck Flowers tons of problems in Week 1, and we can expect to see Greg Hardy cause similar issues for Flowers.
However, Hardy is a very flexible rusher, who has the ability to move to a defensive tackle position on pure passing situations, which could create problems for Schwartz because of Hardy’s ability to get off the ball quickly and get up the field. DeMarcus Lawrence is the combination of speed and power that could give Newhouse problems in a number of different ways throughout the game.
If Rod Marinelli mixes up the personnel on the defensive line, especially in pure passing situations, they should create havoc in the Giants backfield, and potentially the important takeaways that have evaded them since Week 2 against the Eagles.
Prediction:
Games between the Cowboys and Giants are unpredictable. But considering the Cowboys have never lost four games in a row with Jason Garrett as the head coach, and the fact that the Cowboys defense seems primed to generate takeaways and carry the load for the team, Dallas will score enough points to even its record at 3-3 and stay undefeated in the division.
Prediction: Cowboys 28, Giants 24
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
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Considering the familiarity between the two teams, and the personnel the Cowboys are playing with on offense, the game plan will be key to getting a win.
Offensive game plan
So far in 2015 the Cowboys have run the ball almost 56 percent of the time on first down. On second down, however, the Cowboys have thrown the ball on 64 percent of the plays. Part of this could be explained by the fact that the average yards-to-go on second down is over eight, meaning that the Cowboys need to gain significant yardage in order to have a reasonable third-down situation.
With the Cowboys having struggled to sustain offensive drives, and the Giants surrendering only 3.3 yards per carry on first downs, the game plan should be for the Cowboys to break their own tendencies on early downs.
When their opponents call a pass on first down, the Giants give up an average of 6.72 yards per play, and although they don’t do it often, the Cowboys average 7.24 yards per play on first-down passes.
If the Cowboys did sufficient self-scouting over their bye week, they will use their own first-down tendency to give new starting quarterback Matt Cassel chances to throw play-action passes against defenses set up to defend the run. If they can manage to match the numbers from earlier in the year, they will have short-to-medium second downs, which allows offensive coordinator Scott Linehan to call any play on his play sheet, and can keep the Giants defense from loading up to stop the run.
Defensive game plan
Defensively, the key for the Cowboys against the Giants is to hit quarterback Eli Manning early and often.
The Giants offensive line struggled to slow down the Philadelphia Eagles pass rush in Week 6, as Manning took three sacks and five other hits. Each member of the offensive line struggled at various times, but there are three players on the line that the Cowboys should set their defensive front to take advantage of.
Right tackle Marshall Newhouse has been the weakest link on the line, as he’s struggled with just about every type of rusher who has faced him. Right guard Geoff Schwartz has disappointed against rushers who play with quickness and can put him in a bad position. Rookie left tackle Ereck Flowers has played well when players try to use power to rush against him, but he has struggled with guys using speed around the edge as he just doesn’t have the foot quickness or technique to keep up with them.
With rookie defensive end Randy Gregory expected to be back this week, the Cowboys have their full stable of pass-rushers available to set up favorable mismatches. Gregory’s speed and explosiveness gave Ereck Flowers tons of problems in Week 1, and we can expect to see Greg Hardy cause similar issues for Flowers.
However, Hardy is a very flexible rusher, who has the ability to move to a defensive tackle position on pure passing situations, which could create problems for Schwartz because of Hardy’s ability to get off the ball quickly and get up the field. DeMarcus Lawrence is the combination of speed and power that could give Newhouse problems in a number of different ways throughout the game.
If Rod Marinelli mixes up the personnel on the defensive line, especially in pure passing situations, they should create havoc in the Giants backfield, and potentially the important takeaways that have evaded them since Week 2 against the Eagles.
Prediction:
Games between the Cowboys and Giants are unpredictable. But considering the Cowboys have never lost four games in a row with Jason Garrett as the head coach, and the fact that the Cowboys defense seems primed to generate takeaways and carry the load for the team, Dallas will score enough points to even its record at 3-3 and stay undefeated in the division.
Prediction: Cowboys 28, Giants 24
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...