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Latest Cowboys headlines: Power football key to Cowboys, Packers NFC clash; Cowboys must stay physical to beat Green Bay; Cowboys dealing from strength at QB position.
Power football key to Cowboys, Packers NFC clash - Drew Davison, The Star-Telegram
Davison writes that the physicality Elliott brings to the game may be the Cowboys' biggest asset against the Packers today.
He is not afraid to lower his shoulder and impose his toughness on opponents. That, more than anything, might be his best trait.
"You can tell he’s a physical runner," center Travis Frederick said. "He runs downhill and gets great yards after contact. We like to be seen as an offensive line and blocking unit as being physical and moving downhill. They [Elliott and backup Alfred Morris] fit very well into the system."
"I feel like the most physical team wins the game, you know?" Elliott said. "In this game, you want to take your opponents’ will. When you can set that physical tone early in the game and carry it out throughout the game, you find guys not wanting to play in the fourth quarter."
Game preview: Packers vs. Cowboys - Bob McGinn, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
McGinn offers an interesting take on the identity of the 2016 Cowboys.
"There’s an identity to the team," said one scout. "We’re going to run the ball and control the clock. Play one gap on defense. Keep the ball in front of us. You’re going to have to be consistent with 10-play drives and move down the field. That’s how we’re going to beat you. Complementary football. We’re not going to beat ourselves. You’re going to have to beat us."
Cowboys Must Stay Physical To Beat Green Bay - Michael Sisemore, Blogging The Boys
Sometimes you have line up and out-physical the other team. And that's exactly what the Cowboys need to do in Green Bay, Sisemore writes.
This game will be a strength-on-strength game and it's one the Cowboys need to come out on the right side of. The Cowboys are a physical ground-and-pound team, now they have to go prove it to a team they will have to get past in order to be a "special" team.
Michael Irvin said that Jimmy Johnson would tell the team that sometimes you have to walk up to a gorilla and just "punch it in the mouth." That's about as good of an analogy as any for this weekend's contest.
Cowboys & Packers: Two Best O-Lines Meet - Andy Benoit, The MMQB
Rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott have thrived behind the league’s best offensive line, but we’ll see its near equal in Green Bay, Benoit writes.
While more enticing storylines loom large - Prescott vs. Romo, Rodgers and his receivers finding better rhythm - don’t lose sight of the trenches. The two best all-around offensive lines in football will share the field on Sunday, which is why the loser will still very much be in the thick of this early NFC race.
Cowboys, rookie QB Prescott look to keep rolling vs. Packers - Amarillo Globe-News
This article compares the two QBs for today's game, and at least on the stat sheet, Prescott has the advantage over Rodgers.
It’s a surprise that the Cowboys’ young signal-caller has been more accurate than the two-time NFL MVP more than a month into the season. Prescott, now fourth in the league in completion percentage at 69 percent, has yet to throw an interception. Rodgers is 31st in the NFL at 56 percent, with three picks.
"He looks like he’s played in the offense for quite some time," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said about Prescott. "He’s done a really good job particularly … as far as his decisions with where he goes with the football."
Packers RB James Starks out vs. Dallas Cowboys, Eddie Lacy questionable - Rob Demovsky, ESPN
Starks could miss several weeks after being diagnosed with a meniscus injury, a source told ESPN. Additionally, Eddie Lacy was listed as questionable on Friday's injury report after practicing on a limited basis this week as he deals with a left ankle injury. The Packers' contingency plan?
McCarthy also could use receivers Randall Cobb and Ty Montgomery out of the backfield, if necessary. They have combined for seven carries this season, and Cobb said this week that it's possible he and Montgomery need to be on high alert for additional rushing duty.
Cowboys' rookies carry team to face Packers' top-ranked rush defense - Todd Archer and Rob Demovsky - ESPN
Archer, the Cowboys beat writer, and Demovsky, the Packers beat writer, team up for an article. Oddly, each picks the other team to win by four points.
Archer: During their four-game winning streak, the Cowboys are playing to their strengths: relying on the run game to set the tone, passing efficiently and playing well enough to keep the opposition out of the end zone. Perhaps the Cowboys are getting the Packers at the right time, with the way Aaron Rodgers is struggling. But perhaps Rodgers will enjoy seeing the Cowboys. He has five touchdown passes, with no interceptions, and has completed 65 percent of his passes in the past two games against them. -- Packers 27, Cowboys 23.
Demovsky: It would be unrealistic to expect the Packers’ run defense to put up the same kinds of numbers against Elliott and the Cowboys that it has through four games. Any reasonable success on the ground will make things far easier for Prescott. Given how off-kilter the Packers’ passing game is, if the Cowboys can control the time of possession battle, it could be an unproductive day for Green Bay. -- Cowboys 28, Packers 24.
DeMarco Murray was ‘95 percent sure’ he was returning to Cowboys - Charean Williams, The Star-Telegram
During and after last year’s disaster of a season in Philly, rumors persisted that Murray would return to Dallas. Williams reports that a reunion with Dallas was close, "but the Eagles preferred to trade Murray to a nondivision foe."
"It was like 95 percent sure I was going to come back there," Murray said in a phone interview. "I have a lot of respect for those guys — the Jones family, Will [McClay], coach [Jason] Garrett obviously and [Tony] Romo and Wit [Jason Witten], all those guys. I still consider them a great franchise, and they’re great friends of mine.
"I was very close to going back there. There were some things that fell through and just didn’t happen. I think everything happens for a reason. I’m here, and I’m supposed to be here. They’ve got a pretty good young back over there as well."
Cowboys’ QB solution: Romo gets his job — until he loses it - Mark Cannizzaro, New Post
Cannizzaro argues that the best way for the Cowboys to go is to give Romo his job back as soon as he is ready.
Prescott, who already has acknowledged, "This is Tony’s team,’’ is the Cowboys’ future. Should Romo struggle once he does return, the Cowboys can go back to Prescott knowing he already has proven he can play. It’s the best scenario. Romo has been too successful for the Cowboys to set him aside now.
[Jerry] Jones in a recent radio interview, said Prescott’s play will allow the Cowboys to "play this thing out."
"I just have to pinch myself to think about it," Jones said. "We’ve got Dak Prescott, who’s playing at a level that is very capable of winning these games. We’ve got the future every time he walks out there."
The more pertinent question, though, is what is the Cowboys’ present at quarterback? When Romo returns, it should be Romo with the luxury of the rookie waiting in the wins already having proven himself. There is no better scenario for the Cowboys, who are dealing from strength here.
In three weeks, tune on Tony Romo's return to Cowboys could change - Todd Archer, ESPN
In his latest Twitter mailbag, Archer argues that the timing of Tony Romo's return could have more to do with how the Cowboys are doing than his health.
Do not look for Tony Romo to play Oct. 30 against the Philadelphia Eagles. He has picked up his conditioning and throwing in the last couple of weeks, but his first game back looks like Nov. 6 against the Cleveland Browns. If the Cowboys had put Romo on injured reserve at the start of the season, that would have been the first game he could have played.
The Cowboys are off next week and have only one practice, and it's not really a practice before the players scatter for the bye week. They return to practice full time Oct. 24, so Romo would have four days to get ready for the Eagles. The more QB Dak Prescott wins, the more the Cowboys and Romo can be patient with his comeback.
To me, Romo's return will not be about his health. It will be about the circumstance of the team. Let's see what this team's record is after Oct. 30. By then, everybody could be singing a different tune.
Who could Cowboys trade Tony Romo to, and what would they get? - Andre Vergara, FOX Sports
Michael Lombardi was a guest on Skip Bayless' new show and put a price tag on the 36-year old Romo. But is a trade even realistic, let alone the price?
So who could they trade him to and what would they get?
Guest Michael Lombardi says the Miami Dolphins are going to have to give up on Ryan Tannehill, and the San Francisco 49ers need a QB, too. SI's Peter King thinks the Bears will be moving on from Jay Cutler in Chicago.
What's Romo worth at age 36 and coming off an injury? "If you wanted to trade him, it would have to be a conditional pick, a firm [second-rounder] that moved [up] based on how much he played and how well he played, and I think you could find some trade partners," Lombardi said.
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