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IRVING, Texas – Stop the run and run the ball.
It doesn’t matter what level or league, all football coaches typically stress those two areas when it comes to agendas within a particular game.
If you can establish the run, you’ll be balanced. If you can stop the run, you’ll prevent the opposition from having that balance. Sounds simple enough.
This Sunday in Kansas City, the Cowboys will try to win both sides of the running game once again, but it won’t be easy against a Chiefs team that has managed to rush it effectively in recent history, despite some lopsided scores.
Although the Chiefs went 2-14 last year, they still ran it enough for Jamaal Charles to rack up 1,509 yards, despite having 10 double-digit losses in 2012.
The Chiefs ranked fifth in the NFL last year in rushing, totaling 149.7 yards per game, the highest among all non-playoff teams.
Now, with Andy Reid on the sidelines and Alex Smith at quarterback, the people in Kansas City are probably the first ones to shout that things are different this year. They probably want nothing to do with last season. The fact they can already duplicate last year’s win total with a victory over the Cowboys signals such a change.
But you can bet the offensive game plan to run the ball at will hasn’t altered much. Smith is just with the second NFL team of his eight-year career, but he’s playing for his eighth different offensive coordinator. He’s not considered a throw-it-all-over-the-field type of quarterback. So make no mistake, the Chiefs will once again enter Sunday’s game with the mindset to run the football early and often.
If anything, the Cowboys will be ready for it.
“Well, they have a good running game. Of course, the running back is outstanding,” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said of Charles. “They feature him a lot of different ways. It is a power running game, but it’s a running game that gets him out in space. And he’s really good at it.”
Last week against the Jaguars, Charles ran the ball 16 times for 77 yards. But they’re also working in a pair of youngsters in former Texas A&M standout Cyrus Gray and Knile Davis, a third-round pick this year from Arkansas.
“They do a lot of different things in the running game,” Garrett said. “They’ve allocated a lot of resources in their organization to their offensive line. A lot of high picks there.
It doesn’t matter what level or league, all football coaches typically stress those two areas when it comes to agendas within a particular game.
If you can establish the run, you’ll be balanced. If you can stop the run, you’ll prevent the opposition from having that balance. Sounds simple enough.
This Sunday in Kansas City, the Cowboys will try to win both sides of the running game once again, but it won’t be easy against a Chiefs team that has managed to rush it effectively in recent history, despite some lopsided scores.
Although the Chiefs went 2-14 last year, they still ran it enough for Jamaal Charles to rack up 1,509 yards, despite having 10 double-digit losses in 2012.
The Chiefs ranked fifth in the NFL last year in rushing, totaling 149.7 yards per game, the highest among all non-playoff teams.
Now, with Andy Reid on the sidelines and Alex Smith at quarterback, the people in Kansas City are probably the first ones to shout that things are different this year. They probably want nothing to do with last season. The fact they can already duplicate last year’s win total with a victory over the Cowboys signals such a change.
But you can bet the offensive game plan to run the ball at will hasn’t altered much. Smith is just with the second NFL team of his eight-year career, but he’s playing for his eighth different offensive coordinator. He’s not considered a throw-it-all-over-the-field type of quarterback. So make no mistake, the Chiefs will once again enter Sunday’s game with the mindset to run the football early and often.
If anything, the Cowboys will be ready for it.
“Well, they have a good running game. Of course, the running back is outstanding,” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said of Charles. “They feature him a lot of different ways. It is a power running game, but it’s a running game that gets him out in space. And he’s really good at it.”
Last week against the Jaguars, Charles ran the ball 16 times for 77 yards. But they’re also working in a pair of youngsters in former Texas A&M standout Cyrus Gray and Knile Davis, a third-round pick this year from Arkansas.
“They do a lot of different things in the running game,” Garrett said. “They’ve allocated a lot of resources in their organization to their offensive line. A lot of high picks there.
