Week 2 Matchup: Cowboys at Dolphins

Gryphon

Merge Ahead
Messages
3,407
Reaction score
31
Week 2 Matchup: Cowboys at Dolphins


Cowboys at Dolphins
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET (FOX), Dolphins Stadium
sportingnews.com

The Edge
Quarterback: Advantage Dallas
Running backs: Advantage Dallas
Receivers: Advantage Dallas
Offensive line: Advantage Dallas
Defensive line: Advantage Miami
Linebackers: Advantage Miami
Secondary: Advantage Dallas
Pass rushers: Advantage Dallas
Special teams: Advantage Dallas
Depth: Advantage Dallas
Coaching: Advantage Dallas

Prediction: Dallas 24 Miami 13

Expert Picks
Sign up now to find out who our experts are picking!


War Room scouts break down every NFL game. Here is a excerpt of their Cowboys-Dolphins matchup:

Cowboys Keys For Success


1. Run directly at Miami end Jason Taylor. Left tackle Flozell Adams must find a way to neutralize stop Taylor's speed rush. Taylor has the potential to change the game with big sacks and forced fumbles from the quarterback's blind side. Adams is a great run blocker, especially against undersized ends like Taylor. The more running plays directed at Taylor, the more it will hinder his aggressiveness as a pass rusher.

2. Hit tight end Jason Witten on hot reads. The Dolphins will blitz often Sunday. The Dolphins must take away the deep threats of Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton, so they will force Tony Romo to throw quickly. Witten is fast and shows great hands. Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett should use motion and various alignments to place Witten in areas of heavy blitzes. If Romo can make correct reads, Witten could have over 100 yards receiving Sunday.

3. Limit big plays on defense. The Cowboys must play good solid defense and limit the big plays. Dallas yielded several big plays last week but must make Miami work for every point. The Dallas defensive backs must keep the Miami receivers in front of them. The Dolphins lack the powerful and versatile offense to grind out yardage in the red zone, so if Dallas can limit big plays it likely will limit touchdowns.


Dolphins Keys For Success


1. Establish Ronnie Brown early. Brown is the key to the Miami offense. He was almost non-existent in the opener against Washington. Miami must give him the ball and establish an inside presence against new nose tackle Jay Ratliff. Miami must control the clock Sunday and keep the ball away from Dallas' explosive offense. If Miami can neutralize Ratliff and run inside, it will limit the defense's aggressiveness.

2. Pressure Romo. Romo, in his first full season as the starter, still makes ill-advised throws when under duress. Miami will send a variety of blitz packages because Taylor won't be as effect this week against Adams. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers must utilize the speed of his linebackers to force Romo to rush passes. Dallas' outstanding corps of wide receivers, even without Terry Glenn (knee), could overwhelm Miami's secondary so the Dolphins cannot give Romo time to pick apart the defense.

3. Isolate safety Roy Williams in coverage. Williams is one of the NFL's top strong safeties ... near the line of scrimmage. Williams is a liability in coverage and can be taken advantage of downfield and over the middle. If Miami can force Williams into coverage, it will open up the running game and give Trent Green more options in the middle of the field
__________________
for more updates visit http://gryphononcowboys.blogspot.com/
 

LandryFan

Proud Native Texan, USMC-1972-79, USN-1983-2000
Messages
7,400
Reaction score
6,347
Romo, in his first full season as the starter, still makes ill-advised throws when under duress.
And this statement is based on what, exactly?
 

DallasEast

Cowboys 24/7/365
Staff member
Messages
62,291
Reaction score
63,974
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
Gryphon;1637118 said:
2. Hit tight end Jason Witten on hot reads. The Dolphins will blitz often Sunday. The Dolphins must take away the deep threats of Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton, so they will force Tony Romo to throw quickly. Witten is fast and shows great hands. Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett should use motion and various alignments to place Witten in areas of heavy blitzes. If Romo can make correct reads, Witten could have over 100 yards receiving Sunday.
Terry Glenn has only missed the first game of the season so far and the media have already proclaimed Patrick Crayton a 'deep threat'. :rolleyes: They may wish to consider tagging Sam Hurd as a YAC threat if he continues to have success in spot duty.
 

sago1

Active Member
Messages
7,791
Reaction score
0
Playing w/o Terry Glenn does hurt us, but we've still got TO with Crayton & now Hurd also showing up big time. Bet Patrick Crayton probably liked the reference to him as a deep threat. I loved that throw to Hurd for the winning 51 yard TD & wonder why he was included as a deep threat but still it was interesting to see the reference to our "outstanding corp of wide receivers". Maybe we even get to see Miles Austin catch a few passes as the season progresses. Austin is the WR the Cowboys believe has the most potential of all our younger WRs because of his size/speed and developing skills.


BTW: While I very much want Terry Glenn back on the field again, I don't want it at the expense of his health--so I think he should have the micro-surgery.
 

NoLuv4Jerry

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,698
Reaction score
4,911
how embarrising is it when we have 3 first round picks at LBer (Carpenter, Ware and Spencer)...Bradie James just got a signining bonus of a mid first round pick at LBer....Akind Adnonyele got a signing bonus of a late 1st round pick...and Kevin Burnett was a 2nd round pick....YET the Dolphins have the advantadge at LBer...go figure!
 

ZeroClub

just trying to get better
Messages
7,619
Reaction score
1
Gryphon;1637118 said:
2. Pressure Romo. Romo, in his first full season as the starter, still makes ill-advised throws when under duress. Miami will send a variety of blitz packages because Taylor won't be as effect this week against Adams. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers must utilize the speed of his linebackers to force Romo to rush passes. Dallas' outstanding corps of wide receivers, even without Terry Glenn (knee), could overwhelm Miami's secondary so the Dolphins cannot give Romo time to pick apart the defense.

Jason Garrett and Tony Romo know how to execute screens and misdirection. We saw a little of it against the Giants. We'll see more of it this week.

I'm looking forward to it.
 

FCBarca

New Member
Messages
2,475
Reaction score
0
Just checked the forecast for the Miami area for the next 10 days....10 straight days of scattered thunderstorms and in the high 80s....Looks like rain folks...Wonder how that element may change the complexion of the matchup.
 

Parche

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,028
Reaction score
101
bbailey423;1637341 said:
how embarrising is it when we have 3 first round picks at LBer (Carpenter, Ware and Spencer)...Bradie James just got a signining bonus of a mid first round pick at LBer....Akind Adnonyele got a signing bonus of a late 1st round pick...and Kevin Burnett was a 2nd round pick....YET the Dolphins have the advantadge at LBer...go figure!

I was thinking very similar things the other day while watching the game... I wondered, how "ironic" is all this draft thing, that you use and select defensive players with your firsts and still, your strong side of the ball is offense, where you have a non-draft selected Qb, Second round on JJ , (dunno which round MBIII came out) T.O. If Im right came out late, and I think that the only first rounder on our Offensive line is L.Davis... Still, we are stronger on O...
 

Bizwah

Well-Known Member
Messages
8,158
Reaction score
3,877
FCBarca;1641246 said:
Just checked the forecast for the Miami area for the next 10 days....10 straight days of scattered thunderstorms and in the high 80s....Looks like rain folks...Wonder how that element may change the complexion of the matchup.

That's why Miami is a tough, tough home team in September.
 

NoLuv4Jerry

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,698
Reaction score
4,911
Parche;1641268 said:
I was thinking very similar things the other day while watching the game... I wondered, how "ironic" is all this draft thing, that you use and select defensive players with your firsts and still, your strong side of the ball is offense, where you have a non-draft selected Qb, Second round on JJ , (dunno which round MBIII came out) T.O. If Im right came out late, and I think that the only first rounder on our Offensive line is L.Davis... Still, we are stronger on O...
most of them are young and lack confidence...but that is where a defensive leader would really help....ray lewis can will an entire team to perform...even when their talent is mediocre (see will demps)...I am not picking on Roy, but he is one of the longer tenured guys on defense....he was a top 10 pick...he has sold more jerseys than any other cowboy.....he has been to multipe pro bowls.....he should be the defensive leader....he should help the spears, canty's, ware's, carpenter's etc...play with a swagger....there is no way these guys are that bad....i refuse to believe that....if they are, then we need to revist how full the cupboard really is
 

sago1

Active Member
Messages
7,791
Reaction score
0
The loss of Ferguson hurts us even more cause if there was a leader it was Ferguson as well as Ellis before he got hurt. Now we w/o both. Even Newman was somewhat of a leader but of course he's not on the field either. As for Roy Williams, he simply doesn't have the personality trait to be a leader & there's nothing we can do about it. The sooner Ellis and Newman can get back on the field -- the better.

Yes, it's ironic we've got leaders on the offensive side of the ball where we've spent few draft picks & it's our offense that got the job done against the Giants.
 

cowboys19

New Member
Messages
1,577
Reaction score
0
FCBarca;1641246 said:
Just checked the forecast for the Miami area for the next 10 days....10 straight days of scattered thunderstorms and in the high 80s....Looks like rain folks...Wonder how that element may change the complexion of the matchup.

Marion Barber time

If it is downpouring, give it to Barber 20-30 times.
 

yrades

Member
Messages
253
Reaction score
0
FCBarca;1641246 said:
Just checked the forecast for the Miami area for the next 10 days....10 straight days of scattered thunderstorms and in the high 80s....Looks like rain folks...Wonder how that element may change the complexion of the matchup.

You had to check the forecast for that? We have scattered thunderstorms every single day. They last at the most for 15 or 20 minutes. No big deal. In fact, it would be much worse if it was a bright sunny day all day. T-storms come and go and cool things off.

There are no threats of any tropical systems either, at least for the weekend.
It's going to be a great day for football. Bring a pancho.
 
Top