DAL 1-0
PHI 1-0
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Both teams come into the game off impressive opening day wins. Dallas won at Cleveland 28-10. The Eagles destroyed St. Louis 38-3. These are complete football teams with weapons on offense, defense, and special teams.
The teams split last year. The big difference was who controlled the line of scrimmage in each game. Win the battle up front and you win the game.
Top Players
QB Tony Romo - Gifted passer. He's very accurate and has excellent touch. He generally makes good reads. Has a sidearm delivery, but that helps him to get rid of the ball quickly and throw from different angles. Good athlete. Can make plays with his feet. Tony will throw INT's. He only had 3 games in '07 when he didn't get picked off. Threw 5 at BUF and 3 in the late loss to the Eagles.
The only real question with Tony is his ability to win big games, specifically in the playoffs. He's 0-2 in the postseason with a pair of mediocre showings.
RB Marion Barber - Aggressive runner, almost violent. Not a workhorse back, though. Only had 20 or more carries in one game last year. Has a good combination of speed, quickness, and elusivness to go with his physical style of running.
TE Jason Witten - The best TE in the NFC. Solid blocker and a very good receiver. Has enough speed to work downfield, although he's not a top athlete. Knows how to get open and has excellent hands.
WR Terrell Owens - Big, physical receiver who can still make plays after the catch. Will drop passes at times. Needs a lot of throws to come his way to keep him involved and at his best. When he's on, he is hard to defend.
G Leonard Davis - Can be a dominant blocker. Huge guy. The best run blocker on the Dallas O-line.
NT Jay Ratliff - Not a typical NT. Has a tall, somewhat slender build (6'4, 302), but he's effective in Wade Phillips system. Dallas slants and attacks upfield with their front seven despite being a 3-4 team (normally a 2-gap scheme). Ratliff gave Jean-Gilles fits last year in the 2nd game.
LB DeMarcus Ware - The best LB in the NFC. Gifted athlete who can make plays flying upfield as a pass rusher or playing more of a standard LB role. He started as a pass rusher, but is now a complete player.
S Ken Hamlin - Pretty complete FS. Underrated cover guy who can hit and tackle. Finished 4th in tackles, 2nd in INT's, and 1st in PD's last year. Roy Williams gets more publicity, but Hamlin is a much better player.
OFFENSE
The Cowboys had a great offense in 2007. That should be the case again this season. They have excellent talent at the skill positions. OC Jason Garrett is a good play caller and QB Tony Romo does a terrific job of distributing the ball and letting his playmakers shine.
The passing game is vertical. This is not a dink and dunk attack. They do a good job of creating space for the receivers by running guys horizontally and vertically and really stretching the defense. The goal seems to be to get Witten or Owens the ball in the middle of the field as much as possible. They love to throw on first down and use play-action passes very effectively. 3 WR sets are a big part of what they do, but injuries are limiting what they can do right now. Patrick Crayton is the #2 receiver. He's developed into a good player. I don't know that he'll ever become a Reggie Wayne kind of #2 option, but Crayton is more than just the "other guy".
The running game is "RB by committee". Barber is the main guy, but doesn't get a ton of carries. He averaged 12.8 carries a game. Last year the other main RB was Julius Jones. He's replaced by rookie Felix Jones this year. Felix is a weapon. He has excellent speed. He makes dynamic cuts and moves. Tackling this guy is not easy, especially if he has some room. Barber had 16 runs in the opener and Felix had 9. Another rookie, Tashard Choice, got 5 carries. They don't use a FB very much.
Dallas had a big, strong, physical OL that makes all of this possible. LT Flozell Adams has been up and down in his career, but has really found a groove the last couple of years. He must like winning. The OL:
LT Adams - LG C. Procter - C A. Gurode - RG L. Davis - RT M. Colombo
Procter is filling in for Kyle Kosier.
DEFENSE
The Cowboys run a 3-4, but attack and play more 1-gap than most other 3-4 teams. They had 46 sacks and 77 TFL's last year. By comparison, the Steelers had 36 sacks and 62 TFL's.
The DL is good, but nothing special. DE Chris Canty has excellent potential, but hasn't taken the next step and become a force. Ratliff is a good NT. Other guys are Marcus Spears, Jason Hatcher, and Tank Johnson.
The LB's are a special group. Ware is the big dog and key to the defense. Greg Ellis is the other OLB. He's mostly a pass rusher, but is smart enough to be effective playing the run and in coverage. Zack Thomas is new to Dallas. I don't know what to say about him. Still a talented guy, but I'm curious how well he'll fit in. He will have OL to deal with in this setting more than he did in Miami. That isn't his forte. Bradie James is the best player in the middle. He's a solid run stuffer and led the team in tackles last year.
I'm not sure what will happen in the secondary. I think Terrence Newman will start at CB, but he might sit out another week. If he sits, PacMan Jones takes his spot. Anthony Henry is the other CB. The Safeties are Hamlin and Roy Williams. There is talent in this group, but they can absolutely be thrown against. Newman is very good when 100%. I don't know how effective he'll be if he plays. Henry is a big CB that takes chances, but also makes plays. Williams is a liability in coverage. Jones is a mystery to all of us. Very talented player, but we're all curious to see how he does this year.
SPECIAL TEAMS
P Mat McBriar and PK Nick Foulk are very good.
The KOR now is Felix Jones, who was great in college on kicks. The PR is PacMan. He returned a punt for a TD against us back in 2006 as a Titan.
THE GAME
So what the heck is going to happen? I think the pressure is on Dallas. This is a SB or bust year for them. They've lost to us the last two years at Texas Stadium. They are "supposed" to win the NFC East. A loss here would put us in the early driver's seat (which is as meaningful as a stripper winking at you). Still, that would put extra pressure on Dallas. I think because of this the Cowboys may take a more aggressive approach to the game.
I expect them to really come after McNabb. We score points when the passing game is clicking. When we feed Westy the ball against them, we can control the game, but we don't score big points. I think that is a risk they'll take. Focus on 5. They watched him pick apart the Rams with little pressure getting to him. That won't be the case this week.
I imagine their offense will attack down the field right from the start. They just missed an 85-yd TD pass on the second play of the game last December. Romo was off target by a yard or so. The Rams didn't test us down the field much at all. They know Lito and Asante are gamblers. I could easily see them using a double-move on Samuel and trying to beat him over the top.
I'm told by a source that Jim Johnson will use Lito on Owens as much as possible. Samuel would then take the other wideout and Brown would handle the slot receiver. When Owens is in the slot, we'll mix things up. Lito may stay on him. You can bet Dawk will be playing centerfield and trying to keep Dallas from any big plays.
Dealing with Witten will be interesting. I won't be surprised to see Sheldon handle him in some sets. I think Dallas wants to get Witten one-on-one with Chris Gocong. Jason will have his catches. The real key is limiting Owens and stopping big plays.
Felix Jones is the x-factor to me. He offers them a dynamic weapon that can have big impact when used correctly. I think they will try to isolate hiim on Omar Gaither. If that happens, watch out. That will be a big play for the 'Boys. Omar lacks the athleticism to handle Jones in space. I'm not saying Felix is the key to the game, but he could deliver a big play or two that could really affect the game.
I think the key for us is simply to control the line of scrimmage and pressure Romo. We did that last December and won. You also have to play him a certain way. Keep Romo in the pocket. He's deadly when he gets out of the pocket and goes downfield. Make him a pocket passer. The D-linemen have to keep their hands up. Tony throws sidearm. You can get to his passes if you keep your arms up and make a concerted effort to go for the ball on those plays when you're not getting pressure.
We blitzed a lot up the middle against St. Louis. I'm sure we'll do some of that this week, but more from the edges. The focus is keeping Romo in the pocket. Attack from the outside and push him to the DT's. Hounds to the hunters.
We can shut down Romo and Dallas. From my DGR last December:
12/06 - 7 points ... 14-29-142... 1 TD, 2 INTs ... rating of 45.5
12/07 - 6 points ... 13-36-214... 3 INTs ... rating of 22.2
The Cowboys lowest point total in a non-Eagles game with Romo starting is 17. We've held him to 7 or less twice. Once is an accident, twice is a trend. The two lowest scoring games and two lowest QB ratings Tony has had came against us. That isn't a fluke. Andy's farts aren't the cause. Tony isn't scared because he thinks Jim Johnson is the grim reaper. Our defense is the problem.
We've been effective against Romo because we've gotten to him. Sacks are nice, but hitting him is the key. Hit Romo enough times and he isn't the same player. That's true of most QB's, obviously.
I mentioned earlier that Lito will try to Shadow Owens a lot. We have to mix up our looks and coverages. The one thing you don't want Dallas to do is get comfortable and in a rhythm. That didn't happen in our win. Check out these nuggets:
* Dallas WR didn’t catch a pass until the 11:04 mark of the 3rd Qtr.
* We really turned up the pass rush in the 2nd half. All the sacks came after halftime.
* We held Dallas to 1 of 13 on 3rd down conversions. Great, great D.
* We held them 0 for 3 in the red zone.
I don't expect us to necessarily hold them to 6 or 7 points. I do think we'll give them a real good game and limit their scoring. We'll be tough on D.
Our offense is more of a question mark to me. I have confidence that we'll move the ball, but I'm curious to see how good we will be. You can bet Andy and Marty will come out throwing.
Dallas LB's are basically DE's. Those guys like to rush, not drop and cover. You need to try and make them cover as much as possible. We're not sure about Newman's health and we don't know what kind of a player PacMan is at this point.
The way to attack the LB's is with passes over the middle. LJ Smith had two monster plays against Dallas in 2006 (one each game). Brent Celek came up big in the win last year, catching 3 passes for 50 yards. You have to work the middle. We need LJ and/or Celek to play well. A good game from Jason Avant would also help.
At this point it doesn't sound like Reggie Brown will play. The receivers showed last week they can get the job done against against a mediocre secondary. This week will be a tougher test. I still think we'll win our share of battles, but 500 yards and 38 points isn't likely.
DeSean will have a bullseye on him this time around. How will he handle that? How will Dallas play him? Jones, Henry, and Newman are all physical CB's. Peanut will have to really work his tail off to get open against these guys. Of course, none of them has his speed. You can bet we'll try stretching the field a time or two. We've run flea-flickers each of the last two seasons against Dallas. You can bet they'll try one sooner or later.
Brian Westbrook will be used to move the chains and control the flow of the game. Any big plays we get from him will be a bonus.
I hope Donovan and the O-line didn't get a false sense of confidence last week. I don't think they did, but we'll find out for sure on Monday night. Dallas has good pass rushers and blitzers. They'll challenge our protection all game long.
MISC
* Win or lose, this game is only a Week 2 matchup. I want to beat Dallas as much as anyone, but just as important to me is seeing how we play against a good team. Are we for real? Was last week a major aberration? I'm cautiously optimistic, but the proof is in the pudding. Chocolate pudding.
* Turnovers!!! We need to come up with a couple this week. We had 7 pass breakups last week and a FF. That's a good start, but now we need to get the ball. Romo threw INT's in all but 3 games last year. He will take chances. We have to make him pay.
* Quintin Demps owes us a big KOR. DeSean did his part as the PR last week. C'mon Q. There's still room for us to love two return guys.
* The Eagles swept the series in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. What year is this?
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