Durkin's Preview: Bears-Cowboys
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) From coaches to personnel, there are 10 ties between the 5-7 Chicago Bears and the 8-4 Dallas Cowboys entering Thursday night's game at Soldier Field. The similarities don't end there, as both of these teams have vulnerable defenses that must be protected. However, only one team -- the Cowboys -- has been wise enough to play to the strength of their personnel this season.
Currently, the Cowboys sit in the seventh position in the NFC, one spot out of the wild-card race. They've been in this position before and hope to change the recent trend of their play dropping as the mercury does. Their commitment to the run has multiple benefits -- it takes pressure off of quarterback Tony Romo, allows their dominant offensive line to control the line of scrimmage and limits the amount of time their defense needs to spend on the field.
Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray has dominated the league this year, rushing for 100 or more yards in 10 of their 12 games, and he's on pace to rush for 1,900 yards. In turn, opposing defenses have been forced to drop an extra defender into the box, which opens up single-coverage and play-action opportunities down the field.
Look for the Cowboys to deploy 12 (two tight end) personnel against the Bears, to keep them in their base package, then attack their linebackers and safeties up the seam with tight end Jason Witten, who has a touchdown in three of his last four games against the Bears. The dearth of talent in the back seven of the Bears defense has been exposed this season, and they've given up a league-high 27 passing touchdowns.
Additionally, the Bears have been vulnerable at the cornerback position. Teams have had success targeting each of the Bears' top three cornerbacks -- Kyle Fuller, Tim Jennings and Demontre Hurst -- so Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant could be in store for a big night. Bryant has six touchdowns in his last five games and will be able to both out-leverage and out-run each of the Bears cornerbacks.
For the Bears, they can't seem to get out of their own way on offense. They've regressed in multiple areas and still haven't realized that the offense functions best when running back Matt Forte is the centerpiece of the attack.
Teams have successfully attacked the talent-poor Cowboys defense by running the ball at them, averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. Perhaps the Bears -- and more specifically coach Marc Trestman -- have finally woken up to the idea that they must achieve better balance on offense.
By establishing the run against the Cowboys, the Bears can also open up the middle seam area against the Cowboys' zone defense, which could mean a big night for ex-Cowboy Martellus Bennett. The Bears' vertical passing game, which flourished in last season's matchup against the Cowboys, has evaporated but could be rekindled with a greater emphasis on establishing the run. The Bears haven't forced teams to play them honestly, thus linebackers play pass-first instead of focusing on the run and quickly drop into their underneath zones.
Quarterback Jay Cutler has a strong history against the Cowboys, going 39-for-53 (73.6 percent) for 552 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, good for 138.2 passer efficiency rating. Dallas is actually one of two teams in the league that Cutler hasn't thrown an interception against (Tennessee is the other).
The Cowboys have a league-best 5-0 road record this season. While the Bears talk about still having something to play for, they play as a team that's already given up on the season. The Cowboys, on the other hand, have a great opportunity to start December off with a win and change the narrative.
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.