Opponent Profile: Colts Bring High Powered Offense To Dallas
By Shawn Lealos
The Dallas Cowboys have regained the lead in the NFC East and have two games left of the NFL season. If they win out, the Cowboys will win the NFC East and make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. However, the first thing they have to do is get past the Indianapolis Colts. While they can still make the playoffs with a loss, a win is necessary if the Cowboys want to guarantee their playoff spot. Here is a look at the Indianapolis Colts heading into the big game.
Top Ranked Passing Offense
The Dallas Cowboys biggest weakness on defense is against a good passing team. While the Cowboys defense only gives up an average of 110 yards a game on the ground, they give up 249 yards a game to opposing quarterbacks. That will make this game one of the toughest of the season for Dallas. The last time that the Cowboys played a quarterback comparable to Andrew Luck, they allowed Drew Brees to throw for 340 yards and two touchdowns against them.
Andrew Luck has thrown for 4,492 yards this season with 38 touchdowns. He only has two games under 200 yards and 10 games this season with over 300 yards in a game. The Cowboys secondary is banged up and wasn’t strong to begin with, so this will be a game where the Cowboys need to keep the ball out of Luck’s hands if they want to win.
Playing for a First Round Bye
There are three teams playing for a first round bye in the AFC, and the Indianapolis Colts really need some help if they want to clinch one of those two spots. The problem is that they lose the tiebreaker to both the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots based on head-to-head matchups, so they need one of those teams to lose out while they win their last two games.
Even if they don’t achieve that, the Colts still want to win one of their last two games to stay ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, if for no other reason than to possibly secure an extra home field game in case of an upset in the playoffs. Either way, the Colts have something left to play for, which makes them dangerous.
A Middle-of-the-Road Defense
The Indianapolis Colts have been better this season stopping the run than the pass, and that might cause some problems for the Cowboys this weekend. DeMarco Murray broke a bone in his hand during the Philadelphia Eagles game, and while he might still play, he won’t be as reliable as he has been most of the season. Last weekend, the Colts allowed Arian Foster to run for 99 yards on 26 carries, which was kind of low for the Houston Texans’ back. If Murray is limited or out, Dallas will have to rely on Joseph Randle, who has never proven to be a reliable every down back.
That means that Tony Romo will have to throw the ball. The last time the Colts played a quarterback comparable to Romo was when they took on the New England Patriots. In that game, Tom Brady threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. The last thing that Dallas wants is to throw ball all over the field and give Andrew Luck more time on offense.
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Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. He writes for a variety of national publications and has over 15 years of sports journalism experience. Follow Shawn on Twitter @sslealos. Examiner.com.