9 Things Cowboys Need To Consider Against Philly
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After what Tony Romo did last week, he proved the calm in the storm the Cowboys didn't have to start the season last year against the 49ers, and this team despite a number of mental and physical errors on the field proved they still are capable of pulling a rabbit out when everybody has counted them out.
Sure Eli Manning delivered the opportunity for a game winner, but Tony Romo and the Cowboys took complete advantage of the chance to step into the spotlight, and made it even brighter. And like I said in last week's 9 things it was a Sunday night game on the national stage and now the country thinks this team can "come back at any moment", is "a grinding team", or "you can't count'em out".
All of those things are valid, and that's exactly what you want.
You might be asking yourself "Why 9 things?" You might be asking yourself "Why is this guy suggesting what I am asking myself?"
Either way, It's simple Tony Romo is No. 9. And he pulled out the magic that we know he is made of Sunday. Hopefully they won't need it and they can just roll against Philly this Sunday.
With that I present to you 9 Things To Consider Against Philly:
1. Demarco Murray is being used wrong. I watched the film on the Eagles and the Falcons and for most of the game, they used him as a shotgun formation running back. You can do that occasionally with Murray, but where he succeeded with the Cowboys was running downhill, getting to a corner and turning his body upfield. Right now, a lot of the plays the Eagles are asking him to run force him laterally and while he's capable back, he's not as quick footed as a scat back or even a Jamaal Charles.
I feel like the Cowboys front four can keep him contained and if that's the case, he might be useless for the Eagles. That being said, we might see more Sproles, which nobody really wants.
2. Speaking of the front four. One of the things we haven't seen in a long time is pressure from the front four.
It's nice to get sacks when you only need to rush four guys and you can drop that extra LB or CB into coverage. Yes it's nice to use a CB blitz as a surprise, but not as a necessity to shake the QB every play.
Here's a shot where Tyrone Crawford got upfield destroyed his man and the front four sacked Eli.
3. Speaking of the front four again. I saw a number of plays that made me think Demarcus Lawrence is going to be a beast.
I knew he was physically gifted, but he spotted something and pointed it out in the play below. Then moments later instead of rushing the passer, dropped into coverage and assisted on a tackle to preserve what could have been a big gain. He's growing before our eyes.
Just look at him (#90) pointing out the play.
I'm a little concerned about Dez missing now. I wrote another blog about this too find it here for all of the details. Basically, the Falcons were able to get a lot of easy yards from Julio Jones because he's a big bodied receiver who can quickly get into small spaces. Without Dez, I have concerns as to who has the ability, i.e. hands, speed, strength to make the plays Jones was able to.
There's nothing better than having a blue print from another team and then exposing the Eagles weaknesses after that. However, I don't believe Terrance Williams is that type of catcher, Beasley isn't that type of size and Devin Street has yet to prove he's more than a JAG.
The Cowboys need to fix a few blocking things and the run game could shore up nicely. A lot of people are freaking out about the running back position and it's fine, there were times when plays were extended out further because of missed assignments yet Randle was still able to provide positive yards. Having McFadden spell him at times was nice too and McFadden proved to be explosive in the passing game as well as little ol Lance Dunbar. But agains missing Dez Bryant means you've now taken a massive threat away from the run game in blocking and in keeping the safeties honest. That being said, fix a couple of blocking mishaps and that will solve itself. Look at the series below and you'll see what I mean. Watch over Jason Witten and Lucky Whitehead and see how far out Randle has to go before he is able to turn up field.
According to our very own Mike Fisher, Jason Garrett was telling his players this week, your opponent is nameless and faceless. I love that approach. Don't worry about anything but what you have to do to block, catch and win. The best teams look right through you, score and then go line up to do it again. Jason Garrett is making a machine in Dallas.
7. I cannot express to you how fantastic it is that Sean Lee is going to be on the field against the Eagles on Sunday.
I love the athleticism at the linebacker position, and the flexibility at the position as well, and when Rolando McClain returns they will be even more physical.
Anthony Hitchens is the perfect combination of speed, athleticism and smarts and compliments Lee very well right now. With the Eagles offense, Lee is going to make a huge impact. His ability to prepare, read and react is going to be necessary because the Eagles like to do a lot and I mean a lot of misdirection. They get the ball out of Sam Bradford's hands very quickly in order to A) protect him and B) give him a limited number of reads and progressions he has to make, just make the throw is what they want him to do. It can be a grind on defensive players who aren't prepared and they can get turned around very quickly. So discipline to not bite is going to be important. They love to send the line one way and bootleg out to in the other direction and they can gain big yards on that stuff if a team isn't careful.
Lee doesn't get fooled too often and I don't think the Cowboys defense will benefit from that.
8. I hate the Eagles.
9. Again, Tony Romo. He had the bad throw to Witten which was picked for 6, but other than that the dude was on point. He had all day in the pocket at times and that was partly due to the Giants inability to rush the passer. The eagles didn't look too hot getting after the QB against what a lot of people refer to as a suspect offensive line in Atlanta. I feel very confident with him back there, I'd just rather not have to comeback late in the game again.
Cory Mageors is co-host of The K&C Masterpiece 7-11 weeknights on 105.3 The Fan. Follow him on twitter @inthemageors and the show @kandc1053
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