Brett's Cowboys Corner

Sunday, the Cowboys will be in need for a win, facing a red-hot offense in Atlanta. The Falcons are a competitive team that has kept games close against some good opponents, like Kansas City and Tampa Bay. The Falcons have had some clutch drives, including a victory over your division rival the Eagles.

This game might come down to the very last possession. I think the Falcons are good for 30+ points every week, and it will be necessary for the Cowboys to score 30 points to keep up, something they have only done once this year.

• Malik has had some struggles in the middle of the field, this is a week where he may be targeted. Cousins threw 370+ yards in intermediate throws between the hashes on his 509 yard day against Tampa Bay. Cousins also throws his interceptions to safeties that can jump the route.
• Mazi has not lived up to his draft status, everyone saw the PFF grade on Sunday Night Football, DT 119 of 119. Guard Chris Lindstrom has allowed 30 pressures, Mazi doesn’t have a single pressure. This may be the best opportunity for Smith to dominate.
• Martin has not been the hall of fame standard we are used to. This will be a big game for him to get some confidence back, as the Falcons defensive line is lackluster, Martin’s matchup with Grady Jarrett will be one to watch, as Jarrett may be their most consistent rusher.

• Bates can shutdown the middle of the field, an area Dak likes to attack. Dak has struggled with turnovers to good safety play, this could be a field day for Bates.
• Pitts is on the best 4 game stretch of his career. This could be another huge game as Dallas struggles with tight ends, and couldn’t figure out how to guard George Kittle. Dallas will be trying someone else to cover Pitts, let’s see how it works.
• Bijan is a dynamic runner, Atlanta should go to him early and often. Dallas has allowed running backs to put the game away early. Bijan will have a chance to control the entire game with his running and pass-catching ability.

1 – Apply The Pressure.

Kirk Cousins goes from hero to zero when he’s facing pressure. Cousins has scored a lot of points and has led some clutch drives this season. But when he is under pressure, his 111.7 passer rating drops to 68.5 rating. He has 87 pass attempts under pressure this year and has thrown 6 interceptions with a defender in his face.

With a laundry list of injuries, Dallas has not been able to apply a lot of pressure. But this is the week they will need to turn it around to win. I think the Cowboys should utilize DeMarvion Overshown as an edge rusher at times. Currently, Dallas allows 2.91 seconds to throw, which is among the bottom of the league. Kirk gets the ball out in about 2.70 seconds, so you will have to close that gap.

2 – Attack The Slot.

Dee Alford has been the man teams are targeting. The Falcons slot corner has struggled with speedy receivers all year. This season he is the most targeted corner in their secondary and has allowed 34 receptions, 292 yards, and 3 TDs. Until Atlanta does something to fix it, that should be the spot to attack. Line Lamb up in the slot and let him feast on slants and quick cuts. Also, Kavontae Turpin can do a lot of damage as he is a speedster.

The Falcons also play a lot of off-coverage, they give a lot of cushion underneath to the receivers. So you can finally attack the hitch and curl routes that McCarthy has been running all season. Look for Lamb of course, but also Jalen Tolbert could have a big day, as he already leads the team in receptions (17) and yards (200) against off-coverage this season.

3 – Protect The Football.

Dak has said he has to get better at protecting the football. It is going to be difficult to win this game if you continue with bad turnovers. Dak has two interceptions in each of the past three games. The problem is how similar some of them look. This week we need to make the right decision and get good balls to the receivers.

This Atlanta team might score points every time they touch the ball. A quick way to fall behind are bad turnovers. There are a lot of weak points on the Atlanta defense, exploit them and work the ball downfield. Try to win time of possession and keep the ball out of the hands of the Atlanta offense.

4 – Cover The Middle Of The Field.

Kirk Cousins is a sitting duck in the pocket, waiting to be hit. If you fail to pressure him, you need to keep the middle of the field protected. He loves to find crossing routes and will throw a few vertical seam routes to Pitts and London. They keep the offense very simple, so it is important for Hooker and Wilson to protect the middle of the field and not let easy targets happen.

This is where turnovers will happen for Cousins, he will throw about 2 or 3 reckless balls down the middle which will leave you scratching your head. It is important to capitalize on those and create a turnover.

Safety play will have to step up for those reasons but also carry the weight of the corners. Cowboys will still be without Daron Bland and now it looks like Trevon Diggs will be missing too. That leaves rookie Caelen Carson and Andrew Booth on the outside, neither has played at the level that is needed. The Cowboys will likely call up Josh Butler or Kemon Hall for depth, both would be making their NFL debuts.

5 – Figure Out The Run Game, Quickly.

This is something that you are supposed to figure out by week 4. But the Cowboys have had a lot of struggles in the run game department. You will potentially have 4 backs active this week. Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, and fullback Hunter Luepke. Running back by committee, even though Coach McCarthy said that’s a term he wants to avoid…well it’s what you got coach!

A good run game will take pressure off Dak, so he doesn’t need to throw the ball 40 times a night, especially in the redzone. But Dallas can’t waste too many downs just rotating running backs, they need to find the hot hand and stick with it until it goes cold.

Speaking of Dak, he has not been the runner he has been in the past. He currently has fewer rushing yards than Aaron Rodgers and a few other statue quarterbacks. When the pocket breaks down, he needs to utilize his legs.