Brett's Cowboys Corner

The 5-7 Cowboys take on the 4-8 Bengals on Monday Night Football. Dallas has been decimated with injuries all year, and early on even with health haven’t played well. Somehow that still puts them with a better record than Cincinnati, who even with arguably the best QB-WR duo in the NFL, they can’t convert wins.

Fans will make the ultimate decision tonight, tuning into either Troy Aikman and Joe buck’s ESPN broadcast, or flipping to Disney+ and watching the animated Simpsons broadcast. Difficult decision, I will likely tune into the latter because the circus of the Cowboys will be taken better on the Simpsons broadcast.

Kickoff just a few hours away, a beautiful 66 degree night in Arlington after some showers over the weekend and look at that, Jerry even opened the roof for us. Lets figure out how to win this thing.

• Trevon Diggs returning from injury, he will draw the matchup with Ja’Marr Chase this week. Not a fun way to come back, but this guy can single handedly beat the Cowboys if necessary.
• DMo has been making an impact for the Cowboys the last few weeks. Blitzing on 27% of dropbacks since Week 7 and scoring a defensive TD last week, he will look to continue his hot streak.
• Rush had a big win against the Bengals in 2022, he protected the ball with no turnovers and led the Cowboys on a game winning drive. He doesn’t need to be Brady out here, just needs to avoid losing you the game.

• Brown has averaged 10.89 MPH at the line of scrimmage, 6th-fastest among RBs with at least 50 carries this season. The Cowboys have struggled against running backs this year, and making tackles.
• Trey has been a dominate presence on their edge, and will give whom ever lines up at left tackle nightmares. He has accounted for 54% of the teams sacks this season.
• Orlando allowed the most pressures of any Bengal ever last week, He will need to keep his QB clean of Micah Parsons, one of the toughest edges to deal with in the NFL

1 – Pressure Burrow.

Joe Burrow has had a shaky offensive line in front of him this season, with 2.79 seconds to throw on average, which is bottom five in the NFL.

Visually you can tell when the play starts to break down for him, when his reads are taken away, he will tuck the ball and try to move around in the pocket. This is where most sacks happen on him.

Cowboys need to make him uncomfortable in the pocket. That is something Dallas has excelled at this season, especially when Micah Parsons is on the field. Overshown recently has been making his presence known as a rusher and will be able to add to that resume today.

2 – Let Rico Eat.

Dowdle had a big game last week on Thanksgiving which helped the Cowboys get a win. This week they will be playing a slightly better run defense. The Bengals are holding opponents to just 3.8 yards per carry on designed rushes between the tackles, the 2nd-fewest in the league.

They are hitting opposing rushers behind the line of scrimmage on 49.3% of such carries (3rd-highest), leading to an average of 0.5 yards before contact allowed per carry (3rd-fewest). Matchup: Cowboys RBs have only gained 0.9 yards before contact per carry on designed rushes between the tackles (6th-fewest) per Next Gen Stats.

To take some weight of Cooper Rush, the Cowboys will look at Rico Dowdle to continue taking the primary carries tonight.

3 – Overcome Injuries In The Secondary.

As I am writing this, the Cowboys announced that for the first time will be able to field their full starting secondary. Trevon Diggs was questionable this week, but will be available tonight.

Meaning your starters will be: Diggs, Bland, Lewis and the safeties Hooker and Wilson.

With some roster moves, like Zack Martin to IR, the Cowboys also activated three additional cornerbacks tonight, maybe as precaution or that Diggs/Bland will be/still be on a snap count.

Practice squad elevation: CB Andrew Booth

Activated from Reserve/Injured: CB Amani Oruwariye

Signed to active roster from practice squad: CB Kemon Hall

4 – Offensive Line Needs to Survive.

The Cowboys planned on Chuma Edoga being the starter at left tackle, as Tyler Guyton the rookie was dealing with some injuries. Guyton was announced as active, doesn’t mean he won’t be on limited snaps or the backup.

Regardless, the tackles will have be ready for a fierce edge rusher in Trey Hendrickson, who has 11.5 sacks on the year.

Hendrickson has generated 63 pressures (2nd-most) and a league-high 31.8% of his team’s pressures.