Dallas vs. Minnesota Game Preview
By Yakuza Rich
http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com/
DALLAS (-9.5) VS. MINNESOTA
TEXAS STADIUM
SUNDAY OCTOBER 21, 2007 4:15 PM EST
WHEN DALLAS IS ON OFFENSE
After two weeks in a row of using a rather bland gameplan and trying to just out-execute the opponent, Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett mixed some things up on the offense against the Patriots. And while the offense didn’t have a stellar day, that was more or less due to the defense unable to get the Pats offense off the field and allow the offense to do their thing as from an overall standpoint the offense was efficient against the Patriots defense.
Garrett and Romo did a smart thing early on against the Pats that they sorely needed to do against the Bills by dumping the ball off underneath to other receivers besides Jason Witten. The Pats were doing everything they could to take away the deep, especially to Witten and Owens. The Rams and Bills tried the same thing as well and the Bills made the Cowboys pay for it by not looking for other receivers underneath. One of the hidden strengths about the Pats is their ability to defend the screen pass so instead of trying to utilize that, Garrett and Romo were hitting receivers underneath which forced the Pats defense to react and then eventually they started to hit some deeper passes.
The big question here is whether or not the Cowboys will go with the “out-execute ‘em” approach or will they use more complex and aggressive schemes and patterns against the Vikings. Overall the Vikings defense is pretty good, but that’s mainly due to their excellent run defense. However, their secondary is poor and starting safety Dwight Smith may miss the game due to a hamstring injury.
I’d prefer for them not to use the bland “out-execute ‘em” approach with the receivers running mostly deep routes up the sidelines because while the Vikings secondary is weak, this approach could be very harmful. For starters, the “out execute ‘em” approach relies on the fact that if it doesn’t work for the passing game, it will at least stretch the field and open up things for the running game. However, the problem is that the Vikings have an excellent run defense, even when they are playing in their nickel packages. Secondly, the Cowboys need to find ways to score early to force the Vikings into passing the ball instead of being able to hand it off to rookie sensation Adrian Peterson.
What we may end up seeing is a hybrid of the Giants game strategy and the Pats game strategy. In the Giants game they started off running pretty basic sets, except they made sure to get Witten to attack the deep middle of the Cover 2 (which is the Vikings base defense). Outside of Chad Greenway, none of the Vikings linebackers are all that great in coverage and Dallas should have an advantage there. However, unlike the Bills and Rams game, Garrett started to switch things up in the second half against the Giants and it wound up in a season high 45 points. So I can see Dallas using pretty basic formations against the Cover 2 again, but to use the Pats approach of giving Romo a receiver underneath to dump it off to like Barber, Jones or perhaps Patrick Crayton.
The strength of the Vikings defense is their front seven, in particular their defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams (no relation). In the 2006 preseason center Andre Gurode struggled badly against the two, but he’s played quite well this year. Pat Williams is the bigger and stronger of the two defensive tackles. He’s about 350 pounds and just uses his brute strength to dominate opposing guards and centers. Kevin Williams is the better all around athlete. He’s amazingly quick and explosive for a 300 pound man and has excellent strength as well. I doubt we’ll see the guards helping double team the Vikings defensive ends very often as the Williams boys create mismatches for anybody. Leonard Davis may be able to match up against Pat Williams pretty well, but the quicker and more explosive Kevin Williams may give him issues. The key will probably be the play of Gurode and left guard Kyle Kosier. Kosier’s play has been so-so the past two games and both Williams boys are probably way too overpowering for him. He’ll need to step it up and while Gurode doesn’t need to play the game of a lifetime here given his size and skill, he does need to be on top of his game or the Williams boys will reek havoc on the Cowboys offense all afternoon.
WHEN DALLAS IS ON DEFENSE
While Dallas gave up 48 points last week to the Patriots, I would say that there were some silver linings in that dark cloud. For starters, the Pats average nearly 39 points per game this season, so it wasn’t like the Cowboys gave up 48 points to the Jets. Secondly, the Pats got 7 points after Romo’s late interception gave them a very short field when the Patriots were already up by 14 points. Lastly, the big difference as to why the Pats were able to pour on more points against Dallas over the other teams they faced is that Dallas actually led the game in the 3rd quarter and the Pats reacted extremely well and were trying to score more points in order to put the game out of reach. There’s other stuff as well such as Dallas sacking Brady 3 times when Brady had been sacked only 3 times all year long. All in all it was disappointing, but it was hardly as bad as it’s made out to be.
The Cowboys continue to use complex stunts and blitzes against teams, but I think they will taper off in this game unless it’s a 3rd and long situation. Even still, they should be a little worried about Peterson catching a screen pass and doing damage with it. From what I’ve seen out of the Vikings offense this year it almost solely revolves around running the ball, especially with Peterson, and the passing game seems to be mostly either a slant pattern or a deep go route. Usually the go routes are reserved for WR Troy Williamson.
When it comes to running the ball they really like to run off tackle, in particular off tackle behind left tackle Bryant McKinnie and left guard Steve Hutchinson. Both Peterson and Chester Taylor can up the gut, but they are better off running off tackle. With Peterson they like to run a few more stretch plays and runs out on the perimeter because of his blazing speed. Peterson reminds me of a bigger version of former Bengals and Chargers tailback James Brooks. Brooks was an incredibly effective back, but given his size (5’10” 175 pounds) he had durability issues. Peterson is a 220 pound version of Brooks who also eschews running out of bounds and making defenders pay when they try to tackle him.
Dallas will probably run a lot less stunts than normal as they don’t want to give up anything in the run game to Peterson. There should still be some blitzes to essentially make Peterson’s job harder. With Anthony Henry out the Cowboys will again have to rely on Nathan Jones as the nickel cornerback. He got eaten alive by the Patriots so you have to wonder if teams will continue to target him and if his confidence is shaken. However, the Vikings have far, far less of a passing attack than the Patriots.
PREDICTION
Given Peterson’s success recently I feel that he’ll probably still rush for over 100 yards, but the Cowboys will probably do a better job of containing him than the Vikings’ previous opponents. That “containment” along with a decent performance from the Cowboys offense could spell trouble for the Vikings as I don’t think they can be effective against the Dallas defense on 3rd and 5 or more yards and Tarvaris Jackson only completed 9 passes last week against the Bears. The Vikings have also only faced pure 4-3 Cover 2 schees and will have to make adjustments to Dallas’ 3-4 defense.
Something tells me that Owens will have a good game since he’s been contained lately and they’ll want to get him to being active again. On defense I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Roy Williams and Bradie James having big games as they will be needed to help stop the Vikings running game.
This is just another of a series of important games for Dallas. Not only do they need to rebound from the Pats loss, but it would be nice to go into the bye week 6-1 and to then prepare for the Eagles who almost always play Dallas tough in Philadelphis. The Giants and Redskins are starting to nip at the Cowboys heels with the Giants having two easy games coming up (SF and Miami) and the Redskins stand a great chance of beating Arizona at Fed Ex.
But one of the things that I came away with from the Pats game is that it seemed to boost the players and even the fans confidence a bit (the same can’t be said for the media). Yes, the Pats beat them by 21 at Texas Stadium, but there was a sense of “hey, we did make them sweat a little” and that if they could hang with the Pats for three quarters they could play and beat anybody else. Not to mention that they did it without three starters (Terry Glenn, Anthony Henry, and Oliver Hoyte).
But there’s a difference between saying your confident in your abilities and legitimately being confident in your abilities. If there’s any motivation to be had to get off to a quick start (they were down 14-0 after the first quarter in the New England game), this is it. I think they’ll score at least a touchdown in the first quarter and from there comfortably win the game.
YR’S PREDICTED SCORE: Dallas 31 Minnesota 14
http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com/
DALLAS (-9.5) VS. MINNESOTA
TEXAS STADIUM
SUNDAY OCTOBER 21, 2007 4:15 PM EST
WHEN DALLAS IS ON OFFENSE
After two weeks in a row of using a rather bland gameplan and trying to just out-execute the opponent, Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett mixed some things up on the offense against the Patriots. And while the offense didn’t have a stellar day, that was more or less due to the defense unable to get the Pats offense off the field and allow the offense to do their thing as from an overall standpoint the offense was efficient against the Patriots defense.
Garrett and Romo did a smart thing early on against the Pats that they sorely needed to do against the Bills by dumping the ball off underneath to other receivers besides Jason Witten. The Pats were doing everything they could to take away the deep, especially to Witten and Owens. The Rams and Bills tried the same thing as well and the Bills made the Cowboys pay for it by not looking for other receivers underneath. One of the hidden strengths about the Pats is their ability to defend the screen pass so instead of trying to utilize that, Garrett and Romo were hitting receivers underneath which forced the Pats defense to react and then eventually they started to hit some deeper passes.
The big question here is whether or not the Cowboys will go with the “out-execute ‘em” approach or will they use more complex and aggressive schemes and patterns against the Vikings. Overall the Vikings defense is pretty good, but that’s mainly due to their excellent run defense. However, their secondary is poor and starting safety Dwight Smith may miss the game due to a hamstring injury.
I’d prefer for them not to use the bland “out-execute ‘em” approach with the receivers running mostly deep routes up the sidelines because while the Vikings secondary is weak, this approach could be very harmful. For starters, the “out execute ‘em” approach relies on the fact that if it doesn’t work for the passing game, it will at least stretch the field and open up things for the running game. However, the problem is that the Vikings have an excellent run defense, even when they are playing in their nickel packages. Secondly, the Cowboys need to find ways to score early to force the Vikings into passing the ball instead of being able to hand it off to rookie sensation Adrian Peterson.
What we may end up seeing is a hybrid of the Giants game strategy and the Pats game strategy. In the Giants game they started off running pretty basic sets, except they made sure to get Witten to attack the deep middle of the Cover 2 (which is the Vikings base defense). Outside of Chad Greenway, none of the Vikings linebackers are all that great in coverage and Dallas should have an advantage there. However, unlike the Bills and Rams game, Garrett started to switch things up in the second half against the Giants and it wound up in a season high 45 points. So I can see Dallas using pretty basic formations against the Cover 2 again, but to use the Pats approach of giving Romo a receiver underneath to dump it off to like Barber, Jones or perhaps Patrick Crayton.
The strength of the Vikings defense is their front seven, in particular their defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams (no relation). In the 2006 preseason center Andre Gurode struggled badly against the two, but he’s played quite well this year. Pat Williams is the bigger and stronger of the two defensive tackles. He’s about 350 pounds and just uses his brute strength to dominate opposing guards and centers. Kevin Williams is the better all around athlete. He’s amazingly quick and explosive for a 300 pound man and has excellent strength as well. I doubt we’ll see the guards helping double team the Vikings defensive ends very often as the Williams boys create mismatches for anybody. Leonard Davis may be able to match up against Pat Williams pretty well, but the quicker and more explosive Kevin Williams may give him issues. The key will probably be the play of Gurode and left guard Kyle Kosier. Kosier’s play has been so-so the past two games and both Williams boys are probably way too overpowering for him. He’ll need to step it up and while Gurode doesn’t need to play the game of a lifetime here given his size and skill, he does need to be on top of his game or the Williams boys will reek havoc on the Cowboys offense all afternoon.
WHEN DALLAS IS ON DEFENSE
While Dallas gave up 48 points last week to the Patriots, I would say that there were some silver linings in that dark cloud. For starters, the Pats average nearly 39 points per game this season, so it wasn’t like the Cowboys gave up 48 points to the Jets. Secondly, the Pats got 7 points after Romo’s late interception gave them a very short field when the Patriots were already up by 14 points. Lastly, the big difference as to why the Pats were able to pour on more points against Dallas over the other teams they faced is that Dallas actually led the game in the 3rd quarter and the Pats reacted extremely well and were trying to score more points in order to put the game out of reach. There’s other stuff as well such as Dallas sacking Brady 3 times when Brady had been sacked only 3 times all year long. All in all it was disappointing, but it was hardly as bad as it’s made out to be.
The Cowboys continue to use complex stunts and blitzes against teams, but I think they will taper off in this game unless it’s a 3rd and long situation. Even still, they should be a little worried about Peterson catching a screen pass and doing damage with it. From what I’ve seen out of the Vikings offense this year it almost solely revolves around running the ball, especially with Peterson, and the passing game seems to be mostly either a slant pattern or a deep go route. Usually the go routes are reserved for WR Troy Williamson.
When it comes to running the ball they really like to run off tackle, in particular off tackle behind left tackle Bryant McKinnie and left guard Steve Hutchinson. Both Peterson and Chester Taylor can up the gut, but they are better off running off tackle. With Peterson they like to run a few more stretch plays and runs out on the perimeter because of his blazing speed. Peterson reminds me of a bigger version of former Bengals and Chargers tailback James Brooks. Brooks was an incredibly effective back, but given his size (5’10” 175 pounds) he had durability issues. Peterson is a 220 pound version of Brooks who also eschews running out of bounds and making defenders pay when they try to tackle him.
Dallas will probably run a lot less stunts than normal as they don’t want to give up anything in the run game to Peterson. There should still be some blitzes to essentially make Peterson’s job harder. With Anthony Henry out the Cowboys will again have to rely on Nathan Jones as the nickel cornerback. He got eaten alive by the Patriots so you have to wonder if teams will continue to target him and if his confidence is shaken. However, the Vikings have far, far less of a passing attack than the Patriots.
PREDICTION
Given Peterson’s success recently I feel that he’ll probably still rush for over 100 yards, but the Cowboys will probably do a better job of containing him than the Vikings’ previous opponents. That “containment” along with a decent performance from the Cowboys offense could spell trouble for the Vikings as I don’t think they can be effective against the Dallas defense on 3rd and 5 or more yards and Tarvaris Jackson only completed 9 passes last week against the Bears. The Vikings have also only faced pure 4-3 Cover 2 schees and will have to make adjustments to Dallas’ 3-4 defense.
Something tells me that Owens will have a good game since he’s been contained lately and they’ll want to get him to being active again. On defense I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Roy Williams and Bradie James having big games as they will be needed to help stop the Vikings running game.
This is just another of a series of important games for Dallas. Not only do they need to rebound from the Pats loss, but it would be nice to go into the bye week 6-1 and to then prepare for the Eagles who almost always play Dallas tough in Philadelphis. The Giants and Redskins are starting to nip at the Cowboys heels with the Giants having two easy games coming up (SF and Miami) and the Redskins stand a great chance of beating Arizona at Fed Ex.
But one of the things that I came away with from the Pats game is that it seemed to boost the players and even the fans confidence a bit (the same can’t be said for the media). Yes, the Pats beat them by 21 at Texas Stadium, but there was a sense of “hey, we did make them sweat a little” and that if they could hang with the Pats for three quarters they could play and beat anybody else. Not to mention that they did it without three starters (Terry Glenn, Anthony Henry, and Oliver Hoyte).
But there’s a difference between saying your confident in your abilities and legitimately being confident in your abilities. If there’s any motivation to be had to get off to a quick start (they were down 14-0 after the first quarter in the New England game), this is it. I think they’ll score at least a touchdown in the first quarter and from there comfortably win the game.
YR’S PREDICTED SCORE: Dallas 31 Minnesota 14
posted by The Gryphon at 8:36 PM
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