Week 9 Matchup: Cowboys at Eagles
Sunday, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC ), Lincoln Financial Field
War Room scouts break down every NFL game. Here is a excerpt of their Cowboys-Eagles matchup:
Quarterback: Advantage Eagles
Running backs: Advantage Eagles
Receivers: Advantage Cowboys
Offensive line: Advantage Cowboys
Defensive line: Advantage Eagles
Linebackers: Advantage Cowboys
Secondary: Advantage Cowboys
Pass rushers: Advantage Cowboys
Special teams: Advantage Cowboys
Depth: Advantage Eagles
Coaching: Advantage Eagles
Prediction Cowboys 25 Eagles 23
Cowboys Keys For Success
1. Use cutback runs. With an extra week of practice, expect the Cowboys to look for more ways to put the ball in the hands of Marion Barber III, a powerful inside runner averaging 5.7 yards a carry. The Eagles play an attacking style of defense and often attack the line of scrimmage rather than read the play and react. Barber must wait for the Eagles to over-pursue and locate the cutback lane. If able to find daylight, Barber is tough to tackle.
2. Assign a defensive back to cover Brian Westbrook. Westbrook has made a career out of abusing defensive coordinators for sticking with base personnel and assigning a linebacker to cover him on passing downs. Dallas coach Wade Phillips must not make the same mistake and should deploy a safety, Ken Hamlin or Roy Williams, to come up and defend Westbrook when he motions out to the slot. Williams, however, is a liability in coverage and would struggle to stick with Westbrook in the open field.
3. Attack the Eagles' linebackers. Outside linebackers Takeo Spikes and Chris Gocong struggle in coverage, but middle linebacker Omar Gaither is solid. Spikes and Gocong are much better playing straight ahead rather than playing backwards, so Dallas tight end Jason Witten should take advantage. Look for Witten to run vertical routes in the middle of the field, stretching out Spikes and Gocong and looking to get behind them for a big play before the safeties have time to help.
Eagles Keys For Success
1. Move the pocket. The Eagles do not want Donovan McNabb to stay stationary in the pocket and allow the Cowboys to unload on him with their 3-4 zone-blitz scheme. Therefore, expect to see a lot of rollout passes and bootlegs to keep McNabb on the move and force defenders to constantly change angles of pursuit. McNabb is moving better of late, and this plan would allow him to extend plays with his legs and give his receivers more time to get open.
2. Drop seven into coverage. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson loves to blitz on obvious passing downs, but the Cowboys have too many weapons for that plan to work. Instead, Johnson should drop seven defenders into coverage and run a version of a three-deep scheme to keep all potential big plays in front of them. This would put the burden on the defensive line to pressure Tony Romo without blitz help.
3. Throw more screen passes. The Eagles have one of the best pass-catching running backs in the league in Westbrook and must utilize him to neutralize the Cowboys' pass rush. Look for McNabb to throw Westbrook screen passes from various formations with the hope of sucking the Cowboys upfield and leaving Westbrook with a lot of running room.
War Room scouts break down every NFL game. Here is a excerpt of their Cowboys-Eagles matchup:
Quarterback: Advantage Eagles
Running backs: Advantage Eagles
Receivers: Advantage Cowboys
Offensive line: Advantage Cowboys
Defensive line: Advantage Eagles
Linebackers: Advantage Cowboys
Secondary: Advantage Cowboys
Pass rushers: Advantage Cowboys
Special teams: Advantage Cowboys
Depth: Advantage Eagles
Coaching: Advantage Eagles
Prediction Cowboys 25 Eagles 23
Cowboys Keys For Success
1. Use cutback runs. With an extra week of practice, expect the Cowboys to look for more ways to put the ball in the hands of Marion Barber III, a powerful inside runner averaging 5.7 yards a carry. The Eagles play an attacking style of defense and often attack the line of scrimmage rather than read the play and react. Barber must wait for the Eagles to over-pursue and locate the cutback lane. If able to find daylight, Barber is tough to tackle.
2. Assign a defensive back to cover Brian Westbrook. Westbrook has made a career out of abusing defensive coordinators for sticking with base personnel and assigning a linebacker to cover him on passing downs. Dallas coach Wade Phillips must not make the same mistake and should deploy a safety, Ken Hamlin or Roy Williams, to come up and defend Westbrook when he motions out to the slot. Williams, however, is a liability in coverage and would struggle to stick with Westbrook in the open field.
3. Attack the Eagles' linebackers. Outside linebackers Takeo Spikes and Chris Gocong struggle in coverage, but middle linebacker Omar Gaither is solid. Spikes and Gocong are much better playing straight ahead rather than playing backwards, so Dallas tight end Jason Witten should take advantage. Look for Witten to run vertical routes in the middle of the field, stretching out Spikes and Gocong and looking to get behind them for a big play before the safeties have time to help.
Eagles Keys For Success
1. Move the pocket. The Eagles do not want Donovan McNabb to stay stationary in the pocket and allow the Cowboys to unload on him with their 3-4 zone-blitz scheme. Therefore, expect to see a lot of rollout passes and bootlegs to keep McNabb on the move and force defenders to constantly change angles of pursuit. McNabb is moving better of late, and this plan would allow him to extend plays with his legs and give his receivers more time to get open.
2. Drop seven into coverage. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson loves to blitz on obvious passing downs, but the Cowboys have too many weapons for that plan to work. Instead, Johnson should drop seven defenders into coverage and run a version of a three-deep scheme to keep all potential big plays in front of them. This would put the burden on the defensive line to pressure Tony Romo without blitz help.
3. Throw more screen passes. The Eagles have one of the best pass-catching running backs in the league in Westbrook and must utilize him to neutralize the Cowboys' pass rush. Look for McNabb to throw Westbrook screen passes from various formations with the hope of sucking the Cowboys upfield and leaving Westbrook with a lot of running room.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:21 PM
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