NFL
By: Greg Rector
Carolina Panthers 3-0 vs Dallas Cowboys 2-1 1:00 PM Sunday, October 3rd
After a very good home-opening victory against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys are now 2 and 1 and have gained momentum. Momentum is a dual-edged sword, on one hand, it can give a team confidence that they can carry into games week by week, the other edge is the far more dangerous one. Where a team begins to believe in the hype surrounding them, beginning to believe they are better than they are in reality. The latter edge has happened too often for the Dallas Cowboys. The coaching staff must not let the players get caught up in the hype. There’s a lot of football still be played (14 games) and this team hasn’t proved they are ready to meet a Packers, Saints, or Rams team when it matters in January and be a favorite to win against any of them. Sure the win against the Eagles was great to see. Cowboys don’t often see “blowout,” wins, so enjoy that rare occurrence as I am this morning. The Cowboys have to prepare for the 3-0 Carolina Panthers. So for today enjoy the victory, the return of Dak to AT&T Stadium after 351 days, enjoy the excellent effort of Ezekiel Elliott 95 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Enjoy the interceptions from Brown and the pick-six by Trevon Diggs. Did y’all finish celebrating? Good, now let’s look at the next match up/
Carolina offense vs Dallas Defense
The Panthers’ offense took a huge hit in the win over the Houston Texans last Thursday night. Christian McCaffrey injured his hamstring and will miss the game against Dallas. McCaffrey’s injury immediately impacted the effectiveness of Sam Darnold and the Panthers’ offense as a whole. Fortunately, they were facing a Texans team that had no answer for receiver DJ Moore, who had a big night for the Panthers. Meet your next match up Mr. Diggs. Yes you shut down Mike Evans, you were pretty good against Keenan Allen, and really had a great night against rookie Devonta Smith, this will be much more like facing Allen, as Moore is an excellent route runner who can separate himself from defenders. That’s going to be a key Sunday afternoon. Robby Anderson so far has been a non-factor in the Panthers’ offense thus far and I look for that to change on Sunday as without McCaffrey the Carolina offense will need to utilize all their weapons. Tommy Tremble the rookie tight end from Notre Dame has shown enough the Panthers felt they could trade away Dan Arnold. The other change with no McCaffrey is rookie running back Canadian Chuba Hubbard is now their RB1. He had some good runs against the Texans.
The Cowboys’ defense has been a very pleasant surprise so far considering the number of injuries (8 guys out) especially at defensive tackle where they are down 4 guys alone. Osa Odighizuwa had a terrific night against the Eagles. The rookie was constantly getting push into the Eagles’ backfield and had 1.5 sacks. Pressure up the middle by the Cowboys? Who are these guys? The run defense overall contained not only Jalen Hurts, but Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell were non-factors as well, mostly due to the big lead but nonetheless, the run defense again had a good effort. If they can make the Panthers a one-dimensional team by limiting the gains for Hubbard all the better. This game will come down to getting to Sam Darnold and limiting the passing game. Yes, the interceptions are nice, however, they still gave 326 passing yards to the Eagles. The big plays against have to be limited, this is the one area the defense needs to improve. The Panthers’ yardage per play fell off quite a bit as soon as they lost McCaffrey who is such a dual-threat. If everyone stays disciplined and just keeps doing what has worked so far I believe the Cowboys’ defense will be able to get to Darnold and force him to hurry his throws, possibly increasing their league-leading turnover numbers.
Dallas Offense vs Carolina Defense
Carolina took a major hit to their secondary when rookie corner Jaycee Horn left the Texans game after breaking three bones in his foot, His injury resulted in the Panthers trading for former first-round pick CJ Henderson from the Jaguars. Henderson is apparently dealing with some off-the-field issues with his mental health. That is not easy for anyone. A change of scenery might be helpful for him. Before anyone thinks Henderson will immediately contribute, we simply don’t know at this point.
The Panthers’ front four are a scary bunch, they apply plenty of pressure and are stout against the run as well. This game looks like it will be important to get to the outside, so look for Tony Pollard, to get his touches. As I have said all year the match-up will determine which running back will need to have the bigger game. Elliott was very physical against the Eagles, and a repeat performance would be welcome, but his pass blocking might be his bigger contribution this Sunday again. Here are my big kudos from the Eagles game, Kellen Moore turned to Conner McGovern to play fullback?? That was awesome to see and effective. That’s some great coaching.
I said in my season preview article on here and on the NBS NFC Preview show when it comes to the offense pick your poison. Even minus Michael Gallup, Prescott found the tight end, Dalton Schultz, for 80 yards and two touchdowns, along with the 4th wide receiver Cedric Wilson for another score. Notice I didn’t even mention Amari Cooper or CeeDee Lamb? The Eagles game was reminiscent of the 2016 Cowboys when rookies Prescott and Elliott, both were monsters. We haven’t seen that much in the last couple of years. Dak’s mastery of this offense is clear, and if the line gives him any amount of time defenses are in trouble as someone will be open.
Carolina’s defense will be a stiffer challenge and the one area I worry about is right up the middle Tyler Biadasz, has struggled at the center and you never want your QB facing pressure up the middle. Dak’s awareness has been pretty good on this front and he will move in the pocket left or right to avoid the rush. I believe that Schultz and Jarwin will help Terence Steele deal with outside pressure, while Elliott will once again have to stay inside in case Biadasz gets beat up in the middle again.
Intangibles and Prediction
As I said at the beginning my one worry is the players believing that they see in print, on social media, and of course on TV. They must avoid buying into any of it. Tune it all out guys, don’t get caught up in the noise. That’s a tired story we have seen far too often with the Cowboys. That said of the coaches can keep them focused on the task at hand, and with Carolins missing their biggest offensive threat, I think Dallas can win this game. It won’t be a blowout by any means. Cowboys 27 Panthers 21 sounds about right.
Again enjoy the wins Cowboys Nation, just remember this is a marathon, not a sprint. The detractors are ready to pounce as always. Let’s not give them the chance for a while. The Cowboys can build on the momentum from the last two weeks and that’s the goal that matters.
As always find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
How About them Cowboys!!!
