Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys return to sunny AT&T Stadium on Sunday to play their divisional rival, the Washington Commanders. Both the Cowboys and Commanders are coming off their third loss of the season after losing to a game-winning field goal last week as time expired. This game is big for both teams as they look to stay in the playoff race and within striking distance of the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles. Here are five things to keep an eye on in this key divisional matchup between the Cowboys and Commanders.
Stopping the run will be the focus of most games going forward, and it certainly won’t change against the offense that averages 5.5 yards per rushing attempt, the highest in the league. After giving up 216 yards to the Carolina Panthers last week, the attention will again turn to keeping Washington from running all over the defense.
Rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt is now the Commanders’ lead back after injuries to Austin Ekeler (Achilles) and Chris Rodriguez (calf) have taken them out of the mix. He is averaging 5.7 yards per carry, which is the third-highest efficiency for running backs who have at least 25 carries. Only Bijan Robinson and the recently resurgent Rico Dowdle have a higher average. Croskey-Merritt is a north-and-south runner who doesn’t waste movement dancing around. If the Cowboys’ defense isn’t able to clog the lanes, it could turn into a grindfest with the result being a big day for the rookie back.
The Cowboys’ offense will get a nice boost this week with the return of their star wide receiver, CeeDee Lamb. The team’s biggest offensive weapon started the year well with two straight 100-yard performances before he injured his ankle in Week 3. In his absence, George Pickens has picked up the slack, averaging over 100 yards receiving over the last four games, and has scored five touchdowns in the process.
The Cowboys will get their dynamic duo back for the first time in a month, and the last time these two played a complete game together, the offense put up 478 yards of offense, their highest output of the season. It will be a nice feeling to have Lamb back in the mix and give Dak Prescott more weapons to work with, especially with how vulnerable the defense has been this season. Every little bit helps.
It was a beatdown in the trenches last week as Carolina asserted their dominance on both sides of the ball. Not only did the defense roll out the red carpet for the Panthers’ running game, but the offense couldn’t do anything with their own rushing attack. Dallas only had 31 yards on the ground. Running back Javonte Williams was an absolute non-factor.
Before last week, Williams was averaging 98 yards over the previous four games. Getting the running attack back on track will be important for the offense. The good news is that the...
