Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys will travel to Denver, Colorado, where the elevation sits at 5,280 feet. For those who paid attention in science class, that’s exactly a mile above sea level, which is why they are accurately labeled the Mile High City. The Cowboys have not beaten the Broncos in over 30 years, with their last victory coming in September of the Super-Bowl-winning 1995 season. Over these 30 years, the teams played seven times, with Dallas losing every time. It’s the longest current losing streak the Cowboys have against any team in the NFL.
Dallas looks to put an end to this losing streak and, in doing so, earn a winning record for the first time this season. The Broncos sit atop the AFC West with a 5-2 record and are trying to make the playoffs for the second-straight season after the Sean Payton era has put them back on the map after an eight-year playoff hiatus. It has the potential to be a good game, unless the Cowboys show up and get their clocks cleaned, similar to what’s happened during their last two contests. Hopefully, things will go a little differently this time around. Here are five things to watch for in the thin air of Mile High.
This game will feature one of the best passing offenses in the league going up against the top-ranked passing defense in the league. Dak Prescott has been on fire, and he will look to keep things moving against a Broncos defense that is no joke. With the possible return of center Cooper Beebe, the Cowboys could have all of their starting offensive linemen back on the field. This unit has done a great job keeping Prescott upright, as he’s only been pressured on 30% of his dropbacks, the sixth-lowest rate in the league.
However, the Broncos bring the heat as they generate pressure on a league-best 47% of their pass rushes. With an edge duo of Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper (14 sacks between them), the Broncos should cause some problems for Cowboys’ tackles Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph loves to line up several defenders at the line of scrimmage and challenge the OLine to sort out the pass-rush. How well Dak and company can handle the pass rush should go a long way in determining how much success the offense, and subsequently the team, will have on Sunday.
Denver has won four straight games, including two of them in close battles against the Cowboys’ NFC foes, the Eagles and Giants. During this time, second-year quarterback Bo Nix has scored nine touchdowns (six passing and three rushing) and has only thrown one interception. The former Oregon quarterback is a big reason for their early 5-2 start this season.
While Nix doesn’t air out a lot of passing yards (222 yards/game last season, 222 yards/game this season), he does a good job getting rid of the ball quickly. Most of...
