ClutchPoints
The Sunday slate during Week 8 of the NFL season is a little bit sleepy, but there is one marquee matchup in the afternoon in the Mile High City. The Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys will do battle in one of the most crucial matchups of the week, and everything is shaping up to be a barn-burner in Denver.
On one side of the ball, you get an inconsistent Broncos offense led by a struggling quarterback in Bo Nix against an exploitable Cowboys defense that has had some very leaky games against some questionable offenses this season. The Broncos have been running the ball better recently, so we’ll see if they can keep that up against a Dallas defense that finally found some success against the Commanders in Week 7.
While that side of the ball is a bit of a pillow fight, this game turns into a heavyweight bout when the Cowboys get the ball. Dallas has one of the best offenses in the league so far this season after the addition of George Pickens, and it looked unstoppable in Week 7 after CeeDee Lamb returned to the lineup. On the other side, the Broncos backed up their elite defense last season with another top-flight unit this year.
This will be the matchup to watch on Sunday when the Cowboys have the football. Let’s dive into who has the advantage.
Prescott gets a lot of attention, but the emergence of Javonte Williams is one of the biggest reasons why the Cowboys offense has been so good this season. Of course, Williams is a former Bronco, so he will be motivated to have a big game in his return to Denver.
Incredibly, Williams ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards this season with 592, trailing only Jonathan Taylor. He looks more explosive than he has at any point since his knee injury early in his career, and that has added an element of home-run ability to this ground game.
Still, this is only a slightly-above average attack by EPA per play, and it is going to struggle to make consistent inroads against one of the best run defenses in football. The Broncos are deep up front and are very hard to run on, as this defense currently ranks fourth in EPA per rush allowed.
On top of that, the Cowboys are dealing with injuries on the offensive line after starting tackle Tyler Guyton showed up on Thursday’s injury report as a limited participant in practice due to a glute injury.
Not only will that open up chances for Nik Bonitto and the rest of the Denver defensive line to get pressure on Prescott, but it should make it tougher for the Cowboys to run the ball if Guyton can’t go. That could be a big problem, as it’s very hard to move the ball on the Broncos if you can’t move the ball on the ground on early...
