cowboys

The Patriots are done with their early bye week and back in action against the injury-depleted Dallas Cowboys. Yes, this is far from the Jimmy Garoppolo vs. Tony Romo and Dez Bryant matchup it might’ve looked like early last summer. Now it’s
Tom Brady
vs. Brandon Weeden
, Jason Witten and not much else on either side of the ball.

Still, the Cowboys took the Saints to overtime last weekend, and now hosting a Patriots team that is coming off their bye week could translate to a closer game than the Pats -8.5 line might indicate.

Here’s the gameplan!

Offensive Gameplan

The potential loss of Sean Lee looms large in this one for the Cowboys as their defense looked in disarray after he left the Saints game with a concussion. The Patriots offense knows how to expose defensive miscommunication unlike any other team in the league, so the Cowboys must be prepared for the breakneck pace of the Pats.

There’s really no reason for the Patriots to do anything other than what they’ve been doing – attack through the air and don’t stop until a lead is established. That means rolling our Dion Lewis for a large role once again and then handing the ball off to LeGarrette Blount
to seal the win.

It’s the Rob Gronkowski
and Julian Edelman
quick-passing show, with Danny Amendola coming through with clutch catches when called upon. No one has had an answer for Gronk/Edelman yet and it doesn’t seem like Dallas has the personnel to come up with something innovative.

The answer isn’t hard to see, it’s just nearly impossible to execute. The cornerbacks must must must disrupt the timing of the offense by jamming Gronk and Edelman at the line.

The hot routes must be taken away with creative zone drops by the defensive front. And finally Dallas must then be able to generate some kind of pass rush with only three rushers. 

Or perhaps the Cowboys should load up against the pass early on and allow the Pats to run on them early. If Brady and the passing game don’t establish an early rhythm perhaps they will continue to sputter.

None of these are airtight and easily executable answers, they’re simply the only things left to possibly try against the Patriots’ offense outside of just hoping they come out flat and stay flat.

This one’s for you, Greg Hardy.

Defensive Gameplan

Despite being somewhat of a punchline, Brandon Weeden looked decent in spurts against the Saints, but this one has all the makings of a “make Weeden beat us” gameplan.

Which means that the Pats might actually try to stop the run this week. Generally this would mean more of Siliga and Branch, while working in Brown and Hicks (maybe) while Easley might be reserved for third down pass rushing duties only.

Though Easley does make a pretty good impact in the run game, not with size, but with his disruption. He’s one guy to monitor but the other is Jerod Mayo, because if they’re going to be in more regular (4 DBs) personnel, that could mean a spike for his playing time. 

I’ve been tough on Mayo over the bye week because I just don’t see him moving like he used to. Maybe it will come back, but the clock it ticking. This week might be the first time we get a sense of how extensively they’re willing to use Mayo or if Jon Bostic was brought in because they don’t think they can lean on Mayo yet.

Overall the Patriots are just about fully healthy this week so we’ll also get a sense of any changes in the secondary they felt needed to be made after some self scouting over the bye. Could Jordan Richards start to see more time? Or how about Justin Coleman? Is Bradley Fletcher going to get another shot?

I’d expect a little more zone defense this week as this is where we’ll see if the new pass rush rotation and depth can pay off. That means Chandler/Ninkovich/Sheard generating push against a very good offensive line. It should be a good barometer of where the pass rush is at.

Five Points of Emphasis

1. Stop the Run: Pretty simple really, stop the run, make Brandon Weeden beat us by putting together long, sustained drives through the air without turning the ball over. Does he have that kind of a game in him? All NFL quarterbacks have one or two, even Mark Sanchez did, so you can never rule it out. But it should be a tall task for him, especially if the Pats take away Jason Witten.

2. Keep the Offense Rolling: I used to think there were games where you’d want to come out and “establish the run” but those days are gone. What you need to establish is moving the ball and getting points. There’s little gained by running LeGarrette Blount into a primed defensive front seven only to see him gain 2-3 yards. Wait to roll the Blount until the defense has been loosened up and is on their heels a bit. Get the ball out quick, establish the lead and put even more pressure on Weeden to throw.

3. Take Away Witten: Not a secret that Witten is the best weapon left at Weeden’s disposal and while I don’t like sticking Jamie Collins in coverage too much, he’s the best tight cover guy the Pats have so he’ll see plenty of the reliable veteran tight end. I’d prefer it’s not a blitz game for Collins, instead it would be better to see how well we can generate pressure with just the front four, in whatever combination.

4. Stay Healthy: Maybe I shouldn’t put this as a key but it’s been almost all I can think about this week. The injury bug has hit the NFL iron hard this year and it seems like thus far the Pats are the only team to avoid its wrath. We’re hitting a point in the season where we usually get whacked with an injury too – Wilfork 2013, Mayo 2013/2014 are just a couple that jump to mind. Really I don’t think it’s a stretch to say if the Pats stay healthy there almost no AFC team that can stop them from getting to the Super Bowl, but there’s still a long road to go.

5. Win: How fast will I turn the page from the Cowboys to the Colts if the Pats get an injury-free win? Almost immediately. We all know how much hype there will be over the next week and I can’t wait to get on it. Still the Pats have been almost flawless for the first three games, and they’re somewhat due for some flat play. Maybe they’ll be like the 2007 team and avoid it or be able to overcome it, but I won’t be surprised if this game is closer than everyone thinks.