marioherreraBelieve it or not, the NFL season is nearly at the halfway point.
Our Dallas Cowboys find themselves with a record of 4-2, and hosts of the Los Angeles Rams this Sunday afternoon.
The bye week seemingly could not come at a better time for the Cowboys, as they had some issues to workout.
Under Head Coach Mike McCarthy, Dallas is 2-1 after the bye week, and enter this game the healthiest they’ve been all year.
In order to improve to 5-2 on the season, there are certain matchups that Dallas needs to make sure fall their way.
Let’s take a look at these keys to victory, and how the game could go sideways for the Cowboys if they can’t exploit them.
Contain Cooper Kupp & Puka Nacua
Let’s get this straight right out of the gate.
I don’t expect the Cowboys to be able to completely neutralize either of the Rams’ wide receivers.
Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are too dynamic to keep them from getting the football, especially with the target share they receive from Matthew Stafford.
Kupp has only played three games this season after coming back from an offseason hamstring injury, but has already surpassed the stats of any of the Cowboys’ second options behind CeeDee Lamb.
Stafford has targeted Kupp 28 times for 17 receptions, 295 yards, and a touchdown.
In Kupp’s absence with injury, rookie 5th round pick Puka Nacua has been more than anyone expected.
Wearing Kupp’s old number 17 jersey, Nacua certainly has looked every bit the part, hauling in 58 receptions on 82 targets for 752 yards, and two touchdowns.
Nacua and Kupp are difficult to stop because they understand how to attack both man and zone coverages.
Rams’ Head Coach Sean McVay is a master at scheming ways for his receivers to get a free release off of the line of scrimmage.
The ability to do this is what helps Kupp and Nacua to either run away from man coverage or find the soft spots in the zone.
For Dallas to be successful, the defensive backs needs to be physical and win at the line of scrimmage in man coverage.
They have to disrupt routes to keep the Rams’ pass catchers from getting comfortable, and if they do make the catch, need to be tackled immediately.
In zone coverage, the secondary and linebackers need to be disciplined in their coverage, and shade over slightly towards Kupp or Nacua.
Don’t Let Aaron Donald Control The Interior
Rams’ DT Aaron Donald is a menace in the interior of the defensive line.
Although not as dominant as his Defensive Player of the Year seasons, 85% of Donald is still better than most defensive tackles in the NFL.
Taken just three spots ahead of 2014 Cowboys’ first round draft pick Zack Martin, the two will be seeing plenty of each other on Sunday.
So far this season, Donald has 29 tackles, 2.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits.
The only game he didn’t acquire either a tackle for loss or a quarterback hit was the game against the Eagles, arguably the best offensive line in the NFL.
Los Angeles makes it difficult to execute combo blocks because of their primary 3-4 defensive front.
All three down linemen line up over both guards and the center while the outside linebackers line up out wide.
This leaves all five offensive linemen in one on one situations that they will have to win for the offense to be successful.
Tyler Smith, Tyler Biadasz, and Zack Martin will all have to be sound in their technique, but also in communication to prevent against stunts.
McCarthy Scheming Receivers Open
If there is any unit that needed special attention and adjustments over the bye week, it’s the passing game.
Through the air, the Cowboys’ offense has been stale and boring.
It’s obvious just from watching the games, but if you needed more proof, look no further than Dak Prescott’s stats.
Prescott’s numbers so far are reminiscent of his rookie season, except he is on pace to throw for less touchdowns.
His completion percentage is a career high, but his yards per attempt and yards per completion are the lowest of his career.
Part of this decline has been McCarthy’s new Texas Coast scheme, which features more horizontal route concepts than vertical.
The short passing game is supposed to open up the opportunities for a deep connection much like a boxer uses his jabs to setup the knockout punch.
The only problem is that McCarthy’s jabs aren’t even working on a consistent level.
Route concepts seem old and outdated, and the receivers outside of Lamb are not winning their one on one matchups on the outside.
To fix this, it seems as simple as using motion and rub routes to give the receivers some help getting open.
This was evident on the only play the Cowboys scored a touchdown versus the 49ers.
KaVontae Turpin was sent sprinting across the formation in motion, and was already full speed at the snap.
He outran the defender to the endzone and hauled in the catch.
Dallas utilizes pre-snap motion at the lowest rate in the NFL, and it’s so obvious that more of it would help Dak and the offense.
So why won’t McCarthy make the change?
Maybe he was waiting for the bye week to install more of those motion and rub route concepts.
Let’s hope so. If receivers cannot get open early in the route, Dallas could have a hard time moving the football.
