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Dallas Cowboys: Week 3 – Five Things

By Daniel Ruppert

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The Dallas Cowboys face the undefeated Atlanta Falcons in week 3 without Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, here are the five things they need to do to win.

We all know that the Dallas Cowboys are hurting right now. Heading into a week 3 match-up against the undefeated Atlanta Falcons looks worse than it is. There are some things the Cowboys are doing really well right now that gives them a really good opportunity to walk away 3-0. Here are the five things the Cowboys must to do win:

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1. Contain Julio – Julio Jones is fighting a hamstring injury, but it looks as though he is going to play. Dallas did an incredible job shutting down Odell Beckham Jr. in week one, so they will have to focus on Julio the same way. Rolling help to where Julio is will force Matt Ryan to throw to someone else. After Julio Jones, there isn’t a lot of great options. The Dallas Cowboys will dare Matt Ryan to beat them with Jacob Tamme, Leonard Hankerson, and a 33-year old Roddy White.

2. Run The Rock, and Then Don’t – With Brandon Weeden at the helm and the memory of the Arizona Cardinals game last year, Dallas will most likely rely on the run game. To be honest, the Falcons are going to expect this. It doesn’t matter, however. Once Atlanta starts pushing down toward the box play action will be there for Weeden who should have a better rhythm by that point. We saw what he can do with Terrance Williams when the middle of the field opens up when teams push down for the run. Running early could set up some bigger plays later.

3. The O-Line has to be the O-Line – First, they have to stop with the penalties that plagued them in the game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Jason Garrett should have focused on this and I believe it will be better. Atlanta has a decent pass rush and if the line can hold it off and force the aforementioned run game early it should tire out the defensive line. This should force the Falcons to start pushing down into the box earlier and again allow plays to develop over the top and across the middle.

4. Play the Pass and Rush – The Falcons have a fairly weak running game at the moment. If Dallas can contain Julio the Falcons will be forced to beat the Cowboys another way, and as I said in No. 1, it will be in the passing game. Tevin Coleman is the leading rusher at 50 yards a game, and as a team the Falcons are only at 80 yards a game. Coleman is banged up and this depletes the run game even more. It is time to pin their ears back and go after the QB.

5. Footballs for Everyone! (again) – With Dez Bryant out Brandon Weeden won’t feel like he has to rely on Bryant to win the game. He can spread the ball around to Terrance Williams, Jason Witten, Cole Beasley, and Lance Dunbar. If the Falcons want to shut Williams down, there are plenty of weapons that the Cowboys can use. Their corps looks a whole lot better than who the Falcons have.

So, there are the five things the Dallas Cowboys must do to win week 3. If they can force the Falcons out of relying on Julio Jones and hold off the pass rush, the Cowboys could very well be 3-0 after this week. Since this is a game of uncertainties due to injuries the song of the week is: Eminem – Beautiful Pain

Next: Cowboys Better Learn To Win Without Dez and Romo

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