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Dallas Cowboys: 3 Keys to beating the Atlanta Falcons

By Adithya Prabakaran

Nov 7, 2021; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) gestures after throwing a touchdown pass in the third quarter against the New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2021; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) gestures after throwing a touchdown pass in the third quarter against the New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports /

No 1: Don’t Blitz Matt Ryan

The Cowboys have been good at generating pressure this year especially without their best defender DeMarcus Lawrence. Dan Quinn’s use of multiple fronts to vary rushers from different alignments has given the Cowboys the ability to generate pressure even from four-down linemen looks. The ability to generate pressure consistently has plagued the Cowboys in the past so it’s great to see the Cowboys be more consistent in this department this season, but there might be a bigger reason as to why the Cowboys have blitzed a lot so far this season.

It’s because of the competition they’ve faced. The Cowboys have played against Tom Brady, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, Mike Glennon, Mac Jones, Kirk Cousins, and Teddy Bridgewater. Of these quarterbacks, only Justin Herbert, Teddy Bridgewater, and Tom Brady (to a degree) were able to successfully navigate the blitz when they played the Cowboys. The other quarterbacks struggled and it created turnovers for the Cowboys to capitalize on.

Blitzing is becoming less common across the league because opposing offenses and quarterbacks are getting smarter at how to target blitzes. There’s been a stark contrast as to how teams compete against very good and elite quarterbacks compared to bottom-tier starters. Bottom-tier starters tend to struggle at reading pressure or finding soft spots in the defense; elite quarterbacks don’t run into this problem as often.

Matt Ryan has been clicking this season and is one of the oldest quarterbacks in the league. You could make the case that he’s seen everything the NFL has to offer at this point in his career and just needs to develop more chemistry with his playmakers to have another great statistical season.

So that said, blitzing isn’t going to work consistently against Ryan. Ryan is accurate enough to complete tight window passes and is currently in the top half of the league in aggressive percentage at 15.3 percent according to Next Gen Stats. Ryan is already making tough throws on a regular basis and he likely will again on Sunday.

The plan might be for the Cowboys to rush three/drop eight or play man coverage with four rushing. Either way, being over-aggressive could seriously hurt the team on 2nd and 3rd downs with long yardage just like last week.

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