Dallas Cowboys victory plan found in Rams last two losses

As the Dallas Cowboys devise a strategy to defeat Los Angeles, they’ll gain plenty of insight from the Rams’ last two losses.

The Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs begins on Saturday as the Dallas Cowboys visit the Los Angeles Rams. Ignore the hype, it’s safe to discard records for this one.

After going 8-1 over their last nine games, the Cowboys are one of the hottest NFL teams for good reason. Two of their brightest new stars took over the reigns around midseason and the team never looked back.

Two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper and rookie All-Pro linebacker Leighton Vander Esch have catapulted the team into a legitimate playoff contender.

While the 13-3 Rams are a force to be reckoned with, there’s no denying they cooled off some in the second half of the season losing three of their last eight games.

Their final two losses came to both NFC teams who squared off last weekend in the Wildcard Round in Chicago. Each defeat offers much for Dallas to formulate into strategy for beating Los Angeles.

BEARS 15, RAMS 6

That’s right the NFL’s second ranked scoring offense could only manage two field goals against the top ranked defense in football. While Dallas may not be at Chicago’s defensive level, their 5th ranked unit is definitely in the conversation.

For starters, the Bears stuffed the run with a vengeance. Todd Gurley had 11 rushes for 28 yards. When the Rams can’t run for their life, they’ll struggle to sell play action fakes and work wide receiver sweeps into the action. No receiver had a carry.

Chicago made Los Angeles one-dimensional while their own backs grounded out 170 yards. It was the same dual-headed run game dominance the Cowboys used to tame and reject the high octane Saints.

The Bears took it further by rattling Jared Goff with heavy pressure since he was forced to rely on his arm. This resulted in swiping three sacks and four interceptions.

The Cowboys own a balanced defense and elite run game to duplicate the Bears plan and find similar results. But without suffocating the run, things will go sideways in a hurry as the Rams’ multi-faceted offense becomes unpredictable.

EAGLES 30, RAMS 23

For the second week in a row, Gurley was locked in a cage as the Eagles limited him to 12 carries for 48 yards. The Rams ran one receiver sweep gaining 19 yards. If the run was working, they’d have tried more as their 36 attempts on the season suggest.

Philadelphia pressured Goff into two sacks and an interception. While not overpowering on the ground, three backs squeezed out 106 rushing yards to Los Angeles’ 52. Once again the winning team controlled the ground on both sides.

On the season the Rams hold a small time of possession margin over opponents. However, the Eagles won this metric as did the Bears. Chicago held the ball over 13 minutes longer, and Philadelphia did so by just over three minutes.

The two-fold strategy is to control the ground on both sides and pressure Goff into mistakes. It worked in both losses to those NFC playoff teams. It’s also the blueprint that will help the Dallas Cowboys steal their spot in the NFC Championship game.