Dallas Cowboys at L.A. Rams: Breaking down the opponent

The Dallas Cowboys will officially kick off their season against the Los Angeles Rams

The Dallas Cowboys will finally display what has been hidden behind closed doors at their headquarters in Frisco. No doubt everyone will be glued to their television to see what kind of new looks they will give us. Before we dive into what the Cowboys do, they have to prepare for their opponent so fans should prepare what to look for as well.

Whenever you talk about the Rams, the number one name and question that comes up is “how do you stop Aaron Donald”. It’s a question that very few have the answers to so limiting how many times his name is called on Sunday night will be the key to winning in the trenches.

Donald is as dominant as a defensive tackle can be with a speed and strength combination that is unrivaled in the NFL. I wonder if the Cowboys coaching staff will use his aggressiveness against him and allow him to penetrate the trenches and allow his rare upfield get-off as a way of slipping running backs past him.

If you can get Donald blocked, the next name that everyone will talk about is a familiar one in cornerback Jalen Ramsey. He is another player with a rare skill set as people his size aren’t supposed to move that way.

New Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley replaces a familiar name in Wade Phillips and the question is whether or not Ramsey will travel and line up against wideout Amari Cooper? Another option would have Ramsey follow Cowboys wideout Michael Gallup and have the defense roll their coverage and try and take away Amari Cooper.

Staley, who comes from the Vic Fangio coaching tree, is a 37-year-old former outside linebackers coach with the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos so I expect him to use what has traditionally been called the Tampa two defense. A great example of this is the Dallas Cowboys defense of the past ten years where defensive backs keep all the plays in front of them and rely on the pass rush to get home.

On the surface, his youth could be misconstrued as a weakness but I would imagine that we will see something new come from this hire.

I have a feeling that this new coordinator is going to try and put as much pressure as he can in order to try and create confusion and mistakes. The issue with this is if left unprotected, it could have negative consequences for the Rams and big plays could arise for the Dallas offense.

The key to the Dallas Cowboys offense will depend on two things. If the Cowboys can neutralize Donald, a balanced offense will kill whatever the Rams want to do against them. I would expect modest numbers from the usual suspects.

The X-factor on offense will be tight end Blake Jarwin and quarterback Dak Prescott‘s legs. I am expecting the Dallas Cowboys to give the Rams a heavy dose of their own medicine by running 11 personnel and having Jarwin sneak out on bootleg passes or having Dak tuck it and run off of the play-action misdirection.

So will there be any changes concerning the Rams offense?

Head coach Sean McVay is a genius in his own right. Rams use an extreme amount of 11 personnel meaning they have a three-wide receiver set with a tight end that moves around a lot and a single running back.

The offensive lineman either down block to the left or right which makes the defense shift in that direction. Where the defense gets in trouble is when they over pursue to stop the run which allows quarterback Jared Goff to bootleg in the opposite direction and make a simple two or three receiver read or tuck the ball and run.

The Dallas Cowboys defensive line only wins this battle if they are able to get penetration and stop the run with limited linebacker support. I say this because those linebackers have to not only stay in pursuit but not bite on the play-action and cover those backside routes.

Gone are the days of running back Todd Gurley gashing light defensive boxes and the Rams now have to go running back by committee. For those of you who think this is an advantage is prematurely dismissing the power this scheme and how well the Rams disguise run and pass plays.

Running backs Darrell Henderson, Malcolm Brown, and Cam Akers aren’t household names but are talented enough to give a defense fits. Henderson started over Cowboys running back Tony Pollard in college and was drafted ahead of him in the 2019 NFL draft so he is nobody to take lightly. Brown is the power of this group who can carry an entire load while Akers is their version of Tony Pollard.

Wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods might not be in a lot of people’s conversations as being the best in the league but this duo is as productive as they come. The great thing about McVay’s offense is not a single player is worth game planning to eliminate them but is effective enough at beating teams on a consistent basis.

I believe that quarterback Jared Goff has underperformed when he has to take a traditional straight dropback. The key for the Cowboys defense is going to be reliant on how well they defend the stretch run plays and the play-action bootlegs. If you see Goff dropping straight back, the Dallas defense has done their job.

I expect the Dallas Cowboys will be able to stop the Rams and come out of SoFi Stadium with the inaugural win.