Broncos vs Cowboys Week 9: History, players to watch, gut prediction

The Dallas Cowboys return home this Sunday boasting a 6-1 record as they host the Denver Broncos. The Cowboys are coming off of a win on Sunday Night Football that took the entire team rallying behind backup quarterback Cooper Rush. The win gave this team confidence and an aura around them that they can win with whoever the next man up is.

The Broncos come to Dallas fresh off of a win against NFC East foe, Washington. I will at least give them a thank you for that. Last Sunday’s win stopped a four-game skid after the Broncos started the year 3-0, to the surprise of many. Even with the 4-4 record, this Broncos team has struggled lately.

The Broncos’ wins have come against teams that have a combined total of six wins. They have beat the Giants, Jaguars, Jets, and Washington while getting handled pretty well in every other game.

You know the drill. We’ll start this thing off with a quick history lesson going past to present, look at the weather and field outlook (YOUR FAVORITE PART), a couple of players I think have the chance to step up, then send us into the weekend with a prediction.

Denver Broncos vs Dallas Cowboys History

All-Time Record: 8-5 in favor of the Broncos (1-0 postseason record in favor of the Cowboys, Super Bowl XII)

Most Recent Result: Denver Broncos 42, Dallas Cowboys 17 on September 17, 2017

Well, simply put, the Broncos have completely owned the Cowboys since 1998. They bring in a six-game winning streak in this matchup. This is the first matchup since 2017 so the rosters are very much turned over and include a lot of new faces, although Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott experienced that throttling the Cowboys took in Mile High Stadium.

This matchup carries some fun history, though. Back in 1978, these teams met in Super Bowl XII that saw the Cowboys come away with the title in a 27-10 victory. The Cowboys were led by two Hall of Famers in Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett on the way for the franchise’s second Super Bowl.

There is also the 51-48 shootout that took place in 2013 when Dallas hosted the Broncos. In one of the more entertaining games of the last decade, the teams traded blows for all four quarters. Tony Romo (506 yards-5 TDs) and Peyton Manning (414 yards-1 TD) dueled all afternoon in a game that featured 1,039 total yards of offense. This Broncos’ victory came on their path to the 2013-14 Super Bowl where they ultimately fell to the Seahawks.

I’ll be honest, the most recent matchup left my brain and that is probably for good reason. I looked at the game log and truly have no idea what happened. Trevor Siemian had the game of his life as he threw for four touchdowns in an absolute trouncing of the Cowboys. Running back CJ Anderson chipped in 118 yards and one score on the ground. This game was ugly.

Ezekiel Elliott was held to eight yards on nine carries in the worst game of his career. Yes, less than one yard per carry. Dak threw for only 238 yards on 50 attempts with two interceptions. This thing was ugly all around.

This year’s matchup sings a drastically different tune. The Broncos are a team that has a stop-gap quarterback, a defense that just shipped off one of the franchise greats, and no real outstanding threats at the offensive skill positions. Truth be told, unlike the Vikings last week who I thought were better than a .500 record, I think the Broncos are beyond lucky to be clinging to a .500 mark.

This is a team that is inferior to the Cowboys in many aspects on offense and defense. The defense is led by head coach Vic Fangio and is usually consistent at worst but is likely going to be on the field a lot come Sunday. The Cowboys’ biggest worry will be ensuring that they don’t play down to their opponent’s level coming off of an emotional win.