Dallas Cowboys vs Los Angeles Rams: Know Thy Enemy

What We’ve Seen and Possible Gameplan Against Dallas

The name of the game for this Dallas offensive line is to contain Aaron Donald, but that’s much easier said than done.

For the Rams, it will be to match Donald up with the slower or less-talented blocker along the Cowboys’ offensive line so he can use his speed and quickness to get in the backfield. Right now, they could go two ways: attacking Connor McGovern at left guard or heads up on the center Tyler Biadasz who we’ve seen have problems with handling power rushes up the middle in the past.

The Rams know that if Dallas is able to establish their running game with Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard that their injury-riddled secondary can be exploited.

The addition of Pro Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner will help slow down the Cowboys’ running game but it won’t completely stop it. That should allow the Cowboys’ effective play-action passing game to attack that injured secondary down the field while also trying to stay away from Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey who will most likely be shadowing WR1 CeeDee Lamb on Sunday.

Look for bigger games from Michael Gallup, Dalton Schultz, and Noah Brown if he’s able to play through a neck injury that’s bothering him.

Let’s not forget though this is a talented defense with Pro-Bowl caliber players at each level of the defense. It won’t be a cakewalk for the Cowboys and Cooper Rush. They are going to need to play efficient football keeping themselves in second-and-short or third-and-short situations to limit Donald’s ability to rush the passer and exploit a secondary that likes to play off their receivers giving them plenty of space to beat them inside with slants, out routes, and hitches.

It will be a tough one, but the Cowboys can definitely win if they can continue playing the brand of football they’ve been playing the last three weeks.