Cowboys vs Colts Week 13: history, key players, projection

Cowboys vs Colts: “Under the Radar” Players

This matchup has two teams with strong backfields and offenses that will want to run the ball. The most significant matchup in this one is what the linebacking group can do to slow that down and force these offenses to throw. Each team’s leading tackler is up for discussion this week.

Dallas Cowboys: Leighton Vander Esch, MLB

Leighton Vander Esch is having a bit of a bounce back year right now. After coming back to Dallas, all he has done is lead the Cowboys in tackles with 75 so far. Add in a sack, three tackles for loss, and a forced fumble, and you have a quality season brewing from the Boise State product.

The Colts are not going to disguise it. They will run the ball to Jonathan Taylor to alleviate their passing game with the statue of Matt Ryan in the pocket against the Cowboys’ pass rush. The Colts know they must shorten this game and run the ball well to have a chance. This keeps the Dallas offense, which is showing more and more life each week, off the field and keeps themselves out of long third down situations.

Vander Esch will be cleaning up running lanes against Taylor, and needs to make the tackle the first time to avoid Taylor clearing the second level and using his breakaway speed to make this thing interesting.

Indianapolis Colts: Zaire Frankin, SLB

Feels a bit odd calling the second leading tackler in the NFL “under the radar,” doesn’t it? Well, unfortunately for Zaire Franklin, when you’re on a team in a mid-market city with an underperforming record at a position that isn’t always in the spotlight, your performance can get overlooked.

That said, he is supremely talented. Franklin leads the Colts with 121 tackles, eight of them for loss, and has a sack, three pass deflections, and a forced fumble. He will be all over the field on Sunday night and constantly around the ball.

Dallas has found success from the play-action game as of late, and getting Zeke and Tony Pollard going is fundamental to that. If Franklin disrupts the run game, Dak may be forced into a traditional “drop back and pass” type of game. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it hasn’t been the recipe for the Cowboys since his return.