Dallas Cowboys vs Tennessee Titans: Know Thy Enemy

The Dallas Cowboys will be facing off against another physical team in the Tennessee Titans this Thursday after a hard-fought win against the division-leading Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.

Luckily for the Cowboys, they didn’t have any major injuries in their game against the Eagles, who can’t say the same, losing a starting right tackle and cornerback in that game. While the win does leave the door open for the Cowboys to come back and win the division, the Eagles only need one win to lock up the No. 1 seed.

To do that, though, the Cowboys will need to beat a Titans team that’s fighting for their own division against the Jaguars. You can expect the Titans to come out and do everything they can to win this game, which means a heavy dose of pro-bowl running back Derrick Henry for the Cowboys this week.

If they want to win in the playoffs this season, Dallas will need to show that they can stop the run and a good way to do so will be by corralling the toughest running back in the league to bring down. So let’s take a look at what the Titans will bring and how the Cowboys can get a win in this week’s “Know Thy Enemy”.

Cowboys vs. Eagles: Week 16 Know Thy Enemy

Tennessee Titans at a Glance

Overall record vs. Cowboys: 7-8

2022 Record: 7-8

2022 Offensive Ranking: 27th out of 32 teams

2022 Defensive Ranking: 11th out of 32 teams

Current Injury List: QB Ryan Tannehill (ankle), DE Denico Autry (biceps), DB Josh Thompson (concussion), OLB Dylan Cole (ankle), S Amani Hooker (knee), DE Jeffery Simmons (ankle), G Aaron Brewer (calf), CB Kristian Fulton (groin), OLB Bud Dupree (pectoral), RB Derrick Henry (knee)

Most Notable Offensive Players: RB Derrick Henry, QB Malik Willis, RB Dontrell Hilliard, WR Treylon Burks, WR Robert Woods, TE Austin Hooper

Most Notable Defensive Players: DE Jeffery Simmons, S Kevin Byard, OLB Bud Dupree, CB Roger McCreary, LB David Long

What We’ve Seen from Titans and Possible Offensive Game Plan Against Cowboys

Points Per Game: 17.9

Passing Yards Per Game: 187.7

Rushing Yards Per Game: 125.8

Total Yards Per Game: 313.5

Third Down Conversion Percentage: 36.0%

Red Zone Conversion Percentage: 68.4%

Titans Offensive Strategy vs Cowboys

The Titans know they will be going into this game without quarterback Ryan Tannehill who recently had surgery on his ankle, so they will be leaning on Derrick Henry to carry the load much like he has all season for this team. The dynamic of the offense is going to change drastically with Malik Willis under center for the Titans than when Tannehill was. The more mobile Willis has the ability to give the Cowboys trouble as they will be focused on stopping the wrecking ball that is Henry.

Look for the Titans to exploit this and allow Willis to use his legs to gain yards and keep the chains moving against an aggressive and at times undisciplined Cowboys front seven. Once they start to bite on the Willis options, the Titans can then start to dip into their play-action passing game to try for home run shots with Robert Woods and rookie Treylon Burks. The Titans will also look to utilize their screen game with Henry, fellow running back Dontrell Hilliard, and rookie tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo.

Cowboys Defensive Strategy vs Titans

This could prove to be a tough game for a Cowboys defense that has been struggling as of late to get ball carriers on the ground. The combination of Derrick Henry, Malik Willis, and deep-threat pass catchers make this look like a potential letdown game if the Cowboys aren’t prepared to stop the run this week.

One way the Cowboys will stop this will be to play better contain defense in order to keep the mobile Willis in the pocket and force him to throw the football much like the Texans did to him last week. In that game, the Texans picked off Willis twice after getting pressure in his face and held him to just 99 yards passing on the day.

They were also able to sack him four times in the game, Willis is still a young quarterback that hasn’t caught up to the speed of the game at the NFL level and the Cowboys’ pass rush is going to make things hard on him if they can get in his face.

The other problem for Dallas will obviously be Henry, who’s currently averaging 95 rushing yards per game but has also done a better job in the passing game for the Titans. If they want to control this game they will need to control Henry and do much better stopping the run because right now they are giving up 131 yards a game over the last weeks.

What We’ve Seen from Titans and Possible Defensive Game Plan Against Cowboys

Opponents’ Points Per Game: 20.8

Opponents’ Passing Yards Per Game: 296.1

Opponents’ Rushing Yards Per Game: 80.1

Opponents’ Total Yards Per Game: 376.2

Opponents’ Third Down Conversion Percentage: 31.8%

Opponents’ Red Zone Conversion Percentage: 55.8%

Titans Defensive Strategy vs Cowboys

The Titans do a good job of stopping the run this season and will look to try and slow down a Dallas Cowboys air attack that just put 40 points on the best defense in the league. The Titans don’t have the personnel that the Eagles do and will need to be creative on the back end of their defense to try and confuse Dak Prescott. Prescott has been a little turnover happy as of late, some his fault and some not, but the Titans are going to have to keep that streak for Prescott going to win this game.

They are also going to need to get pressure on Prescott to force those bad throws, if they can then they have a shot of picking off Prescott who is forced to throw into tight windows thanks to his receivers not creating separation. Simmons will be the key along with Dupree in getting that pressure because if not Prescott who is averaging 233.4 through the air this season will be able to pick them apart all day long and keep Henry and the Titans’ offense off the field in the process.

Cowboys Offensive Strategy vs Titans

The Cowboys running game will be tested against a stout Titans run defense led by Simmons and Teair Tart in the middle. To get around that the Cowboys will look to test the boundaries of this defense and see if they will hold up against Dallas’ rushing attack led by Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott. The Cowboys know this is going to be a clock management game from the Titans’ standpoint but in order to stop them from doing it they will need to be able to pick up tough yards in short-yard situations.

Another way to force the Titans out of their clock management game plan will be to put points on the board early and often against a Tennessee secondary that is currently giving up 296.1 a game to opposing quarterbacks and receivers.

The Cowboys with CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, Noah Brown, and the new deep-threat playmaker in T.Y. Hilton, are going to give Prescott multiple options to convert on third downs as well as put points on the board based on which matchups Prescott likes. The Cowboys have the firepower to easily win this game, they just need to execute it at a more efficient level.