3 reasons the Cowboys will beat the Titans in Week 17
By Randy Gurzi
A win over the Eagles in Week 16 improved the Dallas Cowboys to 11-4 on the season and erased the bad taste in their mouths from a loss to the Jaguars the week prior. It also kept their hopes for the NFC East title alive — and while they need Philadelphia to lose out, they have to take care of business themselves first.
That starts with a Thursday Night Football meeting with the Tennessee Titans. The No. 1 seed in the AFC a season ago, Tennessee enters this one on the heels of five-straight losses and they’re in danger of missing out on the playoffs despite having a huge lead in the AFC South just over a month ago.
With all that being said, let’s look at three reasons to believe Dallas is going to get the win on Thursday.
3 reasons the Cowboys will beat the Titans in Week 17
3. Cowboys biggest weakness won’t be exposed
On the season, the Dallas defense has been pretty good against the pass. They’ve surrendered 3,037 yards which is 10th best in the NFL. But lately, they’ve been slipping.
Against the Eagles in Week 16, they gave up 355 yards through the air to Gardner Minshew. The week before, they allowed Trevor Lawrence to carve them up (especially in the second half), going for 311 yards through the air — and Kelvin Joseph was burnt for two touchdowns against Zay Jones.
Clearly, the loss of Anthony Brown has hurt them in a major way. But the good news is that there’s no one on Tennessee’s roster that can really make them pay.
Their best wide receiver is Robert Woods who has just 44 receptions for 448 yards — an average of 10.2 yards per catch. Treylon Burks is the second-best wideout with 25 catches for 359 yards and just one touchdown on the year.
With no wideouts to hurt them outside, the defense won’t be exposed as they have been the past two weeks, which plays into the Cowboys’ hands.