Dallas Cowboys vs Washington Commanders: Know Thy Enemy
What We’ve Seen from Commanders and Possible Offensive Game Plan Against Cowboys
Points Per Game: 18.4
Passing Yards Per Game: 207.1
Rushing Yards Per Game: 124.5
Total Yards Per Game: 331.6
Third Down Conversion Percentage: 36.1%
Red Zone Conversion Percentage: 53.7%
Commanders Offensive Strategy vs Cowboys
The Commanders don’t have much to play for other than pride, so it’s tough to know what this coaching staff will do in their final game of the season. So let’s err on the side of caution and say they are going to come out and try to win this game. The last time these two teams played the Cowboys were able to sack the quarterback twice but more importantly get continuous amounts of pressure on rookie quarterback Sam Howell, who’s expected to make his first NFL start after Carson Wentz was benched.
#Commanders coach Ron Rivera announced rookie QB Sam Howell will start Sunday's season finale.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 4, 2023
To prevent that ,this time around the Commanders will lean on their rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. and veteran Antonio Gibson if he’s available this week to force Dallas to respect the running game. Everyone knows the Cowboys are vulnerable in the running game, so to protect Heinicke and Howell they need to run the football and use that to establish their passing game. If they can’t establish the run, Curtis Samuel and Terry McLaurin are going to be busy catching a lot of quick passes to negate the Cowboys’ pass rush.
Cowboys Defensive Strategy vs Commanders
Pressure, pressure, pressure, that’s how the Cowboys are going to win this game against a Commanders offensive line that has given up 45 sacks this season and allowed 151 pressures this season as well. The Dallas pass rush hasn’t been able to get home but they have been able to create pressure forcing throwaways and hurried inaccurate throws. With Heinicke under center and the injuries along their offensive line, the Cowboys will have plenty of opportunities to rush the passer this weekend.
The Cowboys defense 👀 pic.twitter.com/4rH83t4Qnd
— PFF (@PFF) December 30, 2022
They will have to make sure they are able to stop a Commander running game with Robinson Jr. and Gibson who are averaging 4.0 yards per carry but just 2.4 yards after contact. It will be important for the Cowboys’ defenders to continue wrapping up and getting players on the ground. Do that and they should have a good day against this Commander’s offense.