Dallas Cowboys vs Miami Dolphins: Key matchups and X-factors in battle of explosive offenses

The Dallas Cowboys got an early Christmas gift with the Eagles falling to the Seahawks on Monday night after their loss to the Bills. Now they face off against the best offense in the league and a team much like the Bills' last week who are on a mission to win the AFC and secure a first-round bye in the Miami Dolphins. If the Cowboys are going to have any chance of winning this game, they are going to need a lot of things to go their way, we can't just hope that the injuries that the Dolphins are dealing with along their offensive and defensive lines will lift Dallas to a victory.

We've seen how this team can bounce back from a bad loss, coming out of the gates early and putting pressure on the opposing team, they are going to need to do that this week and it would help if they were able to win key matchups and have two specific players step up in this game. So let's take a look at some matchups that the Cowboys can hopefully exploit and players they will need big games from on Sunday.

3 key Cowboys offensive matchups vs Dolphins

Jake Ferguson vs Safeties

The safeties of the Dolphins are coming into this game with some injuries, and it should be a point of emphasis for the Cowboys to exploit them using Jake Ferguson in the passing game. If starting safeties Jevon Holland and DeShon Elliott can’t go then Ferguson should be used to attack their backups. If they can go then they should still be able to attack Holland who’s been dealing with MCL injuries so, he will still be looking to knock off rust in his return and if they put Elliott on Ferguson then he can be had in the passing game, giving up a quarterback passer rating of 134.4, 11.8 yards per catch, and a completion percentage of 68% this season.

Ferguson's speed and physical style of play could be used to the Cowboys' advantage over one of the weaker areas of this defensive secondary of the Dolphins. Do that and Ferguson will be a reliable chain mover in this game, taking pressure off the rest of the defense.

Brandin Cooks vs Kader Kohou

The cornerbacks on the outside for the Dolphins are going to be a tough matchup for the Cowboys in this game, Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard are big and physical corners that will give the Dallas receivers problems. To counter that the Cowboys are going to need to look at attacking the slot cornerback Kader Kohou who is allowing an 82.9% completion percentage, a passer rating of 127.5 for opposing quarterbacks, and allowed 7 touchdowns on the season. I would say the Cowboys could move CeeDee into the slot but there’s a strong possibility of Ramsey following him all over the field which means Cooks is the man in this instance.

His speed is going to give Kohou fits and pair that with his route running ability and the Cowboys could find themselves a reliable quick hit receiver that can move the chains and pick up YAC in this game outside of Ferguson. Especially if we continue to see the Cowboys offensive line struggles on the road continue.

Terence Steele vs Bradley Chubb

The struggles of Terence Steele have been covered heavily this season and it’s going to be highlighted once again this week against the Dolphins. He can look forward to seeing Bradley Chubb lined up against this a lot in this game with some Andrew Van Ginkel sprinkled in as well. With the interior of the Cowboys offensive line focusing on defensive tackles Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler, Steele maybe on an island unless given tight end help.

Steele did a nice job pass blocking last week but this week he’s going against a different type of player in Chubb who currently has 9.5 sacks, and 9 tackles for loss on the season. Steele needs to bring his A-game on Sunday or it’s going to be another rough outing for this Cowboys offense.