I am already sick of the talking heads (I know, I know, ignore them) saying how awesome Dak and Elliot and the defense is.
An excerpt on the Dallas defense from Barnwell's article:
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www.espn.com]
Wilson was able to create opportunities in the passing game by attacking the biggest weakness in Dallas' defense. Despite possessing a pair of rangy linebackers in Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch, the Cowboys struggle mightily against play-action. During the season, the Cowboys posted a passer rating of 112.6 against play-action passes, the sixth-worst rate in the league. In the wild-card game, with his running game doing absolutely nothing, Wilson went 9-of-10 on play-action for 109 yards and a passer rating of 117.1.
If there's an offense you wouldn't want to face when you struggle with play-action, it is the very opponent the Cowboys will go up against Saturday night. The Rams went with a play-fake on more than 35 percent of their dropbacks this season, the highest rate in football by a considerable margin. Sean McVay's team ranked sixth in yards per attempt (9.9) and seventh in passer rating (114.5) when it ran play-fakes, and while its numbers definitely declined after Cooper Kupp went out, even the post-Kupp Rams should give the Cowboys problems with play-action.
The Cowboys certainly have a good defense. It's the best unit they've run out on that side of the ball since 2009, when DeMarcus Ware and Wade Phillips were in town. (The 2016 team had a great scoring average but didn't face many drives and subsequently didn't fare as well by advanced metrics.) The Cowboys faced a Seattle offense that was determined to win like it was 1978, which played into Dallas' strengths. This week, with a state-of-the-art offense looming, it might not be so lucky.
