What a difference a week makes. At this time last week, the birds in Philadelphia were chirping up and down Interstate 95. This week? Nothing. Nothing but the silent screams of Eagles fans that thought Dak Prescott was either average, or Jalen Hurts was as good. It was A 41-20 beatdown of the Eagles on national TV by the Dallas Cowboys and we learned a few things.
- Philly is down bad tremendously right now (along with the rest of the NFC East).
- Trevon Diggs is elite with premier ball skills and playing with a ton confidence.
- The Dallas Cowboys offense is built to win and produce in a variety of different ways.
Against the Eagles, Dallas averaged 5.5 yards per carry with Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard on 28 carries. Even with an added emphasis on the run, the Dallas offense still scored 34 points. Dak Prescott was his usual self, completing over 80% of his passes. You would think after all that, the Dallas Cowboys would get some national respect. Maybe it’ll be different this week after facing the undefeated Carolina Panthers.
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In my eyes, Carolina isn’t just a flavor of the month, at least not on defense. They’re productive, fast, and very aggressive. While they’re now without rookie cornerback Jaycee Horn, there’s still a lot of players to be accounted for. Let’s go a little further and examine the Panthers defense and what Dallas is up against.
The Past
If you were watching the ESPN broadcast last week, then you could audibly hear the way Dak Prescott commanded the offense at the line of scrimmage. It’s a belief I’ve had since 2018, that Dak Prescott is among the NFL’s best at pre-snap recognition and identifying what the defense is doing. That particular skill is going to be vitally important against Carolina. Many around the NFL community, writers and fans alike, have been very complimentary of the Carolina defense. That’s especially true for me, albeit with a different background and context.
Leading up to the 2016 NFL Draft, I studied the top quarterback prospects in case Dallas were to select one – which they did with Dak Prescott. However, the prospects on my radar were Christian Hackenberg, Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, and Paxton Lynch. As I studied these four players I wanted to judge them critically, on tough criteria. I decided to watch five of their games against the Top-5 defenses on their schedule. It just so happened that for Hackenberg and Lynch, the Temple Owls defense made that list twice.
When I watched both quarterbacks against Temple, one thing became very clear. The Temple defense was had very exotic schemes and was incredibly formidable.
I was blown away by what I was seeing that I took it upon myself to email the defensive coordinator and ask him how he was able to confuse two of the best quarterback prospects in the draft. I never got a response. Maybe he never received the message, maybe he forgot to respond. But I never forgot what I saw in those games.
I never forgot what he did Paxton Lynch and Christian Hackenberg. Then what he did the next year to Deshone Kizer, another highly touted prospect. I never forgot the defensive coordinator. It’s fine if nobody knows him, but that man was Phil Snow; defensive coordinator of the #1 ranked Carolina Panthers defense.
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The Present
Fast forward to today, and Snow is still making young quarterbacks look and overwhelmed and inferior. As I said before, Carolina’s defense is aggressive. They lead the NFL in numerous statistical categories. They are 1st against the run, pass, and in expected points added, per Pro Football Reference. The Panthers blitz at a rate of 37%, which is tied for the 6th most frequency in the NFL.
It’s not just the composer in Phil Snow, but the instruments he has to work with. The Panthers play with a lot of speed off the edge. Haason Reddick and Brian Burns are both very flexible around the edge. Carolina will display a lot of different looks to crowd the line of scrimmage before backing out in coverage.
Against New Orleans, the Panthers confused the Saints offensive line multiple times, and had free rushers in Jameis Winston’s face frequently. Morgan Fox is probably the least talked about player on that defense, but should command plenty of attention. He has a motor and is quick to get upfield from the interior. As a whole, the Panthers defense rallies to the ball and tackles well in space.
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Plan of Attack
For the Dallas Cowboys to be successful on offense, they have to do what they did last week. Stay ahead of the chains and not being forced into 3rd and long too often. Whether you choose to run the ball or pass on that defense, it’s going to be a challenge. My preferred method is to place the game in the hands of your elite quarterback and let him go to work. A pressure-based defense that lives by the blitz, can also die by it.
When you blitz that often, you leave your secondary in 1-on-1 matchups against opposing receivers. With CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper, I’m willing to take that risk and make Carolina pay down the field. This means the offensive line is going to have to communicate well up front, identify who to bock, and not allow free rushers in the face of Dak Prescott. That also requires Elliott to be in a top-notch form in pass protection as he normally is.
As for Dak Prescott, his mental aptitude and football acumen are going to have its hardest test yet. If how Prescott handled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense (highest blitz rate in the NFL) is any indication, Prescott might do just fine. The Panthers might go from deadly predators to hanging above Prescott’s fireplace.
