The Denver Broncos defense faces one of the NFL’s best offenses this Sunday, and Bo Nix and Denver’s offense will face off against one of the worst defenses when they face the Cowboys.
Stopping the elite receiving duo of George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb will be important, but so will establishing the run game with J.K. Dobbins against a Cowboys defense that allows big play after big play.
Riley Moss will get his fair share of targets
Playing opposite of Patrick Surtain II presents its challenges, but nobody has shown that they’re more up for that challenge than Riley Moss. This season, Moss has been targeted 45 total times and has only allowed 20 catches on the year. He has the second-most penalty yards against on a few downfield throws, but when you get the type of volume he does, it’s going to happen.
One thing you never want to change about Moss is his aggressive style of play. In Denver’s scheme, Vance Joseph wants his secondary to play aggressive and physical, and with the varying types of coverages that the defense plays, there will be times when the corners will have to play extra aggressive knowing they’ve got solo coverage without help.
It’s unclear whether or not Joseph will have Surtain follow around one specific receiver on Sunday, but the anticipation is that Surtain will line up against Lamb, while Moss will draw the assignment of George Pickens, who has 600+ receiving yards through seven weeks and six touchdowns as the Cowboys’ leading receiver.
This will be a tough matchup, and it will be one that could define the outcome of Sunday’s game.
Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton must eat against Cowboys secondary
Coming into Sunday’s game, the Dallas Cowboys are the bottom-ranked passing defense in the NFL, allowing a league-high 260.3 passing yards per game (32nd) and 29.4 points per game, which is 30th in the NFL.
Players on offense haven’t been shy about voicing their displeasure over the slow starts that they’ve had for three straight weeks, and it’s prompted them to change their approach this week. Rather than just watching film with their position rooms, the entire offense has watched film together in meetings.
Sean Payton alluded to making Wednesday’s practice feel like Sunday. The slow starts have been puzzling, but against the Cowboys, the Broncos’ offense has a chance to come out hot, and they’ll need to.
Dallas will be without starting cornerback Trevon Diggs and starting safety Donovan Wilson, who leads the team with two interceptions, on Sunday.
J.K. Dobbins is the key to Denver’s hot start
The Cowboys defense is a sieve. Anybody and everything can run through it, and the Broncos need to find a way to do that on Sunday. Coming into Sunday’s game, the Cowboys are allowing teams to rush for an average of 141.3 yards per game (30th) and are allowing teams to average 6.06 yards per play, which is also ranked 30th through seven weeks.
Despite Dallas having good personnel on the defensive side of the ball, that’s been an area they’ve struggled to stop opposing offenses this season. The Cowboys will approach this game trying to sell out to stop the run, and if J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey can rattle off some chunk yardage early, everything else for Bo Nix and the offense can open up in the passing game.
Complementary football is going to be key this week if the Broncos are going to improve to 6-2 on the season against a 3-3-1 Cowboys team that’s better than their record indicates.
