Cowboys Need To Make Jason Campbell Look Like Jason Campbell

The Dallas Cowboys’ next game versus the hated Washington Redskins is a barometer game for this defense.

That might sound a little strange because usually facing a good offense would be considered a measuring stick to see how good a defense really is. And that is true.

However, I am making the argument that this Sunday’s game against a horrendous offense led by Jason Campbell can also show us how good this defense is.

The Redskins are a bad football team. Plain and simple. They are bad mainly because of their offense, which flat out stinks. Jason Campbell is not a good quarterback. I don’t care what excuse you have for him.

“Well, he has a bad coach.”

“They’ve changed offensive coordinators too many times in his young career.”

“His line is terrible.”

It doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that he has not produced at a high level in the three years he has been the Redskins starter. There is a reason why the Redskins took nine games and a fake punt to score more than 20 points for the first time all season.

There is also a reason why they lost to the Lions and Chiefs.

There is a reason why they almost lost to the Rams two years in a row and barely beat a bad Buccaneer team this year: A bad offense led by a bad quarterback.

If the Cowboys defense has turned the corner (and all signs point to yes) then they will make this Redskins offense look just as putrid, if not more, than it has all season. Hence, this game is a measuring stick.

The Cowboys must make the Redskins look worthless because good defenses make bad offenses look atrocious (see Ravens/Browns Monday Night Football contest).

And it all starts with attacking the quarterback.

Here are Campbell’s overall career stats:

Completion %: 60.9

Yards: 9112

202.5 Yards/Game

6.6 Yards/Attempt

45 TD

31 INT

Rating 81.8

Now these numbers may not look as bad as I am making Campbell out to be. However, understand that since 2007, the Redskins have only eclipsed 30 points 1 time, against Detroit. In fact, Campbell's teams have been held to less than 20 points 23 times in 38 games he started since 2007. I am even throwing out the 5 sub-20 games he had when he first became the starter in 2006.

As Ron Jaworski would say, "The points come out of the passing game", and Campbell simply does not deliver. His good completion %age is due to so many check downs and simple reads he makes. This is further evidenced by his poor 6.6 career Y/A.

The Redskins are a bad offensive team and Campbell is a big part of it. Having athletic players like Clinton Portis, Chris Cooley, and Santana Moss should only help him but it hasn't. And now, he is going to be without the former two. Good luck with that.

Now, here are Campbell’s Game Logs versus the Cowboys:

2007 @ DAL

33/54 for 348 yards 2 TD 1 INT  84.5 Rating

2008 @ DAL

20/31 for 231 yards 2 TD 0 INT 108.4 Rating

2008 VS DAL

22/34 for 162 yards 1 TD 1 INT 73.4 Rating

In his three games versus the Cowboys, Campbell has been pretty effective. The 348 yards he had in the 2007 game is his career best. The 108.4 rating he posted in the first of the two 2008 contests is his 4^th highest of his career.

However, there are more disturbing stats. Campbell only had 3 completions of 50+ yards in 2008. The second longest (53) was against Dallas. The other two came against 0-16 Detroit and a very bad Saints defense of 2008. This year he has completed passes of 50+ yards against Detroit and Tampa Bay.

Again, not good company.

This is why I want to see the Cowboys destroy the Redskins and make Campbell look like, well, Campbell.

The Cowboys need not let him get the ball down the field. They need not let him throw a touchdown pass. They need to expose him. They need to hold him to his career 6.6 yards per attempt or even lower than that.

In addition, they need to force him into mistakes.

Campbell has attempted 119 passes against the Cowboys and only thrown 2 interceptions (both to Terence Newman).

The Cowboys need to force more turnovers against this team—they need to beat them up from start to finish. Chris Cooley is out. Portis may not play either. There is no reason for Dallas not to manhandle this offensively challenged rival.

I don’t want to see any fluky touchdown passes to guys like Mike Sellers. I don’t want to see the Redskins get off to an efficient start and be in the game at the half. I want to see a beat down from the opening kickoff.

The Redskins have absolutely nothing on offense. They are garbage and I want to see this Dallas defense beat them to a pulp.

I know Washington will play like it’s the Super Bowl but Dallas has every reason to match their intensity and have their talent overwhelm what very little the Skins have.

I am not just saying this because I hate Washington.

I really believe the Cowboys are that much better than this Skins team. Most especially, I believe the Dallas defense has a tremendous advantage over the Washington offense and I want them to show it from start to finish. No excuses.

This Cowboys defense is overdue to obliterate a bad offensive team for four quarters . They haven’t done so this year in the three games they’ve played bad offenses (Tampa Bay, Carolina, Kansas City).

They will get a chance this Sunday and that’s why this is a good measuring stick for them.