Dallas Cowboys' 7 Keys to Victory for a Week 6 Battle with New England Patriots

The Dallas Cowboys are coming off their bye week. They had two weeks to heal their many physical injuries but also to build their confidence back. They are playing for .500 but could have won all four games. They blew big leads against the New York Jets and the Detroit Lions. To make things even worse, the Cowboys broke a record on Week 4 by blowing the biggest home lead in the team history. It was devastating for them.

The Cowboys will try to bounce back this week, but their mission will be a tough one. They will face the Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Nevertheless, it is not an impossible mission. Dallas will need to follow a perfect game plan and avoid mental mistakes. It won’t be all about Tony Romo. Jason Garrett will need to upgrade his game as well, and Orlando Scandrick might be the player making the difference in this game.

Tony Romo Must Connect with Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten Early on

The Cowboys are currently ranked third in term of passing yards and are No. 25 in terms of rushing yards. On the other side, the Patriots are No. 13 against the run and dead last against the pass. Can you guess what the offensive plan is for Dallas? It’s pretty obvious.

Miles Austin had targeted a return for Week 6, and it seems like he will play on Sunday vs. New England. Dez Bryant and Jason Witten will also be available for this game.  They all practiced on Monday. Therefore, Romo will have his three favourite targets on the field. There’s no reason to abandon the pass, even if Romo turned the ball over against the Lions.

The Cowboys need to forget about Week 4 and get back to their strength. Their passing game is as dangerous as the Patriots one. The Patriots defense settled a new record after Week 4. They allowed the most passing yards ever in four games.  Romo needs to throw the ball at profusion early on to open run lanes for Felix Jones.

Tony Romo Must Use the No-Huddle Offense

The Patriots defensive line is old; Andre Carter, Albert Haynesworth and Shaun Ellis are all starting and over 32 years old. A no-huddle offense could allow Felix Jones to gain some extra yards with his speed. There is no way the Patriot’s weak defensive line can keep up with the Cowboy’s young energized offense playing no-huddle.

The Patriots secondary is awful and not in sync. What is the solution? Again, run the no-huddle offense to confuse them. It is an experienced offense, and they should be able to outwork this below average secondary who wasn’t able to stop Chad Henne and the winless Dolphins.

Orlando Scandrick Must Be Playing on Most Downs

The Cowboys secondary will be fully healthy for the first time of the season. Nickel cornerback Orlando Scandrick is expected to practice this week and should be back for Sunday. As for Mike Jenkins, he recovered from a few injuries during bye week. Terrence Newman will also be in uniform.

The Cowboys are first against the rush. Their impressive front seven will take care of Green-Ellis, but the key will be to stop Tom Brady and Wes Welker. Welker is difficult to cover since he’s often playing as the slot receiver and gets a better matchup against slower linebackers.

Terrence Newman or Mike Jenkins won’t be the key to stop the passing attack, but Scandrick will be. He must be the guy covering Wes Welker on almost every play not only on third downs. Scandrick is an effective coverage defender with impressive catch-up speed. He is also a good open-field tackler. Actually, he is the perfect weapon to neutralize Wes Welker.

Shutting Welker down isn’t assuring you to stop Brady, but it’s a nice start since no one seems able to do it.

Rob Ryan Must Be Aggressive in His Game Plan

There’s one thing we know about Tom Brady and the Patriots. If you play passive defense, you will get killed. 

The Patriots scored at least 30 points in 13 straight games, but defensive coordinator Rob Ryan could find a way to stop that streak.  Indeed, he was coaching the Cleveland defense last year when they defeated the Patriots by the score of 34-14. Brady only completed 19 of his 36 passes for 224 yards, and the Patriots went 3-of-11 on third downs.

Rob Ryan must show multiple defense packages and include a bunch of blitzes. DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer must be used to blitz Brady at a high rate. The Cowboys already have 13 sacks this year. They must bring the pressure and trust their defensive backs.

The Dallas Cowboys Defense Needs To Create Turnovers

Everyone is talking about Tony Romo turning the ball over. When you are a pass-happy team, it is always a risk that you are living with. I don’t care about the interceptions thrown.  All I care about is who wins the turnover battle. If the offense turns the ball over three times, then your defense needs to take it away four times. It’s that simple!

Football is a team effort, and you have to look at the overall picture to evaluate a certain aspect of the game. The Cowboys threw seven interceptions and had six fumbles (three of them were lost). However, they only managed to pick the ball four times from the opposing quarterback, and they only recovered two fumbles. They have to find a way to create more turnovers to give a good field position to the offense.

Jason Garrett Must Do a Better Job with His Game Management

Jason Garrett has been hired a few years ago because he is supposed to be an offensive genius. However, he also needs to manage the game appropriately since he is now the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

On several occasions, Garrett made questionable decisions in crucial situations. Yes, Tony Romo threw interceptions against Detroit. However, who was calling passing plays with a 24-point lead? Exactly, it was Mr. Garrett.

Everyone keeps talking about the collapse on Week 4. However, with a seven-point lead early in the game, Garrett elected to go on fourth down inside Detroit’s 5-yard line. Why didn’t he decide to kick the field goal to take the 10-point lead? He will need to do better against Bill Belichick.

The Dallas Cowboys Need To Avoid Mental Lapses

On Week 4, it was fourth down, and the Cowboys needed 20 more yards to get the first down. Only 11 seconds were left in the game. Romo passes to Felix Jones and what does he do? He runs out of bounds after a seven-yard gain.

These are the kind of mistakes that the Cowboys need to avoid. We all know that this game will be close and against a focused Patriots team, you don’t have the luxury to make mistakes.

In the same category, Cowboys need to avoid penalties. They had 28 penalties for 211 yards so far this season. On the other end, their opposition had only 135 yards of penalties.