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| Kevin Jones. 25th September, 2011 - 2:44 pm
 Finally, a Monday night matchup worth staying up for.
The game between the Cowboys and Redskins is going to provide answers to several questions surrounding both teams.
Can Dallas figure out how to get its 31st ranked run game going? Is Chris Cooley being phased out of the Redskins offense? Who has the better defensive front seven? Are the Redskins for real?
The Stat Pack
• Dallas has won four out of the last five meetings and 20 out of the last 27.
• Tony Romo is a career 4-4 against the Redskins as a starter. He has 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
• The 42 Monday Night Football wins by the Cowboys are the most of all-time.
• The last Monday Night Football appearance by Washington was a 59-28 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
• The Cowboys have yet to win a home opener at new Cowboys Stadium.
• Dallas is 8-8 all-time at new Cowboys Stadium.
• The Cowboys come into the game with the fourth ranked offense and defense. The Redskins are ranked eleventh in offense and defense.
• The Redskins have committed six penalties this year. The Cowboys have committed 15.
• Five Redskins – Anthony Armstrong, Brian Orakpo, Jammal Brown, Trent Williams and Aldrick Robinson -- hail from the state of Texas.
• All time, 42 of the 102 matchups between the teams have been decided by a touchdown or less.
Black and Blue
The injury bug has bitten the Cowboys. Teams usually fear Dallas because of the weapons they have on display, but that may not be the case on Monday night.
Dez Bryant (thigh), Miles Austin (hamstring), Felix Jones (shoulder) and Tony Romo (lung, ribs) are all banged up.
Austin is the only one not expected to play in the home opener, meaning guys will be playing injured. They need help.
Jesse Holley (three catches, 96 yards) came up clutch Sunday against the 49ers, but it is hard to expect him to duplicate those results. A combination of Holley, Kevin Ogletree and Dwayne Harris will have to perform. Expect Jason Witten to be targeted 12-15 times. I would also guess that we will see lots of Tashard Choice over rookie DeMarco Murray. Choice had success against the Redskin 3-4 defense last season.
The Redskins have some injury concerns of their own.
Starting cornerback Josh Wilson injured his back in scary scene last Sunday against the Cardinals and safety LaRon Landry has not suited up for the Redskins since midway through last season and is considered a game-time decision.
In his last game against Dallas, he amassed an absurd 17 tackles.
Playoff Redskins?
The Washington Redskins are looking to start 3-0 for the first time since 2005, the last time they reached the second round of the playoffs. That team has several similarities this one.
Mark Brunell, like Rex Grossman, was known throughout the league as "washed up" and "mistake prone." There is a resemblance between coaches Joe Gibbs and Mike Shanahan. Gibbs, like Shanahan, was in his second year (of his second stint) with the Redskins and was finally able to institute his power-running system. Even kickoff specialist Antonio Brown was able to provide a huge spark in the return game -- think Brandon Banks.
One other note about that 2005 season: The Redskins played the Cowboys on a Monday night, Week Two, in Dallas. The game resulted in one of the more thrilling moments of Redskins football in recent memory. Two fourth quarter deep touchdown bombs from Brunell to Santana Moss helped shock the Cowboys 14-13.
Key Matchups
Fred Davis vs. Cowboy Middle Linebackers
Davis torched both the Giants and Cardinals for big plays, often finding himself wide open along the sidelines. He has 11 catches for 191 yards and one touchdown, and as of right now has supplanted Chris Cooley as the Redskins go-to tight end. Watch for the Cowboys to keep inside linebacker Sean Lee near Davis for much of the night. Lee displayed his excellent coverage skills against the Jets when he almost took an interception to the house. Dallas needs Bradie James to show up too. The LSU alum has just three tackles in two games.
Jay Ratliff vs. Redskins Interior O-Line
The Cowboys were able to limit Washington to just 144 yards rushing in both contests last season. Jay Ratliff has been wreaking havoc on the Redskins run game for years now -– 10 games, 35 tackles, 5 sacks, 12 pressures –- but it will be extra important for the Cowboys to continue that trend. Their success has been a direct reflection of the new found running game. Center Will Montgomery and guards Chris Chester and Kory Lichtensteiger have to establish force early on against Ratliff. The Cowboys plan should be to take away the run and make the Redskins one-dimensional.
Special Teams
You could argue the Redskins have won a game on special teams, and the Cowboys have lost one. In Week One it looked like the Giants were about to get within a touchdown after forcing a Rex Grossman fumble, but Brian Orakpo was able to get his hand on a field goal attempt and the Giants were never able to recover.
While all the fingers were pointed on Tony Romo for the Cowboys unforgettable collapse against the Jets, the Jets probably would not have won without the blocked punt. The team who makes the big play on special teams Monday night, is going to be the team that wins.
Grossman vs. Romo
Quarterbacks, more than ever, have been under the microscope this season. That theme will continue this Monday night as two of the most talked about signal callers go head-to-head in this classic rivalries.
The Jets fiasco or not, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is amongst the upper echelon gun slingers the the NFL. His comeback performance against the 49ers last Sunday was sort of a milestone in his heavily-assessed career. Romo has yet to practice this week and will need another heroic performance Monday to counter the pesky Washington defense.
Prediction
Only two of the 102 meetings between these two have gone into overtime. I am forecasting a third overtime game. The 2-0 Redskins can afford a loss. All of the pressure is on Dallas. And we all know how the Cowboys deal with pressure...
Washington 27, Dallas 24 |
