Key Matchup: Panthers Defensive Interior Vs. Cowboys O LIne

[KendrickPanther]

This Dallas game has many appealing aspects to it in a purely football sense. We are going to see some terrific battles on the field and I'd like to generate discussion about a few of them. 

I watched the Cowboys and Dolphins and one weakness stuck out in particular. La'el Collins started at Left Guard and mentally he was a train wreck. He had a false start on the opening drive and allowed the pressure up the middle on Romo's famous left handed throw. The Dolphin's had great success sending an extra blitzer between the LG/LT and LG/C. They had two interceptions as a direct result of pressure up the middle. The Left Guard Collins is clearly a gifted athlete but mentally he was not prepared for this game. He pulled right on a run play that was designed to go Left. Literally just run into his fellow lineman. In some other pulling situations he completely whiffed on his assignment.

The Center Fredrickson and RG Zach Martin are still formidable lineman. If we allow them to get into the second level of our defense it will be a long day. Darren McFadden is Running well but Kuechly and Davis will eat him for Thanksgiving Dinner if they can run free. So for me, Star Lotuleilei and Kawann Short are the key to our success. If they can create pressure up the middle and bog down the running attack the Dallas offense will be forced to pass without the threat of play action. Then our pass rushers come into play and Tony Romo's sloppy decision making under pressure can be exploited. 

Other great match ups include Josh Norman vs. Dez Bryant, Linebackers Lee/McLain vs. Stewart and our running attack, and Cam Newton vs. pass rushers Hardy/Gregory. So much talk right now is about Tony Romo, Cowboys hype, and point spreads. But this is actually a compelling football match up. The Cowboys have many things working in their favor, however the Panthers are a better overall team. Ultimately if we can plug the Dallas running attack this game should be in our control.

 

[Jmac]

Is this the same Collins that some where wringing their hands over because he didn't come here? 

It just can't be true that our Oline is better without him.....can it?

[The Lobo]

Charles in Charge

[TheRumGone]

1 hour ago, Jmac said:

Is this the same Collins that some where wringing their hands over because he didn't come here? 

It just can't be true that our Oline is better without him.....can it?

It's his rookie year and he is immensely talented. Who wouldn't want to add a first round pick for cheap?

[Burnout189]

I think the return of Charles Johnson will give our D-line more than enough weapons to really push their O-line to the limit and get pressure on Romo. It wouldn't surprise me if we come away with a few more turnovers this game just due to the pass rush and pressure.

[Cyberjag]

Another key here is that they start Nick Hayden and THE Tyrone Crawford, two crappy DTs who can't stop the run to save their life.  Hardy is good, but on the other edge you have Demarus Lawrence, who weighs in at something like 250 pounds.  If their linebackers don't have career days, then we're either going to run all over them or have single coverage everywhere.  

That makes for some long, sustained drives, which means that by the end of the game our guys are going to be fresh.  If Romo is in obvious passing downs, it's going to look like it did against Washington.

Get some popcorn--this is going to be fun to watch.

[KendrickPanther]

Yeah It's a good point about the defensive tackles and we did run more up the middle this past week against the Redskins. But our run game isn't based off overpowering teams up the middle. It's based on deception and exploiting the defensive ends. I think Sean Lee, McClain, Hardy, and Gregory should provide resistance to our run game.