Saturday, October 13, 2012

Dallas Cowboys @ Baltimore Ravens

Scouting Report for Dallas Cowboys(2-2) vs. Baltimore Ravens (4-1)
October 14, 2012-M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD

Cowboys: A team that wins exactly 50% of their games is a team that virtually has no identity. The Boys in silver and blue fit that category. When they've won, they've won by an average of 6.5 points. When they've lost, it's been by an average of 18. Now that the Cowboys have had their bye week, they can find their identity on both offense and defense.

In the 34-18 loss to the Bears in week 4, the offense looked out of sync the whole game. Tony Romo did throw 5 INT's, but it should've been 2. Miscommunication between Dez Bryant (Charles Tillman 25 yard INT return for a TD in the 2nd quarter) and Miles Austin (D.J. Moore INT in the 4th quarter) were just part of the problem. Kevin Ogletree had a pass hit him in the hands in the fourth (Major Wright's 2nd INT) and which was his 5th. The bright spot for the offense was Jason Witten. After struggling earlier this season, he caught every pass thrown to him (13 catches, 112 YDS, 1 TD).

The defense missed Anthony Spencer who missed the game with a pectoral injury. DeMarcus Ware was able to get an early sack on Jay Cutler early on, but he was of little impact since. The secondary didn't help matters after giving up a pair of 30 YD touchdown passes (34 to Devin Hester and 31 to Brandon Marshall).

Ravens: Long time Raven standout Ray Lewis has said before that defense wins championships. Though the season is a long way from being over, their game against the Chiefs would be the case in point. Not a pretty win...but still counts in the record books.

The game in Kansas City was a battle of field goals (9-6 victory). Joe Flacco threw a pick, but did manage 187 yards in the air off of 13 completions (48% completions). Ray Rice stepped up with 102 yards on the ground (6 YPC). Anquan Boldin led all receivers with 82 yards on only 4 catches. Ryan Tucker kicked all of his field goals under 40 yards (longest 39 yards)

The defense might have given up 140 yards to Jamaal Charles, but he only averaged 4.5 YPC. With that said, the defense was able to get pressure on Matt Cassel before he left with a concussion. In the second quarter LaDarius Webb got the first pick. And they got to Cassel again in the 3rd on the ensuing drive after Flacco was picked off by Brandon Flowers. While the defense didn't record a sack, Courtney Upshaw (Chiefs 3rd drive of the game) and Ed Reed (opening drive of the second half) recovered both Cassel fumbles.

What to watch for: The Dallas offensive line will really need to show up in this game. Especially for the running game. The offense ran the ball only 14 times and could've used it to take some heat off of Romo. The Ravens are ranked 20th in rush defense (118.4 ypg) while the Cowboys rank 30th in rushing offense (67.8 ypg). But with Haloti Ngata (shoulder) likely to play, the Jason Garrett may flirt with the idea of calling a heavy dose of pass plays. The Ravens are 23rd in pass defense (261.4 ypg) while the Cowboys average 296.3 ypg (4th).

Conclusion: DeMarco Murray and Felix Jones need to be more involved in the offense if Dallas is going to win this game. Murray (11 carries, 24 YDS) managed an 11 yard run while Jones had 13 yards on his only carry. If the Cowboys learned anything from the Bears game, it should be that experience on defense makes a big difference. And the Ravens a have exactly that.

Baltimore's offense is no slouch on offense either. In their 3 home games this season, they have scored 10 touchdowns on both passing and rushing this season. With Jay Ratliff (ankle) possibly coming back, that should help out Ware and Sean Lee in the pass game. With that said, we'll see which Cowboy team shows up in Baltimore.

Prediction: Ravens by 6.


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