re: Cowboys Film Study (with screenshots)

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They play a lot of man and do it well. The two corners are very talented and are very good in man coverage

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The corners do play man and do it well. Problem with that is our safeties are absolute garbage, so the plays where we are supposed to have help over the top... well, you get the picture.

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I have to say if Rob Ryan had a healthy defense for most of the year last season they would have been much more effective

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Fact. Injuries yes, but again, if we had any good safety play we would have a tremendously better defense.

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They like to stack the box and play the run to force you to throw the ball down field. The only problem with that is they haven’t played a QB of Brees’ caliber yet so this is most likely not going to be effective.

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See Peyton Manning.

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I’m going to say that I expect Jimmy Graham to have a monster game because outside of the two outside corners there is really no one on this team to cover him.

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See Sean Lee. Probably one of the best Linebackers in the league. Leads the league in interceptions and is VERY fast. Should be a good match up. Graham is a beast, but to say there is no one that can cover him is a bitch of a stretch.

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Cowboys show cover 2. The best way to beat cover two is to run the seams and to the corner and play off of what the safety reacts to, or to run button routes under the LB coverage and cross the field with speedy WR’s between the 2nd and 3rd levels of the defense.

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I would contest that the best way to beat a cover 2, especially the Tampa2 that Kiffin runs, would be to run the outside receivers deep (to occupy the safeties) and use your slot or TE to run a post to the middle of the field (This is the biggest hole in the cover 2 because the MLB is charged with covering the middle of the field). You flood one of the safety's zones with 2 routes and make him chose.



IMHO, as bad as our defense is at times, these are the games that I like our offense the most in. It keeps us from getting conservative, knowing that the opposing team is going to score points. (See Denver game) If we believe we can stop the other team's offense we tend to take it easy and not stay on the gas.

Should be a good game, and one I look forward too.