Position battleground (attack): Cowboys at…
What is your current favorite offense in Dallas or Buffalo?
Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott, vs. Buffalo Bills quarterback, Josh Allen
The Dallas Cowboys host the Buffalo Bills this week in a crucial game for both teams. Dallas is looking to keep its lead in the NFC East and Buffalo is looking to gain ground on the Miami Dolphins, who fell to the Tennessee Titans earlier in the week.
Let’s take a look at each team’s offense by position and see which team has the edge.
Dak Prescott vs. Josh Allen
If you were questioning whether or not Dak should be M.V.P. going into the game against the Philadelphia Eagles, his performance might have changed your mind. After all, he’s having the best season of his career, and he’s making some tough throws into tight spots. This week, though, he’ll face a defense that’s allowing the ninth-highest completion percentage in the NFL at 66.2%. Where he’ll need to be aware, though, is the Bills’ ability to create pressure and sacks. The Bills’ defensive line is very good at masking where the pressure comes from, and for good reason. They’ve allowed 42 sacks this year, third most in the NFL, and they’ve allowed just 17 passing touchdowns, which is the same as the Cowboys’ defense. On the other hand, the Bills are 13th in the NFL in passing rating allowed at 87.2.
Josh Allen is the second-best quarterback in the NFL when it comes to passing touchdowns (behind only Dak), but his biggest problem is turnovers. He leads the NFL in turnovers for the second straight year, and his offensive line has done a great job of keeping pressure off of him, and the coaches have added pass catchers to his arsenal, and the offense has a relatively consistent running game. However, Allen is turning the ball over more than any other quarterback in the league, and in fact, over the past two seasons, he has turned it over 36 times. Now he faces the Cowboys defense, which ranks fourth in INTs and 5th in sacks.
Why is everyone so high on this guy? Aside from his cannon for a cannon arm, there is one thing that sets him apart from the rest:
He has the third-best rushing offense in the NFL this year with 10 rushing touchdowns. To put this in context, this is the Cowboys defense that faced the quarterback who had the most rushing TDs last week, and he didn’t score either ground or air.
In conclusion:
Dak has 23 touchdowns and 2 INTs since Week 6.
Allen has 14 touchdowns and 9 INTs since Week
The Cowboys’ running back duo of Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle will face off against the Bills’ defense of James Cook and Latavius Murray. Last week, the Cowboys’ running backs were relatively successful against the Eagles, combining for 105 rushing yards and a touchdown. The Cowboys’ running backs’ yards per carry (3.7) was not great, but they both gained first downs when needed most. The Cowboys will need to rely more on the ground game this week against the Bills, who are allowing 114 rushing yards per game (13th in the NFL) and 4.7 rushing yards per carry (third in the NFL).
The Bills’ running back group is a bit of a mixed bag this year. Leading back James Cook has just one rushing TD this year and has only two games of over 100 yards rushing. However, he does have an average of 4.8 YPC and is a dual threat as a receiver. He has almost 400 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns, and the Cowboys defense needs to be able to defend him in both areas of the game.
Latavius Murray is not the player he used to be when he was in Las Vegas. Like all running backs who get a lot of carries, as the season progresses, the wear and tear begins to show. Murray has averaged 4.0 YPC this year and has rushed for just 289 yards, both of which are fewer than Pollard or Dowdle.
The Cowboys’ running back tandem has combined for nine total touchdowns, while the Bills’ duo has combined for seven. However, the Bills have outgained the Cowboys in rushing yards this year. The Bills have averaged 140 rushing yards per game in the last three games compared to the Cowboys’ running backs’ average of only 124 yards per game. What really stands out is the Bills’ number of first downs gained from the ground game this season, which is second-most in the NFL, even more so than San Francisco.
Win: Bills
This week’s wide receiver group will have their work cut out for them as they take on the Bills’ defensive backs in Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, and Khalil Shakir. Last week’s game saw CeeDee Lambeau score his second touchdown of the season off six receptions, but he dropped one big pass near the left boundary in the fourth quarter. If he’d caught that one, he’d have gone to the end zone on the play. Lambeau is now third on the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, and he’s second on the team in first downs. Brandy Cooks has been a steady presence on offense, and he and Dak have improved their connection, as evidenced by his one-yard TD catch last week. It’s interesting to note that the team targeted Michael Gallup so much last week. Gallup had three catches for 48 yards, and he had one of the biggest plays of the game, a deep ball he caught for a score.
