The last time the Dallas Cowboys made the trip out to Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta it was a rude awakening for Dak Prescott and the offense. The absence of Tyron Smith and Ezekiel Elliott was too much for the Cowboys to overcome and Dak Prescott has not been the same quarterback ever since being sacked 8 times in that game. This year the offense will have both Smith and Elliott so the same catastrophic result cannot be expected but the match up on the opposite side of the ball could be the biggest concern. Will the Atlanta Falcons offense expose the Dallas Cowboys defense on Sunday?
Much has been made about how much the Dallas Cowboys defense has improved this year. They have played really well as a unit and rank 6th in the league in the yards allowed and 3rd in points allowed this season. Their numbers are impressive already but factor in that the offense has not helped them out ranking 25th overall and 29th in passing offense in the league and the numbers are more impressive still. Despite how well the defense has played they do have their weaknesses. Safety is the major area of concern and the defensive tackle play has been surprising but the Cowboys are very thin at the position right now. Those weaknesses have until now not been fully tested against an offense with as much firepower as the Atlanta Falcons have. Compare the overall offensive rank and passing offense rank of the Atlanta Falcons to the rest of the Cowboys opponents so far this season and it clearly shows that this game will be the toughest challenge yet for the Dallas D.
| TEAM | Overall Offensive Rank | Passing Offense Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 | 2 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 11 | 10 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 14 | 14 |
| New York Giants | 15 | 15 |
| Houston Texans | 18 | 18 |
| Detroit Lions | 21 | 19 |
| Carolina Panthers | 25 | 24 |
| Washington Redskins | 26 | 25 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 28 | 27 |
| Tennessee Titans | 30 | 30 |
There are several reasons to be concerned about this matchup against the Falcons offense. The Cowboys will be without Sean Lee again in this game but Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch have played so well in his place that his absence has not been felt. Demarcus Lawrence has had a brilliant season to this point but he is banged up and the wear and tear on his shoulder could start to effect his play. Byron Jones has played exceptionally well but other than Deandre Hopkins of the Houston Texans, he has not had to face a true elite receiver like Julio Jones. By the way, in the game against the Texans, Hopkins put up 9 catches and 151 yards against Dallas. The biggest concern will be at the back end where Xavier Woods sometimes struggles making tackles, Jeff Heath sometimes takes poor angles or blows coverage and Kavon Frazier has shown limitations as a cover guy as well. This is where the Falcons offense could expose the Cowboys defense much like the Falcons defense exposed the Cowboys offense last season.
Hopefully, Kris Richard and Rod Marinelli have a plan in place to neutralize the Falcons potent offensive attack. If the Cowboys could somehow manage to win this game, then they have a shot at the division leading Redskins the following week. Stringing together 3 straight victories, and 2 on the road, would go a long way towards giving Dallas an opportunity to win the division and get to the playoffs. I think the more likely scenario is the Falcons manage to pull out the victory, the Cowboys will miss the playoffs and the silver lining will be that Jason Garrett will get fired at the end of the season.
PREDICTION: DALLAS COWBOYS 23 ATLANTA FALCONS 33
All data and statistics verified and obtained from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode