Scouting report: Week 2 – Dallas Cowboys

The Miami Dolphins are entering week 2 of the Cam Cameron years and they are 0-1 thus far after losing to Dallas Cowboy conference rivals the Washington Redskins. For the “Boyz”, they won last week in a shoot out against the NY Giants. Perhaps exposing a weakness, and plenty of strengths.

Coaching: No stranger to the NFL HC seat, Wade Phillips returns yet again. This time around he has lassoed one of the most sought after coaching jobs in the NFL…if you enjoy being micro-managed by one of the leagues most self-serving, self-absorbed owners in Jerry Jones.

His coaching record is 49-39 and with a talented team like the Cowboys, he should improve on that this year. Phillips’ last stint was in San Diego where he ran the defensive side of a very good SD defense, while Cam Cameron ran the offense. Phillips will have a good idea of what Cameron will try and throw at him. He was there for 3 years.

OFFENSE:

The Cowboys offense is a high-powered mix of run and pass. Statistically they are one of the best at controlling the ball and moving the ball down field. Tony Romo provided a spark out of nowhere last year, and thus far, he is proving that last season was not a fluke.

QB: The Dolphins are going to have to do more than they did against Jason Campbell. Romo is good in the pocket and will move around to create time. His receivers will do the same. Pressure and disruption will be the key to getting this QB rattled early. Romo has a very good arm and a nice touch when throwing down-field. He seldom has serious mental breakdowns and his game is steady and confident. This is a guy who reportedly told country sensation Carrie Underwood, “I can’t date you because I want to concentrate on football.” So don’t think that the guy doesn’t have a priority set.

WR: Terrell Owens. The mouth of the South, also known as the Mouth of the upper East and the West. Owens was once considered the best receiver in football, until his foot got stuck in his mouth and his play on the field suffered because of it. Still, he is one of the top WRs’ when he wants to be. He will float the middle, streak the side-lines, and can physically beat most corners off the line of scrimmage. He uses his body well against coverage, but can get frustrated easy when they can’t get him the ball. The key to beating Owens, is getting inside of his head…the first person he turns on is his QB.

Terry Glenn is out of this game so the 2nd receiver slot belongs to Patrick Crayton who really has not done much to impress. Last week he was held to three catches for 51 yards. Crayton should be able to be covered one on one by Travis Daniels, leaving a safety and W. Allen on Owens. The Cowboys wide receivers pretty much ends there in terms of names. Sam Hurd is listed as the 3rd WR, and when researched, all I could find was this: “He ended the 2006 season with 5 catches for 75 yards” regarding his receiving abilities…and he was the recipient of Tony Romo’s first completion as well.

TE/RB: If the receivers are rather on the weak side, then this is where the Cowboys earn their points. Jason Witten is one of the best in terms of all around production. He can block, he can run, and he can catch. Witten knows how to get separation and knows how to find the spaces to set up shop. The Dolphins did a good job last week stopping TE Chris Cooley for 4 quarters, they will have their hands full again with Witten as he will likely be a go to target for Romo all day.

The Cowboys use two RBs. Marion Barber III and Julius Jones. Jones is playing for his future as Barber has taken many reps from the starter. The Cowboys, in looking at the local papers and listening to local radio, are about at the end of the Jones experiment, however, last week Jones carried 16 times and Barber toted the rock 11. They had similar yardage results and Barber added a touchdown. Barber has been a consistent back for the Cowboys and has the combination of bruising attack and quick speed to make defenders miss, but he will not hesitate to lower his shoulder and plow into someone rather than try some fancy move to make them miss. Miami will see plenty of both, as they did in Washington. Do not be surprised to see the same running attack implemented in this game. Steady doses of one while the other rests. At least one columnist in Dallas believes that the greatest front the Dolphins have against the Cowboys is not the team but the heat. The Boys’ can remedy that by keeping fresh legs coming and going all game long.

Offensive Line: Although not as good as in previous years, the Cowboys offensive line is still a very good unit. Flozell Adams anchors the left side while the right has off-season acquired Leonard Davis to anchor it. Last week the line allowed Romo to throw 24 passes, of which 15 were completed. 4 of those went for TDs’ and he threw for almost 380 yards. Not bad for 15.

In the running game, the Cowboys Oline helped the RB duo combine for 131 yards.

The offensive line is steady, but they will have their hands full. The Miami defense must rebound from an effort in week 1 that allowed 191 yards in the running game. Jones averaged 5.1 yards per carry and Barber averaged just over 4 behind the blocking of the Cowboys offensive line.

Defense:

Wade Phillips brought his tough style of defense to Dallas from SD. So far, they have given up 35 points to what many called a weaker Giants team.

Front 7: The Cowboys took a major hit when NT Jason Ferguson went down last week. Ferguson is likely out for the year. He will be replaced by back-up NT/RE Jay Ratliff. Ratliff did a decent job filling in for the injured nose tackle and this week will face a rookie Center and mixed offensive line in Miami. In addition to Ratliff on the front, the Cowboys have Canty and Spears filling out the 3 man front of the Boys 3-4 defense. Both are productive if unspectacular, but they should be able to handle the offensive line of the Dolphins in the running game.

Moving back to the LBs’, Greg Ellis is injured and that will mean Anthony Spencer will be taking his slot. Brady James and Akin Ayodele fill in the middle where Bobby Carpenter should see plenty of time as well. The other LB spot is occupied by Demarcus Ware.

If there is one thing to be said about the LBs for the Cowboys is that they are fast and they love to hit. The cowboys have a very solid LB corp although weakened slightly by the absence of Ellis. Expect them to blitz and test the Dolphins Oline often and if Miami fails to open running lanes for the RBs, the LBs will rack up a lot tackles.

Secondary: Terrence Newman was out of last weeks game and a decision has not been made this week. Ken Hamlin formerly of the Indy Colts joins the safeties and standout corner Roy Williams. Williams is a tough CB with a combination of speed and power. However, with the weakened opposite side, the Giants were able to exploit the Cowboys secondary for big yards. Williams will likely play man up on the Dolphins number 1 WR whoever that ends up being. Hamlin will patrol the middle and likely shadow the slot or split-end WR.

The unit is a good one if they can stay on task. Last week was an abysmal performance against a team that is in their division and not known for a solid aerial attack. Miami could try and exploit this deficiency until the Cowboys secondary can prove that it was not the norm, but the exception to their season.

Special Teams: Nick Folk is the kicker and Mat McBriar handles the punting duties. Scoring 45 points he did not have a busy week last week.  In the return game, the Cowboys will wait and see if Newman can return kicks, if not, Patrick Crayton will get the primary duties as the 2nd man back.