Cowboys at Redskins: How Sweep It Would Be

Dallas Cowboys (8-5) at Washington Redskins (7-6)
4:15 p.m. FedEx Field
If you don’t have your ticket yet for this game, don’t bother trying to get one. Unless you make some major coin. Tickets are going for at least $1,000 online. I’m sure the scalped tickets will be even more. And what are you paying 1,000 dollars for? The weather isn’t going to be pleasant. The temperature is going to be around 35 degrees. And that’s before factoring in the nasty wind chill. But yours truly will be there anyway. I’ll send you a postcard.

So it will be in arctic temperatures that the greatest rivalry in sports writes its 92nd chapter. I really liked the 91st chapter. That passage was solid. I really enjoyed the end of the chapter, when Santana Moss caught two really long touchdown passes in the final minutes and Sean Taylor blew up some Cowgirls for a 14-13 Redskins win that sent King Liposuction and Coach Tub o’ Lard home with a foul taste in their mouths. As it turns out, that loss was really devastating to the Girls, because they would be 9-4 otherwise.

Even though the Skins won, Dallas was clearly the superior team on that mid-September night. What does that mean for this game? Nothing really. That game was so long ago it might as well have been played in 2004. I guess you could say that the Girls have extra motivation, but seeing as how both teams will be playing for their postseason lives, I doubt that revenge will factor into this decision.

What will factor into this game is Washington’s injury situation. The Skins have, not one, not two, but three cornerbacks who are injured. Shawn Springs, Carlos Rogers and Walt Harris are all listed as probable, and up until Friday, none of them practiced. Springs and Harris returned to practice for Friday afternoon, but Rogers is still out. Even if Springs and Harris practiced, it doesn’t mean they will play. Joe Gibbs hates starting players who miss significant amounts of practice due to injury. And even though Meshawn and Parcells’ favorite she-male Terry Glenn are overrated, I’d hate to think what Drew Bledsoe could do to Ade Jimoh and Dimitri Patterson. That could get “Ed Reed ugly” real quickly.

Seriously, do the Redskins have anyone on defense that is healthy other than Marcus Washington? The three corners are hurt. Joe Salave’a, Cedric Killings and Cornelius Griffin are hurt. Lavar is hurt. It is unknown to everyone outside of the locker room at Redskins Park who is actually going to play and who isn’t. Gibbs is protecting that injury list like it’s a bunch of nuclear codes (which, ironically enough, are contained in a briefcase called “the football”).

The Cowgirls go into Landover with no major injury concerns. So the Skins will get the full force of Tubby’s defense, and will have to deal with Bledsoe’s offense. The Girls, all of sudden, have a dangerous two-back platoon behind Bledsoe. Julian Jones is healthy after a variety of ailments, and Marion Barber III has proved to be very able when Jones needs a breather. Throw in Meshawn, Glenn and the tight end Jason Witten, and Dallas has a lot of options that need stopping. The one weakness is the offensive line. If the corners were healthy, the Skins would most certainly blitz Bledsoe, who moves a lot like this guy here. But, without proven corners, or with beat up corners, the Skins are going to have to drop into more frequent zones. This will force the linebackers to drop back in coverage. Pressure on Bledsoe will consist mostly of the front four. And as we all know, the defensive line has been poor all season unless Griffin is completely healthy.

The most impressive thing about the Dallas offense is that they lead the NFL in time of possession. Even with all those big play, score quick options, the Girls are prone to control the ball and tempo of the game. If Dallas is able to run the ball, and the Redskins aren’t able to blitz like they want to on passing downs, then the Girls will effectively mask their deficiency in pass protection and the Redskins will be in trouble.

How will the Redskins beat Dallas you ask? With their running game. Clinton Portis is averaging 113 yards in the last five games. Two of those efforts came against pretty good defenses (Tampa and San Diego). After allowing only two 100 yard rushers in the first eight weeks, the Dallas rush defense has given up more than 125 yards on the ground in four of the last five games. The undersized and speedy front seven that Tubby loves so much is getting worn down as the season progresses. This has been Parcells downfall ever since he returned to coach New England in the mid-90’s. His defensive front is usually too small. Go back and watch Super Bowl XXXI (Packers vs. Patriots). While Desmond Howard and Brett Farve made the big plays, the Packers dominated the smaller and tattered front seven for New England. This allowed Green Bay to control the clock and keep Bledsoe and company off the field. Even in the playoffs that year, the Patriots had to win shootouts just to get to the Super Bowl.

The Redskins should win the game in the trenches. Emphasis on should. Because as Clinton’s numbers have gone up, Mark Brunell’s numbers have gone down. He has thrown only four touchdown passes in the last seven games. This wasn’t a problem because at least Brunell wasn’t throwing picks. Until last week. Look for Dallas to stack the box. Even though they were burned in September by keying in on Portis and allowing Moss to get free, their sudden failure to stop the running game with their front seven against other teams’ offensive lines makes this strategy necessary. If the Cowgirls use eight in the box, at least in the first half, it could sway Gibbs and company to alter their game plan and go to the air. And if Dallas is able to blitz out of run defense, it will be hard for Skins to get anything going. But that shouldn’t happen against the Skins offensive line. Especially if Dallas continues to play that ridiculous three-four defense.

A couple of matchups to watch when the Redskins have the ball. The first is on the offensive line. Chris Samuels will be responsible for blocking defensive end Greg Ellis. If Samuels wins the battle, then the Redskins could run over Samuels and Derrick Dockery all day. Or, the Girls will bring up their linebackers to compensate, and then the play-action to Chris Cooley becomes a dangerous weapon. If Samuels struggles to stop Ellis, then that may force Gibbs to double team him with Cooley or Robert Royal. This would open up blitzing lanes elsewhere for Dallas. And even though Dallas has a small linebacking core, they are extremely quick. If they come on the blitz in the right lane, the play is over.

The other matchup to watch will be Santana Moss on Terence Newman. This one is self-explanatory. If Dallas is forced to double Moss with Roy Williams to prevent him from burning Newman again, then that is one less player in the box to stop Portis. And if Dallas does this, Portis will have another big game.

So, what will happen on Sunday? As I said before, both teams are playing for their postseason lives, so that cancels out. The Dallas revenge factor will be canceled out or even bettered by the 91,000 burgundy-clad fans that will be in attendance. And like the crowd, the weather will favor the Redskins. So even before the kickoff, the Skins go into the game with a significant advantage.

The Redskins need to do three things to win (other than the usual things like hold on to the football, don’t commit dumb penalties, etc…). One, Samuels needs to win the aforementioned contest with Ellis. Two, both Cooley and Royal must be a factor from the tight end position. This will open up the Dallas defense to both deep passes and the running game. Three, the Redskins defensive line must get pressure on Bledsoe. In September, the Skins didn’t sack Bledsoe at all. They can’t afford to do that again. I guess a fourth goal for Washington will be making sure that they don’t get burned by the trick play. It seems every time Parcells meets Gibbs, Parcells finds ways to come up with trick plays that work.

Both teams have played a lot of close games, and are evenly matched. It should be close. Regardless of what happens, its great that Redskins-Cowboys is back in the national spotlight where it belongs.