Defensive Tale of the Tape: Cowboys vs. Rams

Well, last week’s game started ugly, but the Cowboys were able to take the Cardinals’ best punch and come back from the desert with a win for the first time since 2006. This week’s opponent is the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams are coming off extra rest after prevailing in one of the highest scoring games ever in the Thursday Night Football slot. Older fans of both teams remember when these squads would routinely square off in the playoffs. While it has been decades since both teams were good at the same time, L.A. seems to be responding well to the change in coaching staff and will represent a much better challenge to the Cowboys than most predicted before the season began.

Let’s take a look at how these teams compare by position. We already discussed the offensive side of the ball, and now we’ll make a comparison of each team’s defense and special teams.

Defensive Line

The L.A. Rams are in the beginning of a transition from Jeff Fisher’s 4-3 defensive scheme to Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme. This a different challenge than the previous two weeks in that Phillips’ version of the 3-4 is not the traditional, 2-gap defense run by the Cardinals. They have smaller, quicker players up front that seek to disrupt the blocking scheme rather than overpower it. Aaron Donald has the skillset to continue the domination in this scheme that made him the best down lineman in the league in previous seasons. He has moved from 3 technique DT to 5 technique defensive end. Robert Quinn was moved to outside linebacker because of the change but he still spends a lot of time with his hand in the dirt when playing in their nickel packages. Michael Brockers is another former 1st-round draft pick and is a massive, talented player on the nose. Ethan Westbrooks rounds out their starters up front. He is a talented player and his progression from a college free agent to contributing starter has been impressive as Donald’s bookend at left DE.

Demarcus “Tank” Lawrence is leading the league in sacks through three games as he had another great performance in Arizona. He is playing so well that offenses will have to begin looking at ways to get two blockers on him. Maliek Collins continues to do the dirty work on twists and stunts to help free up Lawrence but he is also showing the ability to get home to the QB himself. He is currently 2nd in the NFL among all interior defensive lineman. The Cowboys are hoping that the extra attention Lawrence could get will allow a rotation of Damontre Moore, Tyrone Crawford and Taco Charlton to provide him some rest and some help from the opposite defensive end spot to continue harassing quarterbacks. However, the fall off from Lawrence to the rest of the active DEs was painfully apparent in the Arizona game. That makes this an…..

ADVANTAGE – Rams

Linebackers

Sean Lee was back to being his normal, beastly self against the Cardinals in Week 3. Unfortunately, the hamstring injury he suffered in that game may cause him to miss this game. Even if he plays, there will be a legitimate concern as to his ability to fly to the ball like his normal self. Jaylon Smith only trails Lee by one in total tackles on the season (25-24 on official NFL stats). While he is still working his way back to full speed, his progress each week is evident. He is knocking off the rust of inactivity and is showing more of the reasons he was a probable top 5 pick before his injury. As good as he’s been, he will need to step up even more if Lee can’t go. This is why the Cowboys sign a guy like Justin Durant. His experience and knowledge of this scheme will prove vital if the defensive captain does, in fact, miss Week 4. Damien Wilson’s athletic ability will also be a key to surviving a limited or missing Lee. He has played very well in his opportunities and must continue to do so.

The Rams pass rush comes mainly from their outside linebackers. Conner Barwin has been a challenge for the Cowboys for years with the Eagles and he will be hoping to continue that now as a Ram. The aforementioned Quinn will come off the opposite side and put pressure on the Dallas tackles to handle two solid rushers. The Rams also have two high draft picks manning the middle of their defense. Alec Ogletree has shown flashes of becoming a good linebacker. Converted safety, Mark Barron, is trying to reclaim the luster that came off his career as he became exposed as a coverage liability at safety. He has shown the toughness and ability to tackle but his lack of size has been exploited by opponents in the running game. I don’t believe we will see a fully healthy Sean Lee this weekend if he suits up at all. So for this week, this is…

ADVANTAGE – Rams

Defensive Backs

Trumaine Johnson is the top corner for the Rams. In fact, they chose to keep him over Janoris Jenkins a couple of years ago is working on a 2nd straight franchise tag. He is not in the same class as Patrick Peterson or Aqib Talib, so the Rams may need to provide him some help if he shadows Dez Bryant this week. The Rams’ secondary took a big hit when it became clear that Lamarcus Joyner will not play in this game. He has played very well thus far this season and his versatility to play deep middle and to cover in the slot allows Wade Phillips to disguise his exotic blitz packages. Cody Davis was a spot starter last season and will replace Joyner in the starting lineup but this is a big drop off for the Rams. Kayvon Webster is the cornerback lining up opposite to Johnson and he is coming back from an injury to stabilize that spot.

Dallas has had to navigate a merry-go-round in its secondary to this point of the season. It started with trading out numerous veteran contributors for rookies in the offseason and has only become more pronounced as injuries have impacted everyone except Anthon Brown and Byron Jones. Orlando Scandrick’s veteran leadership was very important as the team held the Cardinals in check in the 2nd half last week and it will be just as important this week with the Rams’ numerous offensive weapons. Rookie Chidobe Awuzie will probably miss time again this week with his hamstring injury, but the potential of Jourdan Lewis showed up huge in Arizona, as he was one of my three “Ballers” from last week’s game. Unfortunately, he is also fighting through a hamstring problem and may not be fully healthy for this week. With all the injuries on both sides, I believe the better overall depth makes this…

ADVANTAGE – Cowboys

Special Teams

Dan Bailey continues to be “money” when it comes to putting points on the board. He is a great kicker and the Cowboys are lucky to have him. Chris Jones continues to repay the Cowboys faith in him with his consistently excellent performance. He is capable of flipping field position and is extremely effective at pinning opponents inside their own 20 to start drives. Ryan Switzer finally got a chance to show his ability on punt returns and even got a 21-yard return with just 10 men on the field for Dallas. He will only get better as he gets more chances and it feels like only a matter of time until he takes one to the house.

Greg “the leg” Zuerlein has tremendous distance and is a solid kicker. The Rams also have a solid punter in Johnny Hekker. They have very explosive returners in Tavon Austin and Pharoh Cooper, both of whom are capable of changing a game with their abilities on special teams. Until Switzer bust a couple of returns, the edge should go to Austin in the return game, but both Bailey and Jones and Lee are better than their Rams counterparts. That makes this…

ADVANTAGE – Cowboys

Now that we have compared the teams unit by unit, we will next take a look at the top three matchups that will decide the outcome on Sunday afternoon.

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