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Coming off of an extremely disappointing blowout home loss to the Denver Broncos, the Dallas Cowboys head to Atlanta to try and get back into the win column. The 6-2 Cowboys will take on the 4-4 Falcons, who are coming off of a big win over the Saints last Sunday.
The Falcons have also won three of their last four games and four of their last six overall since an 0-2 start. The issue is, they have played a bunch of terrible teams. New Orleans was the only team they have beaten that wasn't below .500 and that was with a backup quarterback in the game in Trevor Siemian.
For more insight on the Cowboys' Week 10 matchup against the Falcons, listen below:
Still, the Falcons are currently sitting pretty as the owners of the NFC's final wild-card spot. Atlanta will be coming out firing through the air on Dallas and trying to attack the secondary in the same way that Denver did last week. They will be out to prove that these last four wins were not flukes and this is the week to do it, against a team that is leading its division. Here are four bold predictions for how the Cowboys can go about making Atlanta return to their losing ways and make them pay if they take the same type of strategy as Denver applied.
Dallas Cowboys: 4 bold predictions for Week 10 vs. Falcons
4. Dak Prescott will not throw a touchdown pass
Atlanta currently ranks 12th in the NFL against the pass and 23rd in the NFL against the run. Also, Denver put together a blueprint last week that showed how to contain the Cowboys. Vic Fangio disguised his safeties and corners very well (as usual) and Dak truly did not know where the Broncos' secondary defenders were going to be from snap to whistle.
Now, Atlanta does not have the secondary to do this type of scheme so they will need to tweak it. They will still have lightboxes and depend on their linebackers to defend the run from a distance, but they will have to play a two-high safety shell…ala the way teams are currently playing Patrick Mahomes. In Mahomes' case, he struggles with taking what is given to him and his coach (usually) has no interest in running the ball. That is different in Dallas, Dak and head coach Mike McCarthy will be game-planning all week to get the running game going. This leads me to my next prediction…
3. Both Cowboys running backs will score a rushing touchdown
With the setup described earlier, “light” boxes, a bad-tackling secondary, lots of two-high safety looks, it all adds up to a running game bonanza. I expect both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard to get a rushing touchdown in this game and for them to have three total between them.
Elliott has looked like a back that has something to prove all year long and Pollard has stayed just a step behind him the entire time. Either of them could be running back one on most teams in the NFL, so the Cowboys certainly have an embarrassment of riches here. When you're going up against the 23rd ranked run defense in the NFL, you have to use those riches to embarrass your enemy. Despite all of the good that we mentioned up to this point…
2. Dallas' offense will not be fixed…yet
The offense is still going to figure out how to communicate better against teams with very good secondaries like the Broncos. There were multiple plays in the Broncos game where Dak had no clue where the defender was going to be when he threw the ball. I'm predicting that some of those issues get corrected this week, as Atlanta is surely going to use some of the same principles, but in the end, not too much because they are lacking in the secondary skill department.
After this game, though, they will absolutely get their chance to prove themselves against some great safeties. Next week they face the Chiefs who have Tyrann Mathieu, the following week they play the young dynamic duo of Johnathan Abram and Trevon Moehrig in Las Vegas and after that, they get Malcolm Jenkins of New Orleans. The Cowboys cannot overlook this game, though, with those big ones coming up that sometimes happens–which leads me to my last point.
1. The Cowboys will win by five
Atlanta has been a better record than their overall defensive rankings show. They also have numerous weapons on offense that they are just now figuring out how to use. They are adjusting to temporary life without superstar wide receiver Calvin Ridley and are in the process of unlocking Kyle Pitts' unworldly talent. They can score with most teams if they are clicking and they will definitely challenge Dallas in this game but in the end, Dallas will win the game by five. After three running touchdowns by his running backs, Dak Prescott runs in the go-ahead touchdown to put the Cowboys up 27-22. Matt Ryan gets the ball back with plenty of time on the clock but cannot get the job done as he turns the ball over on downs.
