How the Browns Beat the Cowboys
The Cleveland Browns have won two games in a row, are building some confidence and find themselves with an opportunity to announce themselves as a legitimate team if they can defeat the Dallas Cowboys on the road.
The Cowboys are 1-2, but they have best offense the Browns will face this year, but they might have the worst defense too. Everything about this game suggests a high-scoring affair, so this game becomes about stops and potentially finding a way to create an extra possession.
When the Browns have the ball
In this type of game, the Browns should use tempo as a weapon. That could mean slowing it down to try to control the ball and shorten the game, but it may also mean going fast, especially if they have feel like they've found an advantage against the defense.
Yes, the Browns will run the ball, but there's nothing to suggest that a team can't slow the game down and pass. High percentage passes, whether it includes play-action or not as well as screens can definitely be a part of that strategy. It helps get the quarterback in a rhythm so when they want to be more aggressive passing, they are confident in the execution.
Further, it's an easy way to poke and prod the defense to find vulnerabilities and decipher defensive tendencies. So of course the Browns want to run the ball with Nick Chubb when they slow down the game, but they want to find ways to attack the Cowboys defense from all angles.
Last week, the Browns found significant success with counters and wide traps, particularly behind Wyatt Teller on the move. Look for the Browns to continue that as a way to try to give the Cowboys edge rushers thinking, but this defense is more vulnerable against the traditional zone looks.
Dontari Poe and Trysten Hill aren't players that are really built to work laterally, so if the Browns can get their linemen out in space, capitalizing on their athleticism, they may be able to get to the second level and put a body on their linebackers, particularly Jaylon Smith. If they're able to do that, it limits his ability to use his athleticism to fly around and make plays.
Save for Xavier Woods, no one the Cowboys will have available in this game has done much of anything coverage-wise. This should be a good game to have a more balanced attack and get a much bigger contribution as the Browns continue to build and gain confidence in their passing game.
Play-action is always a huge part of what the Browns do offensively, but freezing the linebackers, if even for a moment, allows them to isolate their corners. That should provide opportunities to get Odell Beckham space to run after the catch. They will likely take a shot or few down the field if they can get one-on-one coverage against Beckham down the field.
The Cowboys have not done a good job stopping opposing tight ends and Austin Hooper is easily the most talented one they will have faced to this point. Hooper has been great, but he hasn't had a breakout performance to really showcase his value and this could be a great way to do that, particularly working the intermediate level of the field.
When the Cowboys have the ball
The struggling back seven doesn't need to suddenly be great, because as nice as that would be, it's not realistic. Their biggest challenge is to simply avoid defensive breakdowns.
In every game this season, there has been a significant breakdown in coverage including both touchdown passes against Washington. The Cowboys are going to make plays, but it's entirely about limiting the damage. Force the Cowboys to run more plays and the defensive line may force a mistake or cause a turnover.
The defensive line has caused a fumble in each game. Myles Garrett recovered the one he didn't cause and recovered one of the two he did cause. Garrett's pressure also led to two of three Haskins interceptions.
The Cowboys are vulnerable up front and Dak Prescott, as impressive as he is, has not handled consistent pressure well throughout his career.
The Cowboys are averaging 29.3 points per game. Every time the Browns force a punt, create a turnover or even hold them to a field goal attempt, it's a success.
So as much as it might seem good to switch up their defensive coverages, they may want to play Cover-3 the entire game if it means playing it mistake free. If they were more consistent, switching to some man free or disguise their looks, they just need to play something they can execute without getting gashed.
Beyond this, if the Browns can shut down the running game, which the Cowboys have not done well anyway, then it frees them up to move their defensive linemen around as well as stunt. The Browns could throw a number of different looks against the Cowboys to create confusion and try to put pressure and hits on Prescott.
Special Teams
This game screams for a big special teams play of some kind. It may depend on the flow of the game, but if this game goes as expected, where the Cowboys are a dominant offensive threat, the Browns may need to find an opportunity to steal a possession.
That could be in the form of a fake punt, selling out for a punt block or an onside kick. The botched fake punt against the Baltimore Ravens should not discourage them from being aggressive. A huge special teams play could swing the game, whether it's extending a lead, creating one or keeping them in it.
