Cowboys at Titans, 5 Keys to Win, Plus Inactives

The Dallas Cowboys are aiming for a 12th win against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night at Nissan Stadium in what is a bizarre game for one reason: The Titans have nothing to play for as the AFC South will be decided next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Indeed, while Dallas has an interesting inactive list - Cowboys RB Tony Pollard (thigh), LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck), WR James Washington, WR Jalen Tolbert, CB Trayvon Mullen, S Markquese Bell and QB Will Grier - the Titans are sitting Derrick Henry ... a white flag waved.

But Dallas can't worry about who Tennessee will or won't put on the field. Instead, it needs to focus on securing a 12th win (it would be just the fifth time they would reach that mark in the last 16 years).

How does Dallas secure its 12th win of the season?

By doing these five things. ...

Start fast: This is obvious. Against a Titans team resting a host of starters, Dallas needs to get out of the blocks quickly and take advantage.

In the last four first halves, Dallas has scored 21, 17, 21, and 17 points. Much of the same is needed. Why? Because in four of their last five games, the Titans have failed to score more than 16 points.

Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense needs to get rolling early, put up points, and put away any glimmering hope the Titans could have of an upset.

Get after Joshua Dobbs: Against a quarterback starting his first NFL game (played in six), Dallas needs to take advantage.

Having just 45 passing yards and one interception to his name, Dobbs is potentially a sitting duck for this Dallas defense.

Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn must put the heat on Dobbs early and often. The Titans rank seventh for sacks given up with 43. In a game that the Cowboys have to win to keep any hope of winning the NFC East, getting Dobbs knocked off his line will be crucial in keeping the score down and allowing the offense to do its thing.

Maintain third-down conversion rate: Since Dak Prescott's return, the Cowboys have been superb on third down. Once the offense's biggest weakness, Dallas is now one of the league's best.

Over the last three games, Dallas has converted 54.35 percent of third downs (ranks third in the NFL) and has the fifth-best conversion rate of the season (46.50 percent) overall.

The bad thing for Dallas is the Titans are the best in the league in stopping third downs, only allowing a conversion 31.84 percent of the time (67/186). At home, the Titans are even better, only allowing a third-down conversion percentage of 29.03.

Something has to give, and if Dallas wants to secure its 12th win, converting third downs will play a big role in getting it done.

Maintain the rage defensively: Safety Jayron Kearse stated last week the defense needed to stop talking and play football against the Philadelphia Eagles. They did and secured four turnovers, which the Cowboys' offense cashed in.

Over the last four games, despite many question marks surrounding Dan Quinn's defense, they are still taking the ball away...14 times to be exact.

The Titans' offense on the other hand, has turned the ball over seven times in their last three games, with three coming against the Texans. Dallas has the best turnover differential in the NFL (+12), while the Titans rank 23rd (-3).

With a banged-up defense, Quinn's unit needs to continue on this rapid pace and put some distance between themselves and Tennessee as early as possible.

Protect Prescott: Given the time of the year, this is paramount. Once the best at not allowing sacks, over the last two weeks, Prescott has been hitting the turf a little more often than Mike McCarthy would have wanted.

We don't want Dak to get put in harm's way against the Titans. He has been sacked nine times in his last two games (six vs. the Eagles). Prior to that, he had been sacked nine times in eight games.

The Titans rank 13th in sacks (37) and, over the last five games, have registered just seven sacks, so the pass rush isn't elite by any stretch, but we know that Mike Vrabel's teams are tough at home.

Keeping Dak upright will be crucial not only for this game but also for the postseason. After all the hard work to set themselves up for a playoff run, getting Prescott injured due to a missed assignment due to a mental error or a missed block would be inexcusable at this time of year.

So, to Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, Tyler Smith, Tyler Biadasz, and Connor McGovern, protect Dak at all costs. Multiple sacks can't happen again, not this close to the playoffs.

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