The Cowboys utilized their run game to great success in Week 3, with Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard each logging over 13 carries and both topping 70 yards in their 23-16 divisional win.
But if the Dallas ground attack is to keep churning, it’ll have to get over a pretty sizable speed bump when the Commanders come to AT&T Stadium on Sunday.
Washington gave up 123 rushing yards to Jacksonville in their season opener, allowing 6.8 yards per carry. But they’ve tightened up considerably in the weeks since then; last Sunday’s outing saw them hold the Eagles to just a 2.4-yard-per-attempt average.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones knows that could translate to an afternoon of tough sledding for his dynamic backfield duo.
“The thing that worries me,” Jones said Friday on 105.3 The Fan, “is the general defensive front. It is outstanding. They have as good of personnel as I’ve ever seen put together. That’s a challenge. Our guys- especially our offensive line- and our blocking schemes, get our run going the way we had it going the other night so we can balance it out and give us a chance passing-wise. All of that is going to be a challenge against this team. That’s their strength.”
Analyst Bucky Brooks agrees. In a column spotlighting the Commanders’ eight best players, he argues that three of them play along the defensive line. (It would no doubt be four if superstar edge rusher Chase Young weren’t on injured reserve.)
Daron Payne leads Washington’s linemen in total snaps this season. He “owns the line of scrimmage as a heavy-handed defender,” Brooks notes, “with the size, strength, and power to throw blockers around. If opponents fail to pay extra attention to No. 94 at the point of attack, the veteran will wreck the shop and ruin a game plan.”
Fellow defensive tackle Jonathan Allen “possesses the size, length, and athleticism to create chaos,” according to Brooks, who adds that his “technical savvy and non-stop motor make him difficult to control at the point of attack.”
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy this week called Payne and Allen “two forces in the middle.” But then there’s their still-ascending defensive end Montez Sweat. Much like the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons, Sweat has become the disruptor that offenses need to key on before each snap.
“Really, the guy that’s facing a little bit more has been Montez in terms of the way the protections are rigged, and you see a concerted effort to pay attention to where…
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