FRISCO, Texas — The 8-6 Dallas Cowboys face the 5-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on their home turf this Sunday. The two teams have met 18 times with Dallas leading the series winning 14 and Tampa Bay winning 4. The Cowboys have won six of the last seven matchups.
After the Cowboys shutout loss to the Colts, the keys for their offense will be moving the chains and maximizing opportunities in the red zone with touchdowns. The interior of Dallas’ offensive line is banged up with injuries and the Colts took advantage last week stacking linebackers in the box, jamming the line of scrimmage. They faced standout outside linebacker Darius Leonard in Indianapolis and they face another one in Lavonte David, who leads the Buccaneers defense in tackles with 105. David has accumulated 3.5 sacks, two pass deflections, and one forced fumble in just 12 games this season. He has an innate ability off the line of scrimmage to get to ball carriers to make critical stops.
I spoke with Jason Garrett on the challenge David poses to this offense, he stated, “ he leaps off the tape with his speed and will be a heck of a challenge for us. “
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys need to regain that energy and dominance they have played with during their five-game win streak and make tackles. They will need a strong pass rush against Jameis Winston’s favorite target and the greatest weapon of the Bucs’ offense: Mike Evans. Evans has amassed over 1,000 receiving yards in all four NFL seasons and currently has a career high in 2018 with 1,328. He has that size and speed combination that Dallas has to be ready for.
Safety Jeff Heath remarked on Evans’ ability, “ big, athletic, really good at high-pointing the football. “
The secondary will have their hands full covering Mike Evans. They faced a good wideout in T.Y. Hilton last week and this week will face the challenge of stopping Evans who averages nearly 18 yards after the catch in 2018, and the Tampa Bay offense that is currently ranked third in the league on offense, with a passing game that is tied for first with Kansas City in the NFL.
