The Cowboys have been a pass-first offense thus far this season. Though they have talented runners in former Gopher Marion Barber III, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice, don’t look for them to carry the load.
Quarterback Tony Romo has quite a few talented receivers, as well: Mike Williams, the speedy Miles Austin, rookie Dez Byrant, tight ends Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett.
Though rookie receiver Dez Bryant is listed as questionable on the injury report with a high ankle sprain, there’s a chance he could play. That would be too bad for the Vikings because in addition to being a talented receiver, he’s also pretty damn good at returning kicks.
With the Vikings hurting in the secondary, look for Romo to try and expose cornerbacks Asher Allen and Lito Sheppard. I’d think the Cowboys would also try and get some match ups between the 5’9″ Antoine Winfield and one of their 6’6″ tight ends.
It’s no secret what the Vikings need to do on defense; the same thing they did in the playoffs last year: Get after Tony Romo, knock him around and make him feel uncomfortable. That likely means we need to get a big game out of Jared Allen on Sunday.
CUTBACK RUN
After looking at the tape from the Cowboys season thus far, it looks to me that Dallas is fairly susceptible to the cutback run, so expect to see plenty of that from Adrian Peterson tomorrow.
KEEPING IT LOOSE
The Pioneer Press‘ Jeremy Fowler has a nice piece comparing the mood of the Vikings and Cowboys respective locker rooms.
It’s a good sign that the Vikes are laughing and having fun with Nerf basketball competitions.
THE DEETS
The game starts at 3:15 p.m. at Mall of America Field at the Metrodome. The game will be broadcast on Fox. Play-by-play will be provided by idiot Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will serve as analyst. The “sideline reporters” will be Pam Oliver and Thom Brenneman.
Locally, you can hear the game on KFAN-AM 1130/KTLK 100.3-FM with play-by-play guy Paul Allen, analyst Pete Bercich, and sideline reporter Greg Coleman. The pre-game show starts at 1:15 p.m. CST.
ZING!
Brad Childress had a beautiful comeback for Cowoboys coach Wade Phillips, who said scoring in the waning moments of a playoff game while well ahead, as the Vikings did to his team last year, is “not something I would have done.”
The seemingly congenitally inarticulate head coach of the Vikings responded with uncharacteristic clarity: “It’d probably be a good idea to cover somebody. Generally on defense, you’ve got to cover the deep plays.”
Ouch.
OPPOSITION RESEARCH
As usual, I got your back for all your opposition research needs. Check out the Dallas Cowboys News page in the Opposition section of Minnesota Vikings Chat and I’ve compiled video highlights from the Dallas Cowboys 2010 season thus far.
STADIUM POLITICS
Cory Merrifield of SaveTheVikes.Org is hosting an event Sunday at the Purple tailgate lot across from the Dome from 1:00-3:00 p.m. where gubernatorial candidates Tom Emmer (Republican), Tom Horner (Independence), former state Senate Minority Leader Dick Day and 5th District Republican congressional candidate Joel Demos will talk about plans for a new Vikings stadium. [THE DEETS.]