This week, the Dallas Cowboys come to Pittsburgh. It's the first week of December...that means cold, wind, ice, snow, and sleet. Pittsburgh Steeler weather, to be exact.
The Steelers (9-3) are coming off of a big win in New England, 33-10.
The Cowboys (8-4) are coming off of a Thanksgiving day win against Seattle, 34-9.
Some key matchups:
Steelers CB Ike Taylor vs. Cowboys WR Terrel Owens: In the past, the Steelers have had Ike Taylor shadow the opposing team's top wide receiver. He has done well with this job, often limiting the receiver to a few catches for not many yards. TO is a very physical wideout, but he can be bumped off of his route at the LOS when the cornerback isn't intimidated, and Ike Taylor does not get intimidated. If we can get TO out of the game early and force Romo to look at other receivers such as TE Jason Whitten and WR Roy Williams then Owens will get frustrated and lose concentration.
Cowboys OLB Demarcus Ware vs. Steelers LT Max Starks: Max Starks, yes the Max Starks of the $8M transition tag, is still starting at LT in releif of the injured Marvell Smith. He will have his hands full with man beast pass-rusher Demarcus Ware, who has 15 sacks this season, a career high that is the most in the league. With Ware's specialty being rushing the passer, we should expect Dallas to send him against one of the most sacked quarterbacks of the past two seasons. Ware can also get into the backfield and tackle the running back. If we can get the run game going to get the play-action pass going, that will help Starks immensly because it will have to keep Ware back on his heels somewhat.
Cowboys QB Tony Romo vs. Steelers SS Troy Polamalu: Troy Polamalu just nabbed his sixth interception of the season in New England on Sunday. He is the type of player that Romo must know where he is on the field at all times. Polamalu is so versatile...he can play deep center field and just fly to the ball, he can come up in run support, he can rush the passer. If Romo loses track of the man with the flowing locks, Polamalu is going to come up with a huge Cowboy drive-killing interception. With Romo's thumb injury, he has had to change his throwing motion. The Steelers pass rush will flush Romo out of the pocket at times, and this is where the change in his throwing mechanics will hurt him the most...throwing on the run. Polamalu is allowed to play on pure insticnt rather than in the framework of the defense, so when Romo is out of the pocket Polamalu will make a big play.
Steelers Defensive Line vs. Cowboys RB Marion Barber: The defensive line of the Steelers has played great, stuffing the run. Nosetackle Casey "Big Snack" Hampton just eats up the middle of the offensive line (no pun intended). Defense end Aaron Smith is a great bullrusher with underrated speed and he loves to get into the backfield and make a tackle. Defensive end Brett Keisel is likley out with an injury, but the guys that have been filling in for him throughout the year, Nick Eason and Travis Kirschke, have done a very admirable job. Marion Barber's running style plays right into the strengths of the Steelers offensive line. Barber loves to take it up the gut, but has the ability to bounce it outside and has very good speed once he hits that second level. But with Hampton clogging up the middle, Barber would have to boucne it outside but by then it's normally too late as Aaron Smith or Eason/Kirschke have already bottled you up behild the LOS. And if by chance he does get by this defensive line, he'll have to deal with an excellent linebacker corps and DB's that have no problem with run support. It also doesn't help Barber that he hurt his knee during last week's game and may not be 100% in Pittsburgh.
My pick for the win:
Steelers 34
Cowboys 14
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Good work, man!
-Cambodia
Post a Comment