Clarence Hill: 5 things the Dallas Cowboys must do to beat the Tennessee Titans
For the second time this season, the Dallas Cowboys are playing three games in 12 days.
They did it last month, playing the Packers, Vikings and Giants over 12 days, finishing against the Giants on Thanksgiving.
This time the Cowboys are facing the Titans on Thursday after facing the Jaguars on Dec. 18 and the Eagles on Dec. 24
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy believes this is the toughest stretch of the season because it’s later in the season with the players also having to navigate Christmas Day.
“I think the biggest thing you look at obviously is the medical, physical journey that we’re on,” McCarthy said. “We have a good blueprint coming out of Thanksgiving week, there’s a lot of similarities of how we’re training this week compared to the Thanksgiving Week. We do have one more day longer. It was Christmas, but the players were off. The workload capacity is very similar to going into the Giants game.”
McCarthy has held nothing but walk-through practices this week to manage the players bodies.
And it certainly met the approval of running back Ezekiel Elliott.
“Just getting our bodies ready. Short week,” Elliott said. “We’ve got a lot of preparation to do. Most of it’s going to have to be mentally.. You just know what to expect. And honestly, I don’t mind it. I don’t mind just walk throughs and then going to play. Just got to get ready.”
I like playing football. I love playing the football games. I feel fresh, I feel good. The only thing that could be difficult is just your body and trying to keep back fresh and trying to get back ready. We’ve got a young team. We have some vets, but we’ve got a lot of young guys. I think we’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity”
5 Things the Cowboys must do to beat the Titans:
Focus on themselves, their goals vs. Titans
The Dallas Cowboys (11-4) can’t control how the Tennessee Titans (7-8) approach Thursday’s game.
With their season and playoff fate set to be decided in the final game of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Titans are likely to rest some of their starters against the Giants.
But the Cowboys still have a chance at the NFC East title and must play to win against the Titans.
The Cowboys need to win their final two games and hope the Philadelphia Eagles (13-2) lose their final two games.
“If they want to roll us the ball a couple of times and let us go from there, I’m all for that. We’ll take it however they want to do it,” quarterback Dak Prescott said jokingly. “[The division title] is not necessarily in our hands to control. For me, it’s about worrying about this week right now, what’s at hand. Making sure that we go out there and we control what we can and that’s winning this game and being prepared and making sure that we’re just continuing to build off of last game really and just make sure as I said before, getting this momentum going in the right way and the right direction. If something happens over on that other side [with the Eagles] that allows us too [win the division], yeah, that would be great.”
Said running back Ezekiel Elliott: “I never really pay attention that much with what [the Titans] got going on. That got nothing to do with me. We want to win. We’ve got to go win this football game. We’re trying to build momentum for the playoffs.
“We need a little help [to catch the Eagles]. You never want help. But need a little help. If the opportunity presents itself, we want to have ourselves in the right situation to clinch the NFC East and get some home-field advantage.”
Parsons frustrated more about lack of sacks than injured hand
Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons was limited in practice this week with an injured left hand.
But it won’t stop him from playing against the Titans Thursday.
Parsons said the hand was sore and it’s was just part of playing football.
“We play a physical sport,” Parsons said. “I’m good though.”
The injury is not considered serious. Parsons didn’t need a magnetic resonance imaging exam.
Parsons is more upset about questions regarding his and the team’s decline in sacks than his injured hand, which should not be good news for the Titans and rookie quarterback Malik Willis.
The Cowboys, who are third in the NFL sacks, have just one sack in the last three games. Parsons, who leads the team with 13 sacks, has that lone sack. He has just one sack in the last four games as opponents have focused their blocking schemes on containing him while also trying to get the ball out quick.
This is also the second straight week in which Parsons was limited or held out practice after missing two days last week with a flu bug.
“I’ll put it like this. It’s not as easy as everyone or I may look or other guys may look or make it seem,” Parsons said. “I promise you sacking the quarterback’s not that easy, especially when they’re game-planning against it and they don’t want you to get going so you might see a lot more play-action, boot ... And then the timing of when the ball’s coming out, it’s not a lot of drop backs and long-developing routes. Everything might be quick, short, intermediate. I could win in 2 seconds and it still might not be fast enough. People forget we’re playing against the league’s best, we’re not playing against (little people) football players where we can just throw them out of the way and sack the quarterback so fast.
“But if anybody want to take my job and step in my shoes, you’re more than welcome. I’ll hand it over and see how you do.”
Turnovers are still coming
Coach Mike McCarthy is not worried about the teams lack of sacks of late. He thinks they need to do a better job in their rush lanes to combat mobile quarterbacks but he said pressure is not a problem.
“I think the only people who need to be concerned about our pass rush are who we line up against.”
The Cowboys are not getting to the quarterback as much as they did earlier in the season but they are still taking the ball away at an impressive rate. The Cowboys had forced four turnovers against the Eagles last Sunday and lead the NFL with 30 takeaways through 15 games one year after leading the league with 34.
”That’s a big part of our personality on defense. And it has been the last two years,” McCarthy said.
T.Y. Hilton has been a boost
The Cowboys wanted Odell Beckham to bolster their receiver corps. They ended up signing veteran T.Y. Hilton and it has proven to be the better deal for the team on and off the field.
Hilton showed the Cowboys against the Eagles that he has the speed to take the top off the defense, which they badly needed to complement No. 1 receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Owner Jerry Jones continues to gush over the 52-yard reception Hilton made on 3rd and 30 in the fourth quarter in his first catch as a member of the Cowboys to spark the 40-34 victory over the Eagles.
”You notice he didn’t put his hands out way earlier in the steps with that DB,” Jones said. “He waited until that ball was right there before his eyes, then he snatched it.
”Veteran receiving at its very best. Talent, too.”
Hilton, who should have a bigger package of plays against the Titans on Thursday, is also making is presence felt in the receiver room with his advice to the young receivers, including CeeDee Lamb.
”I mean that’s a big part of his reputation and coming in here,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I think just like anything you talk about talent, production and to win games and to be part of what we’re getting ready to get into in playoff victories, it’s definitely the connection, the guys that have been there. So all those things are awesome and you love to see veterans paying it forward.”
Ailing RB Tony Pollard to play
Cowboys running back Tony Pollard landed on the injury report with a thigh bruise that kept him out of practice Monday. But he is expected to play against the Titans Thursday.
Pollard leads the Cowboys with 988 yards rushing. He needs 12 rushing yards to reach 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career. He would become the ninth Cowboys running back to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a season.
And with a rushing touchdown on Thursday, Pollard would have 10 rushing touchdown this season. Combined with Ezekiel Elliott’s 10 rushing touchdowns, Pollard and Elliott would become the first duo in Cowboys history and fourth in NFL history with 10-plus rushing touchdowns in the same season.
The last running back duo with 10 rushing touchdowns apiece was Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart in 2008.
Elliott has recorded a rushing touchdown in eight straight contests, a career-long streak and the longest active streak in the NFL. It is also the longest streak by a Cowboys running back since Emmitt Smith’s 11 straight games with a rushing touchdown in 1995.
Elliott needs 71 scrimmage yards to reach 1,000 scrimmage yards in 2022.
It would be Elliott’s seventh straight season with 1,000 yards from scrimmage, the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Emmitt Smith’s 11 consecutive season streak of 1,000 scrimmage yards.
Elliott would also tie Michael Irvin for the third-most seasons with 1,000 scrimmage yards in club history.
