Game Preview: NYJ at DAL
The MATCHUP
DALLAS COWBOYS (1-0) vs. NEW YORK JETS (1-0)
Game time: Sunday, 3:25 p.m. CST
TV/radio: CBS / Compass Media, Sirius XM-NFL, 105.3 The Fan, KVMK 107.5 La Grande (Spanish)
Broadcast teams: National TV – Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson (sideline); National Radio – Kevin Ray, Danny White; Local Radio (English) – Brad Sham, Babe Laufenberg, Kristi Scales; Local Radio (Spanish) – Victor Villalba, Luis Perez
Head Referee: Clete Blakeman
Officiating Crew: Scott Campbell, Dana McKenzie, Julian Mapp, Terry Brown, Lo van Pham, Jonah Monroe, Chad Adams, Ken Hall
WHAT’s at STAKE
A win keeps the Cowboys unbeaten early here in the 2023 season, but most importantly it keeps them on pace with the Philadelphia Eagles, who already won this week. With perfect weather in AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys, and their fans, should get a real feel for just exactly what they can expect from the offense this season. Last week, it was hard for the Cowboys to get going, considering the weather and the score of the game. The Jets should provide a tougher test defensively than the Giants, and that means it will come down to how the Cowboys defense does against Zach Wilson and the Jets offense. But, in simple turns, it will mean a 2-0 record for the winner and 1-1 for loser, with tons of football left to play in the regular season.
WHEN the COWBOYS HAVE the BALL
Despite a blowout win in Week 1, the Cowboys offense remains a bit of a mystery. With a new offensive coordinator – Brian Schottenheimer, and a new play caller – head coach Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys were a little slow out of the box in the opening season win over the Giants. The weather, and the Jets overall play, kept the Cowboys offense from producing like they have in the past. This should be a good test to see really where the offense is. The weather should be perfect inside Jerry World, so there will be no excuses for Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who had just 143 yards passing and no touchdowns in Week 1. Playing against a tough run defense, Dallas will need more from Prescott and the passing game to get out of Week 2. The Cowboys will continue to run the ball with Tony Pollard, Rico Dowdell and Duece Vaughn, while counting on a trio of young tight ends – Jake Ferguson, Peyton Hendershot and Luke Schoonmaker, to help in getting the running game on track.
WHEN the JETS HAVE the BALL
The Cowboys got a good look at what they will face, in terms of personnel, with the Jets on Sunday. The Cowboys defense will face running backs Dalvin Cook and Breece Hall, as well as wide receivers Garret Wilson, Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb and tight end Ty Conklin, none of that has changed. It is Zach Wilson in at quarterback for Aaron Rodgers, where the Cowboys should have the big edge. With Wilson at QB, the Jets should get back to a heavy dose of the running game, with a short passing game mixed in. That will give them the best chance at success. If the Jets decide the challenge the Cowboys cornerbacks on deep throws, it could be a long day for Wilson.
KEY COWBOYS to WATCH
RG Chuma Edoga – With Tyler Smith unlikely to play on Sunday, Edoga will get the start for the second straight week. Only this time, he gets it against the team he played for from 2019-2022. Edoga signed with the Cowboys in the offseason after playing one season in Atlanta, where he started just one game. Before that, he spent his first four seasons in the NFL with the Jets, where he only made 12 starts. He started his first game with the Cowboys and played 56 of a possible 58 snaps – coming out for two plays after getting poked in the eye. He committed no penalties, while playing left guard between left tackle Tyron Smith and center Tyler Biadsz. His play on Sunday night helped the Cowboys rush for 122 yards and keep the Giants from recording a sack in the game.
S/LB Markquese Bell – It took only one game for Markquese Bell to announce to the Cowboys coaches that he was ready for the spotlight. The second-year safety/linebacker only played in five games last season, and just 22 of his 80 snaps came on defense. But an injury in training camp to linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, gave Bell an opening and the Cowboys coaches were willing to give him a chance to prove he could handle it. And he did, so much so that he was a big part of the defensive game plan in Sunday night’s shutout win over the Giants. Despite playing just 31 defensive snaps, Bell led the team in tackles with eight, including a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Bell’s play against the Giants, signaled to those who haven’t been paying attention that he has taken a massive step forward since the end of his rookie season. Bell will be one of the key Cowboys defenders tasked with trying to keep the Jets receivers from wanting to come across the middle of the field and catch the ball.
DT Jonathan Hankins – Stopping the run was the most difficult aspect for the Cowboys defense last season, which is why they acquired Hankins from Las Vegas in the middle of last season. His four games down the stretch, where he recorded 10 tackles, helped the Cowboys shore up their run defense enough to cruise into the postseason. This season the Cowboys, after re-signing him in the offseason, have Hankins in the lineup from the season opener and counting on him to anchor the run defense. He already recorded a pair of tackles in the opener, helping the Cowboys slow down the Giants Saquon Barkley, who finished with 51 yards on 12 carries, long enough for to push the Cowboys far enough in front that New York had to abandon the run. A duplicate performance against Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook on Sunday would be more than welcome.
KEY JETS to WATCH
RB Breece Hall – After just one week, it appears Breece Hall is completely recovered from an ACL injury that ended his rookie season. He was well on his way to over 1,100 yards rushing last season, when he went down after just four carries in the Jets 16-9 win over the Broncos in Denver. His first game back he appeared to pick right up where he left off, rushing for 127 yards on 10 carries in the Jets season-opening win last Sunday. While Dalvin Cook carried the ball more last week, Hall’s 83-yard touchdown run ignited the comeback that pushed helped push the game to overtime. Hall’s 12.7 yards per carry average will test a Dallas run defense that struggled last season and gave up a 4.33 yards per carry last week to the Giants running backs.
LB C.J. Mosley – When you think of the Jets defense, the first players that come to mind are CB Sauce Gardner and DT Quinnen Williams, and they are stars, but the best might be Mosley. Mosley leads the Jets defense in tackles, in two of the four seasons since coming to New York in 2019 after five seasons in Baltimore. Mosley probably would have led the Jets in tackles in those first two seasons as well, but an injury cut his first year short just two games into the season and he opted out of 2020 because of the coronavirus. The last two seasons he has been rock solid with 168 tackles in 2021 and 158 tackles in 2022, both tops on the Jets defense. Not a blitzer, having just three sacks in the last 34 games, Mosley is a run-and-hit linebacker that makes plays from sideline to sideline.
DE John Franklin-Myers – While he may be the most unheralded lineman along the starting defensive front for the Jets, but Franklin-Myers might be the most important piece. The fifth-year defensive end from Stephen F. Austin State University, JFM has established himself as a stalwart by missing just two games in the last three seasons. In his 49 starts as a Jet, JFM has recorded 106 tackles, 17 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble returns, 4 passes defensed and one interception that he returned 32 yards. The right side of the Cowboys offensive line – Zach Martin, Terrence Steele and, either a tight end or running back, will have their hands full on Sunday with Franklin-Myers, who already has a sack this season.
The BOTTOM LINE
This is a game the Cowboys should, and must, win. Despite a tough defense, the Jets have already been bitten hard by the injury bug that they may not be able to come back from. Going from Aaron Rodgers to Zach Wilson at quarterback tilts the field in the Cowboys favor and Dallas should be good enough to take advantage. If they can’t, and the Cowboys lose their home opener to a team that has already had to go to a backup quarterback, whispers surrounding quarterback Dak Prescott and his ability will begin. That could make for a long season. A win, and there probably won’t be much fanfare since they did it against a team already in some health trouble.