This isn’t anything new.
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Sunday’s game will mark the 111 time the Redskins and Cowboys have faced off in regular season action dating back to their first matchup, a 26-14 victory for the Redskins on October 9, 1960.
Alabama, on the other hand, has gone a flawless 3-0 at AT&T Stadium over the past year, taking down Wisconsin in the 2015 season opener, Michigan State in the 2016 Cotton Bowl and, most recently, USC on September 3.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Dez Bryant’s preseason chemistry didn’t translate well in the regular season opener against the New York Giants.
Elliott was limited to 51 yards on 20 carries, and consecutive 8-yard runs were his longest, including one for his first National Football League touchdown. Morris was not bad considering the run could never really get going.
On Sunday, Dallas could move the ball, at least – last year, the Cowboys averaged 2.8 red-zone scoring attempts per game, compared to 3.2 in 2014, when Romo played 15 games. That is a good sign for the team moving forward. With no timeouts, the clock ran out on the Cowboys, who couldn’t spike the ball.
As Garrett said, it will not be easy, but it needs to be better. Those five rushes gained a total of four yards, putting the Giants behind schedule. Bryant, meanwhile, had one catch for 8 yards.
“We were physical and heavy-handed at the line of scrimmage”, he said.
“We’ve been in that situation a lot, and his instinct took him inside”.
It is interesting that some have called for more of Alfred Morris since he carried seven times for 35 yards against the Giants. In my mind I was just trying to get a first down and then dive out of bounds, but it just didn’t go as planned. The Cowboys also faced an improved defensive front in which the Giants paid to keep Jason Pierre-Paul and added Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison in free agency.
Jones said after the game that his veteran quarterback could return “sooner rather than later”.
Eli Manning had a pretty good game in the loss, throwing for 350 yards and six touchdowns. In the second meeting, he had 12 carries for 92 yards.
“We needed that running game to control the pace of the game in the second half and to close it out, to put us in the position where we can win the football game and not give them enough time to do some things”, receiver Victor Cruz said. “But that can’t deter you”.
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If Prescott is going to be the man, the offense has to open up. Things could get ugly if he doesn’t start getting the amount of passes thrown his way that he’s used to, but Prescott doesn’t believe that will be a problem.
