- Thread starter
- #1
Dean_Youngblood
Pumped Up Kicks
Here we are, week 5.... the 9ers square off against the Cowboys at home. I personally think there's way more pressure on the Cowboys to win versus the 9ers. They are preparing like it's a playoff game - when you look at their schedule for the rest of the year, it may just as well be. The 9ers, riding high on a 4-game win streak to start the season, have yet to score less than 30pts in a game. The Cowboys have been dominant on Defense and Special Teams thus far, but haven't had to showcase what Dak, Pollard and Cee Dee can bring to the table. Should be an epic game! The winner will probably be atop the power rankings for every pundit next week.
My take: The 9ers have put a lot on film these last several weeks... the one main-stay has been a healthy dose of CMC to set everything else up. I don't expect that to change. I can see them running at the Cowboy's strength on the d-line to soften things up. I hope they mix in more than just CMC, but either way, I think they are gonna run a lot to start the game. When it comes to the passing game, I wouldn't be surprised if Kittle is the focus for the game-plan. If they are successful in bringing the LBs and Safeties close to the line in anticipation of the run, that should open up the middle of the field. We haven't leveraged Kittle much this year, so why not feed him the ball in that situation? I'm guessing that Deebo and Aiyuk will get a lot of attention given history and the first few weeks of results. For the Cowboys, I'm almost thinking that McCarthy is gonna go against tendencies and ask Dak to move around in the pocket and make plays with his feet. He hasn't done that much since the injury, but that is the 9ers achilles heel. If they can get Cee Dee (or others) matched up on Ambry and create extra time for Dak, that's their best chance. I don't see Pollard having much luck running the ball (unless the Cowboys deploys some exotic formations that we haven't see yet this season), but he will have some opptys as an outlet and with designed plays.
On paper, the 9ers should win this game. However, I think it's more meaningful for the Cowboys, so they may come out with more intensity. Let's be honest, if Dallas loses this game, it's as big a mental blow that a team can have this early in the season. Not so much for the 9ers, I think. Would be great to completely deflate Dallas before we even get to 8 games on the year, lol. This will definitely be closer than previous games this season, but I still like the 9ers 27-13.
My take: The 9ers have put a lot on film these last several weeks... the one main-stay has been a healthy dose of CMC to set everything else up. I don't expect that to change. I can see them running at the Cowboy's strength on the d-line to soften things up. I hope they mix in more than just CMC, but either way, I think they are gonna run a lot to start the game. When it comes to the passing game, I wouldn't be surprised if Kittle is the focus for the game-plan. If they are successful in bringing the LBs and Safeties close to the line in anticipation of the run, that should open up the middle of the field. We haven't leveraged Kittle much this year, so why not feed him the ball in that situation? I'm guessing that Deebo and Aiyuk will get a lot of attention given history and the first few weeks of results. For the Cowboys, I'm almost thinking that McCarthy is gonna go against tendencies and ask Dak to move around in the pocket and make plays with his feet. He hasn't done that much since the injury, but that is the 9ers achilles heel. If they can get Cee Dee (or others) matched up on Ambry and create extra time for Dak, that's their best chance. I don't see Pollard having much luck running the ball (unless the Cowboys deploys some exotic formations that we haven't see yet this season), but he will have some opptys as an outlet and with designed plays.
On paper, the 9ers should win this game. However, I think it's more meaningful for the Cowboys, so they may come out with more intensity. Let's be honest, if Dallas loses this game, it's as big a mental blow that a team can have this early in the season. Not so much for the 9ers, I think. Would be great to completely deflate Dallas before we even get to 8 games on the year, lol. This will definitely be closer than previous games this season, but I still like the 9ers 27-13.