It is game day once again for the Dallas Cowboys, as they will face yet another opportunity to string together consecutive wins on the road against the rival Redskins. With both teams at 3-3, this could very well feel like a playoff game for both teams in week eight.
The Redskins are far from full strength however, particularly on the offensive line where they may be without four of five starters. Cowboys Nation has been waiting for a game that indicates what this team’s young defense will truly be this season, and while this afternoon’s match up may not do that I doubt there will be many complains about Dallas getting to Kirk Cousins all day.
One player that could use a breakout game for the Cowboys’ surprisingly effective pass rush is DE Benson Mayowa. After leading the Cowboys in sacks in 2016 with six, Mayowa has not taken the next step to find any consistency in his game. Without a sack on the 2017 season, he was made inactive against the 49ers – much like Mayowa was for three games in 2016.
Skins expecting to be w out both Trent Williams and Brandon Scherff source says. Josh Norman expected to play though.
— Mike Jones (@ByMikeJones) October 29, 2017
Benson Mayowa responded with four sacks in his final five games, beating left tackles with some polished rush moves and snapping the corner from the much-maligned RDE position.
Should Mayowa return to the Cowboys’ active roster today, the only reason he shouldn’t be getting to Cousins is because another rusher beats him to the spot. Dallas ranks sixth in the NFL right now with 21 sacks on the season. They had 36 in all of 2016, good for 13th in the league.
Amazingly, the Cowboys are doing this with Tyrone Crawford predominantly lining up at the right end spot. The same Tyrone Crawford that was once the team’s starting 3T DT, losing the job to Maliek Collins who is now playing 1T, and then left end before DeMarcus Lawrence’s surge there.
Trent Williams is one of the best left tackles in the game, and the ability to rush the passer without him on the field today is the perfect opportunity for the Cowboys to find a DE that’s not #98 that can play in a rotation at RDE. Whether this is (hopefully) Benson Mayowa, or rookie Taco Charlton, the Cowboys defensive line has a chance to look a lot different moving into some difficult games after their performance today.
A performance that will likely include contributions from David Irving, DeMarcus Lawrence, and ideally Benson Mayowa.
