We are less than a week away from the Dallas Cowboys taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night in Tampa, FL. Ratings may be at an all-time high for a week one matchup as both teams feature talented stars who can make an impact.
Cowboys rookie defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who talked with Cowboys news reporter, Jori Epstein, harped on how important he and the other defensive tackles will need to rush and get after Bucs quarterback Tom Brady.
“Not too mobile.” “Get him off the spot, his passer rating goes down by a lot,” Osa tells us. “So our (DT) role is super important this week as far as getting after him, rushing our butts off.”
Odighizuwa was constantly in the backfield and making plays during the preseason, he will start the first few weeks at the 3-tech spot. Besides Odighizuwa, the 3-tech position has question marks as Neville Gallimore will begin the year on IR and Trysten Hill will start the year on PUP (Physically Unable to Perform List).
Dallas will be counting on Carlos Watkins to help Odighizuwa early and often to give the defensive line some strong push and make it hard for Brady and Co to run their offense. Odighizuwa says he is up for the task as he pointed out Brady not being very mobile is his biggest weakness as he and the rest of the defensive line will look to collapse the pocket on the 7-time Super Bowl Champion.
No doubt Odighizuwa has all the talent in the world and will be a good player for years to come, but Brady has not only survived but been dominant in this league for the past 21 years. So many have tried to gameplan on his immobility but Brady makes up for it with his work ethic and timing as he gets the ball out quicker than almost any QB in history.
This is not to say Odighizuwa cannot cause havoc or be a difference-maker, it will take all 11 men on defense to get Brady off of his game as he looks to put on a show in prime-time fashion. Brady will be looking to prove he still has a few more campaigns left while the Cowboys are aiming for the upset on the defending champions.
Six days from now, we will get to witness if Odighizuwa is up for the challenge and becomes the x-factor the Dallas defense anxiously needs.
If we don’t put pressure on Brady, it’s going to be a long night. Like Osa O, and hopefully he can fill in the gap of Gallimore being out. Need the Ends to get busy also. Tough first game right out of the box, but a good test to see what this team is made of.
Brady usually gets the ball out really quick which makes it hard to get hands on him! I believe we need to bring the heat more often than not and at least try putting him on the ground as much as possible! He will burn us a few times but I think in the long run he will start pulling the trigger faster than normal and make mistakes that can’t be corrected! If we set back and let our front four try to get to him he will pick us apart bit by bit!
Dan Quinn should know what to do. His Atlanta Falcons played perfect football in the Superbowl for 3 quarters and simply gassed out. Bring the heat, put him on his back a few times, and run the hell out of the ball. Keep him off the field.