Week 5 Preview: Cowboys at Bills [Part One]

The 4-0 Cowboys are eyeing a perfect record heading into next week’s marquee showdown with New England.

First, though, there’s the matter of beating the Buffalo Bills on the road.

Dallas’ offense has been rolling all season, and put up 35 more points against St. Louis last week in a 35-7 victory at Texas Stadium. Tony Romo threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another, and the Cowboys piled up 502 total yards. The defense didn‘t allow an offensive touchdown, and was bolstered by the return of Greg Ellis, who had 1.5 sacks in his first game since last November.

While the Cowboys have been rolling, the Bills have been struggling. But, they got their first win of the season last Sunday, as rookie QB Trent Edwards (who’s got to be pretty happy today after his alma mater knocked off USC) threw for 234 yards and a touchdown in his first career start to lead the Bills to a 17-14 win over the Jets.

Last Time They Played…

Dallas didn’t have their best game, by far, but walked away with a 10-6 win four seasons ago.

Neither team moved the ball very well, as Dallas outgained Buffalo 236-185. The Cowboys were wasteful with their opportunities, as they started from at least their 39 seven times, and could score only twice.

But, a Quincy Carter touchdown pass to Dan Campbell in the first, then a 51-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff early in the third quarter were enough, as the defense shut down Drew Bledsoe and the Bills offense.

Bledsoe was 17 of 34 for 104 yards, and fumbled twice, both of which were recovered by Dallas. The first was recovered at the Bills’ 24, and set up the touchdown.

Carter was 15 of 32 for 116 yards and the score, while Adrian Murrell rushed for 76 yards. Eric Ogbogu (never knew I’d say that name twice in this blog) had 1.5 sacks.

The win improved the Cowboys to 7-2, which had them tied for the best record in the NFC, with eventual NFC champ Carolina. Buffalo dropped to 4-5 with the loss.

LOOKING AT THE BILLS

Offense

Edwards will make his second straight start on Monday night. The third-round pick spent a great amount of his career at Stanford either injured or playing for bad teams, but was considered one of the top QB prospects in the ‘07 draft class.

The Bills have another rookie in the backfield, with starting RB Marshawn Lynch, who’s off to a good start. Lynch, the 16th overall pick in the draft, has rushed for 307 yards and three touchdowns, and caught five passes for 36 yards.

The Bills’ leading receivers are Roscoe Parrish (14 rec., 141 yards) and Josh Reed (10 rec., 128 yards). Lee Evans has 11 catches for 101 yards.

Peerless Price, who played in seven games for the Cowboys in 2005, recently had to have neck surgery and was placed on injured reserve.

The Bills currently rank last in the league in passing offense (146.5 yards), 18th in rushing offense (102.5 yards), and 31st in total offense (249.0 yards).

Defense

The Bills defense has been racked by injuries, which has no doubt contributed to their struggles on the defensive side of the ball thus far.

The defensive line is the only unit that hasn’t been hurt by injuries, as all four starters are currently healthy. Chris Kelsey and Aaron Schobel start on the ends, while veteran Larry Tripplett and Kyle Williams are the starting tackles.

The starting linebackers are Mario Haggan, John DiGiorgio, and Angelo Crowell. Paul Posluszny, the team’s other 2007 first-round pick, broke his left forearm two weeks ago against New England and is out for the season. The former Penn State star had 10 and 12 tackles in his first two games, and appeared well on his way to another double-digit tackle game when he was hurt.

The secondary has been most ravaged. Starting free safety Ko Simpson broke his ankle in the season opener and is out for the season, while his replacement, Jim Leonhard, is out with a calf injury. That means that regular starting strong safety Donte Whitner will move to free safety, and Bryan Scott will start at strong safety. Starting right corner Ashton Youboty is going to miss Monday night’s game with an ankle injury as well, which means Jabari Greer, who had an interception against the Jets, will likely start in his place.

Special Teams

Rian Lindell has been the Bills’ starting placekicker since 2003, and is in his eighth season in the league (he spent the first three in Seattle). Lindell hasn’t gotten many opportunities this season (2 for 3 on field goals, five for five on extra points), but has progressed from an inconsistent kicker to one of the most accurate in the league. In his career, he is 153 of 193 on field goals, and a perfect 229 for 229 on extra points.

Brian Moorman has been the Bills’ punter since the start of the 2001 season, and is consistently among the league’s best. Moorman is averaging 44.8 yards per kick thus far this season, and has a career average of 43.5 yards per kick.

McGee (26.3 yards per return) and Josh Scobey (22.4 yards per return) are the primary kick returners, while the speedy Parrish (punt return for a touchdown) is the team’s punt returner. Parrish has two punt returns for touchdowns in his three-year career.