Points will be at premium on MNF
Neither the Dallas Cowboys nor Tennessee Titans score much. Dallas ranks 26th in the NFL (20.0 points per game) while Tennessee is 30th (15.1).
And neither team allows many points, especially in the red zone.
The two teams, both coming off byes, play Monday night (8:15 p.m. ET, TSN via ESPN). Expect a close, lowscoring tilt.
The Titans lead the NFL in red-zone defence, allowing touchdowns just a third of the time an opponent crosses their 20-yard line (6-of-18). The Cowboys rank right behind them, allowing six points just 36.8 per cent (7-of-19) of the time.
In overall scoring defence, Dallas ranked behind only Baltimore heading into Week 9, in allowing just 17.6 points per game. Tennessee ranks third, at 18.1.
The Titans’ offence has struggled this season even more than the Cowboys’. It’s amazing the Titans have won three games. They’re 3-4, still within striking distance of AFC South-leading Houston. Tennessee’s wins came in consecutive weeks in September, all by three points: 20-17 over Houston, 9-6 over Jacksonville and 2623 in overtime over Philadelphia.
In their three October games, all losses, the Titans scored only 31 points.
Dallas (3-4) had such a tough time in a loss at Washington two weeks ago that the club fired offensive line coach Paul Alexander to try to shake things up on that side of the ball. Marc Colombo replaces him, with the assistance of newly hired consultant Hudson Houck, a longtime NFL O-line coach.
“I don’t think it’ll be that much of a change,” Dallas offensive tackle La’el Collins said, per DallasCowboys. com. “It’s more so just us being able to do a lot of different things that we’ve done in the past, just kind of getting back to us playing at a high level, and being more effective.”
Added guard Zack Martin: “We still have to play better and we still have a long way to go.”
IT’S MORE SO JUST US BEING ABLE TO DO A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE’VE DONE IN THE PAST, JUST KIND OF GETTING BACK TO US PLAYING AT A HIGH LEVEL.