A lot will be at stake for both the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots when they face off on the field on Sunday. Two former Cowboys will be suiting up for the opposition in their upcoming matchup, with both Ezekiel Elliot and Will Grier joining the Patriots in the offseason.
Will this give New England a competitive edge? Well, it appears that Dallas seems to believe so.
Dallas Cowboys OC Reveals Gameplan Vs. Ezekiel Elliot, Will Grier
Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer recently opened up about how Elliot and Grier’s knowledge about Dallas’ playbook is something the Patriots could use to their advantage. However, the Cowboys are also well aware of this fact, which is why they intend to make the necessary adjustment ahead of their Week 4 showdown:
“We’re always aware of it,” Schottenheimer said, via Michael David Smith of PFT. “Those are things we monitor every week. But, certainly, we know Will knows where a lot of the bones are buried. Zeke does as well. So those are things you talk about and you think, OK, let’s adjust this. We certainly have more than one hand signal for most of our core concepts.”
Dallas Cowboys Plan to Flip Switch
Schottenheimer did note, however, that Dallas also plans to turn this potential disadvantage in such a way that it will give them the upper hand. That is, of course, under the assumption that Bill Belichick and his coaching staff will be relying on Elliot and Grier’s intel:
“You can use it to your advantage because they think they know what’s coming and they hear something and they think, ‘It’s this’ and we’re smart enough to adjust those things,” Schottenheimer said. “Everybody does it, you get a player that’s been somewhere, you talk to him about different things, and then you’re very selective about how much you put into it. Excited to see Will, it’ll be great to see him, but I’m sure he is definitely being interrogated and spending a lot of late nights with their defensive coaching staff.”
There are clearly a lot of mind games going on ahead of this highly-anticipated matchup. Everything will be put to the test come Sunday.
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