The Denver Broncos won one of the best games of the NFL season so far last Sunday against the Jaxson Dart-led New York Giants, with a 33-32 score. They secured their fifth win of the season against the Giants in an epic comeback, ending with a game-winning field goal by Wil Lutz. Denver has a 5-2 record and will host the Dallas Cowboys at Empower Field at Mile High for their second consecutive home game. The Broncos are undefeated against NFC East teams so far this season, having beaten the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in Week 5.
Dallas is coming from a big 44-22 win over their division rivals, the Washington Commanders, at home. They have a 3-3-1 record. So far, the Cowboys have a 1-3 record on the road. They won against the winless Jets but lost against the Eagles, Bears, and Panthers. They have one of the league's most dangerous offenses, and their star wideout CeeDee Lamb is back from injury, but on the other hand, their defensive unit has been one of the worst ones.
A familiar face is back, as former Broncos running back Javonte Williams signed with the Dallas Cowboys on a one-year deal during the free agency period. He is having a bounce-back season in his first year with the Lone Star team and will look for revenge against Denver. If the Broncos want to win this matchup, there are several keys they should take.
3 keys to victory for the Broncos in their Week 8 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys:
1. Get in a positive offensive rhythm early in the game:
The Broncos found a way to defeat the New York Giants at home during their Week 7 matchup, as they were down by 19 points at the start of the fourth quarter. The bad thing is that they had zero points on the board once the fourth quarter started; it was an uphill battle for them to earn the victory. This game showed that they are a team that never surrenders, but with teams like the Cowboys, Denver cannot take the luxury of not scoring until the final quarter.
Dallas has one of the best offenses in the NFL. They score lots of points. The Broncos must have a good offensive rhythm, and a good one in general, to avoid another uphill battle to finish the game and get a win. This leads to the second key to victory.
2. Avoid unnecessary penalties:
Denver is still one of the most penalized teams in the NFL through seven weeks of the regular season. Specifically, they have the second-most penalties with 61, just behind the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have 65. This stat is unacceptable, as all these flags kill drives in all three phases of the game.
The Broncos must start playing cleaner football to avoid forcing long down situations offensively and short down situations defensively. They must be concentrated to avoid dumb mistakes that could end up costing the game.
3. Score touchdowns and not field goals:
The Dallas Cowboys have had one of the best offensive units in the league through the first seven weeks of the season. They have dominated in both the air and ground departments. They have scored 27 or more points in five out of seven games so far. This means that if the Broncos want to win this game, they would have to score lots of points.
We saw last week that the Broncos are capable of scoring lots of points. They had 33 fourth-quarter points against the New York Giants. Now the challenge this team will face is to score points in all four quarters, and not only in the final one.