Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Cowboys prepping for Cardinals' blitzing

IRVING, Texas – One game does not make a trend, but the Dallas Cowboys know the Arizona Cardinals will try to emulate what the Washington Redskins did against them Monday.

Passing game coordinator Scott Linehan, however, did not like the suggestion that the Cowboys were exposed by Washington. The Cowboys were able to beat the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints when they brought pressure.

“We’ve defeated the blitz all year,” Linehan said. “We got sacked a couple of times last week that was disappointing, but the fact that we were able to have the long runs that we’ve had and the average per carry we’ve had, and the average per attempt we’ve had, that’s what we’ve done. We’ve done it consistently all year. Not as well this last game, but all year we’ve been pretty good at it.”

The Cowboys had few answers for Washington’s pressure and it led to Tony Romo being sacked a season-high five times. The Cardinals are a heavy blitz team as well, but they don’t bring the Cover 0 blitzes as much as the Redskins where the cornerbacks have no help.

“I don’t think that’s Arizona’s tendency, although you’ve seen it,” center Travis Frederick said. “They have it. We know they have it, so they might bring it out.”

The Cowboys believe they will have the correct answers this week whether Romo plays or if Brandon Weeden has to start.

Frederick said the good that came from the Washington game is that it can get corrected in a hurry.

“It gets you a chance to see that, find where your flaws are and fix it,” Frederick said. “It’s finding the leak before it explodes I guess. You could say the pipe exploded last week but as long as you get it fixed, you get a patch on it. Hopefully we can make it so nobody is coming through this week.”

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