Dallas versus Denver: How the Broncos win this game.

Both the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos have a lot to prove in the fourth game of the 2009 NFL season.

Dallas is 2-1 with two wins against mediocre to really bad teams. They lost to their arch rival the NY Giants on a last second FG at home in the second week of the season.

The Denver Broncos are 3-0 with two wins against really bad teams, the Raiders and the Browns, and a miracle win over the Bengals…who appear to be a fairly solid team.

So how do the Broncos beat the Cowboys?

Denver is 3-0 but really have played a very soft schedule. The Dallas Cowboys will be their biggest test so far this year for a couple of reasons. Here is how we think the Broncos can beat the Cowboys as three point home dogs.

• Denver MUST stop the Dallas running game. The Cowboys have the best running game so far in the NFL this year and they are capable of dominating any team with their running game. If Denver cannot stop the run they have no chance to win this game.

The Cowboys have a huge offensive line so the Broncos are going to have to play fast and physical. If they allow the huge Cowboy offensive line to push them around they are done. So Denver MUST stop the Cowboy running game. As of this writing Marion Barber will play but Felix Jones will not.

• Denver must put pressure on Tony Romo. Romo has a lot of talent but also has the ability to make a lot of mistakes when under pressure. The Broncos have been really good at pressuring the QB so far this year and that will have to continue in this game. The Cowboys appear to miss T.O. in the passing game but still have enough firepower with Roy Williams, Patrick Clayton, and Jason Witten to cause Denver a lot of problems…unless Denver can put a lot of heat on Romo.

• Denver MUST run the football. Let’s face it…the Broncos are not real good on offense…at least not in the passing game. It is quite apparent that head coach Josh McDaniels doesn’t want to put the game in the hands of Kyle Orton. Orton is a manager of games, not a QB that can consistently carry a team on his back. If Denver cannot run the ball they are in big trouble.

• Kyle Orton MUST make some big plays in the passing game. The Broncos will not be able to run the ball if the Cowboys don’t respect the pass, so Orton has to make a few plays in the passing game. If he does the Broncos have a chance to make some hay against a mediocre Cowboy defense. Don’t expect Orton to go crazy against the Cowboys but he does need to make some plays to open things up a bit.

• The Denver defense needs to create turnovers. So far this year the Broncos have been really good at creating turnovers and in this game they will need to get some more. If the Broncos lose the turnover game they are almost assured of losing…like most teams are. Since Denver is not explosive on offense as of now, the more chances they have to score the better for them.

In conclusion

This is big game for both teams but particulary the Broncos. How good are the Broncos? It is hard to say. They beat two really bad teams and it took a miracle play for them to win the other game. But the fact remains they are 3-0 with a defense only allowing 5.3 points a game. A win over the Cowboys would be confirmation that they are better than most everyone thinks and that their 3-0 record is legit.

It is going to be tough for Denver to beat a team that has a talent advantage at most positions. But this Bronco team is well coached and play a tough physical brand of football. If the Broncos can create some turnovers they have a solid chance of winning.