I really like the Cowboys coming off the bye as they have had a chance to get healthy along the defensive line with Ratliff and Coleman returning who will make a huge running especially against the run. They were off a bye last year in a similar situation heading to NE as a TD under dog and they led late 16-13 before falling 16-20. Baltimore is not the Patriots and they have not been particularly dominant thus far.
In Baltimores last two games they have shown weaknesses against the run and against the pass. They gave up 214 yards rushing to the Chiefs who don't hide the fact that they are going to run the ball and they gave up 320 yards passing to a rookie QB without any elite receivers. Cowboys have plenty of receivers and when given time Romo is capable of finding them. Austin and Dez Bryant are arguably as good of a tandem in the league and it's no coincidence that Dallas has lost their two games against top 10 sack %. Well not to worry because this is not the same Ravens pass rush or overall defense. They are 24th in sack % and if Jason Garrett is a decent offensive mind he will stop throwing the ball 68% of the time and get a balanced attack. I think the time off will help with that strategy.
On third down the Cowboys have been better believe it or not ranking 12th on defense and 18th on offense which is better than the Ravens 16th and 24th rankings. In the end this will be a hard fought game resulting in the Cowboys having a shot to win or leading late.
The Browns out gained the Bengals in week 2, and now they are likely to have the return of their star CB Joe Haden to keep AJ Green under wraps. Haden is not quite Revis Island but he's starting to get a lot of attention going back to last year as the Browns had the 2nd best pass defense. Bengals depth at RB took a big hit and they continue to be in love with the running game.
On the other side the Browns very quietly look like they stole the NFL draft as Brandon Weeden continues to have success and put his team in situations to win. He has got to avoid the big mistake and I think returning home will allow him that ability against a defense he's already saw once this year. Bengals will see a few different things on defense from the Browns so I think the Browns will have a big advantage. Trent Richardson showed he can be dominant in this league and leads the team in rushing yards. He had 109 vs. the Bengals earlier in this year who don't possess the same defense from years past. Offensively the Bengals are a bit over rated as they have only converted 24.6% of their third downs.
