It's only Week 9, but Monday night's Dallas Cowboys-Tennessee Titans matchup is a must-win for America's Team - that's what happens when the team limps out to a 3-4 start to the season. Luckily for the Cowboys, they welcome the Titans to AT&T stadium, where Dallas is undefeated this season.

On paper, this matchup looks like a defensive struggle, as both teams possess a top-five scoring defense.

teams are run-oriented and have talented, but inconsistent, quarterbacks who haven't done the best job moving their offense thus far.

The Cowboys hope that switching their offensive line coach and acquiring Amari Cooper will lead to improved productivity from the offense, though an injury to David Irving puts the defense at less than 100 percent.

With that being said, it's time to get bold, so let's get into a few predictions for Monday night's action.

Amari Cooper scores a long TD in Cowboys debut

Even though Amari Cooper has barely been on the team for more than a week, don't be surprised if he is already a big part of the Cowboys' game plan against the Titans.

Here is the #DallasCowboys new No. 1 WR: Amari Cooper. 225 career catches for 3,183 yards and 19 touchdowns. 2-time Pro-Bowler. pic.twitter.com/U2CXfc0M7d — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 22, 2018

Cooper's route running ability should give him a relatively easy transition into the Cowboys offense, and he should quickly build a rapport with Dak Prescott.

The Titans do have a stout defense, but their cornerback play has been suspect at

this season. When targeting Malcolm Butler in coverage, quarterbacks have a 140.6 passer rating, seventh-highest among cornerbacks in the NFL. Logan Ryan hasn't been much better, as quarterbacks have a 114.9 passer rating when targeting the Rutgers product, per Pro Football Focus.

When matched up one-on-one in man coverage against Ryan or Butler, Cooper should be able to create enough separation to give Prescott beneficial throwing windows throughout the game.

Moreover, don't be surprised if Cooper hauls in an explosive, vertical pass for a touchdown against the Titans. Cooper's deep speed, route pacing and invisible route running will allow him to stress the deep portions of the Tennessee defense. In Week 7, the Los Angeles Chargers proved the Titans defense can get beat deep, as Los Angeles accumulated three passes of 25-or-more yards - two of which went for 50-plus-yard touchdowns:

The Cowboys could find similar success in the deep passing game if Prescott is committed to taking shots down the field, which could be a problem, as Prescott has thrown just 10.7 percent of his throws 20-or-more yards down the field. It will be interesting to monitor how much that number changes, if at all, with Cooper in the fold.

The biggest thing in Dallas' way from hitting Cooper for a deep touchdown may be Prescott's deep accuracy. On the season, Prescott has just a 45.5 accuracy percentage (completions + drops / attempts) on throws 20-or-more yards down the field, 29th among quarterbacks.

Against a stout defense such as the Titans, the Cowboys need to find ways to manufacture big gains in the pass game since it's probably going to be tough sledding running against Jurrell Casey and the Titans front seven.

Cooper is the 'skeleton key' to the Cowboys issues in the deep passing game, and don't be surprised if he hauls an explosive touchdown pass on a vertical concept Monday night.

Jaylon Smith records two sacks

The Cowboys don't blitz a ton, but when they do, Jaylon Smith has proven to be one of the top blitzing linebackers in the NFL. Smith has a knack for finding open rush alleys and even when he doesn't, Smith shows impressive pass rush moves for a linebacker.

Against an offense that heavily relies on the run, it would make sense for the Cowboys to call blitzes with a higher frequency Monday night. Of course, the Cowboys defense will need to be wise to Tennessee's play-action passes, but more blitzes could create some big-play opportunities for the Cowboys defense.

Even though he's yet to record a sack on a blitz, the Notre Dame product has generated pressure at a high rate. The NFL doesn't record assists, but Smith definitely deserves a few for setting up his teammates for sack opportunities. Here's an example:

On his play, Smith aligned in the A-gap to the near side of the field. After the ball is snapped, Smith fakes as if he's going to drop into coverage before blitzing. The Lions center does not fall for Smith's fake, so Detroit is in perfect position to pick up the blitz. However, Smith demonstrates his uncanny ability to generate power upon contact, as he knocks the center back into Matthew Stafford, giving DeMarcus Lawrence all the time he needs to record the sack.

Smith hopes to find similar success as a blitzer to what Ravens' Patrick Onwuasor found against the Titans, as the third-year linebacker recorded two sacks on blitzes against Tennessee in Week 6:

'Green dog' blitzes (the first sack in the above video), where the linebacker only blitzes if the running back stays in to block, have been especially effective against Tennessee this year; therefore, Dallas would be wise to utilizes those type of blitz concepts throughout the game.

After setting up his teammates for sacks all season, this week seems like a great opportunity for Smith to get home on blitzes for a couple of sacks.

Cowboys running game gets back to their old ways with a heavy emphasis on outside zone

In his first week as the new offensive line coach, Marc Colombo made it clear that the Cowboys offensive line would get back to its roots, bringing back the blocking principles that were akin to the ones taught by former Cowboys offensive line coaches Bill Callahan and Frank Pollack.

During the Callahan and Pollack years, the Cowboys ran 'outside zone' as frequently as any offense in the league; however, under Paul Alexander, the Cowboys offense has gone away from the outside zone, running it with a lower frequency this season than in year's past. With Colombo's comments, it would make sense that part of getting back to what Dallas does best would include running a higher frequency of outside zone runs.

Outside zone is a staple concept of nearly every offense in the NFL. It is designed to stretch a defense horizontally, making it difficult for defenders to maintain gap integrity while expanding to the outside. The running back takes a wide track to stretch the defense while reading the end man on the line of scrimmage.

The running back has three reads: bang, bend or bounce. The running back is reading the leverage of the edge defender and first defensive player inside the edge defender.

If the edge defender gets hooked, the running back should execute a bounce read, meaning he bounces outside the edge defender.

If the edge defender maintains outside leverage, the running back then turns his attention to the first defensive player inside the edge defender (typically a defensive tackle in a four-man front or a defensive end in a three-man front). If that defender gets hooked while the edge defender maintains outside leverage, the running back should execute a bang read, meaning he should run in the space between the edge defender and other defensive player.

If the defensive player inside the edge defender also maintains outside leverage, the running back should execute a bend read, where he cuts the ball back across the formation.

Here's what it looks like at full speed (disregard left guard Chaz Green, who executes the wrong block):

Here, the Cardinals edge defender, John Bynes (No. 57), maintains outside leverage while La'el Collins and Zack Martin do a great job of reaching Markus Golden (No. 44). This means Elliott should execute a bang read, which he does for a touchdown.

Don't be surprised if the Cowboys running game has a heavy emphasis on the outside zone Sunday.

John Owning writes about NFL player evaluation for SportsDayDFW.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnOwning.