The Dallas Cowboys (5-3) face one of their toughest opponents of the season this Sunday when they take on the Minnesota Vikings (6-3).

This will be a great opportunity for the Cowboys to prove that they are more than just can-crushers from the NFC East, as the Vikings are one of the more talented teams in the league. A victory against Minnesota would put the rest of the conference on notice -- the Cowboys are legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

On offense, Dalvin Cook has arguably been the best running back in pro football this season, leading the NFL in rushing yards, rushing TDs and attempts. Stefon Diggs is an outstanding primary receiver (wideout Adam Thielen is on track to miss Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury) and an outstanding deep threat for the Vikings, as he currently leads the NFL in 40-plus-yard touchdowns (four), per Pro Football Focus.

Kirk Cousins has his faults, but when he’s kept clean in the pocket, he’s deadly. He currently has the highest passer rating among QBs with multiple starts when kept clean in the pocket, per PFF.

The Vikings’ offensive line is one of the weaker parts of their roster, but tackles Riley Reiff and Brian O’Neill have looked much improved this year, as they’ve allowed just 21 pressures combined while paving the way for Cook in the running game.

To put the cherry on top, the Vikings currently rank seventh in Offense DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) while ranking eighth in Pass and Run DVOA, per Football Outsiders.

The scary part is that the Vikings are even more talented on the defensive side of the ball.

Upfront, the Vikings have one of the best defensive end tandems in the NFL, as Danielle Hunter currently leads the NFL in total pressures (54) with Everson Griffen not far behind in third (49).

At the linebacker position, it would be tough to find someone playing at a higher level than Eric Kendricks -- as he ranks, among LBs, first in pass breakups by a good margin (10), third in tackles (58) and total pressures (14), sixth in run stops (29) and second in completion percentage allowed (61.4).

In the secondary, Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris are one of the better safety tandems in the league.

Cornerback Xavier Rhodes and linebacker Anthony Barr are bigger names than they are effective plays at this point, as both used to be among the NFL’s elite at their position before a steep decline in play over the last couple years.

Currently, the Vikings defense ranks eighth in Defense DVOA while ranking ninth in Pass Defense and Rush Defense DVOA, per Football Outsiders.

Going against a roster littered with talent, the Cowboys can still create and exploit a couple mismatches to turn the tide in their favor.

Cowboys interior pass rush vs. Vikings interior pass protection

With the addition of Michael Bennett to the fold, the Cowboys defensive line was very effective and productive in their first outing as a new unit against the New York Giants, finishing with 22 total pressures and 4.5 sacks.

The Cowboys will need a similar performance this week if they hope to slow down this Vikings offense. Kirk Cousins is an elite QB when kept clean in the pocket but shrinks to a mediocre, at best, QB when pressured. When kept clean, Cousins has a 78.8 completion percentage to go with a 126.1 passer rating (126.1). When pressured, those numbers drop to a 51.6 completion percentage and a 86.1 passer rating.

The best way to generate pressure on Cousins is through Minnesota’s below-average interior offensive line. The Vikings O-line is basically the opposite of the Giants -- New York is strong in the middle but below average on the outside.

Previously this season, there would be concern if the Cowboys could take advantage of a team with a weak interior line. However, the Cowboys are positioned better to exploit that kind of weakness with Bennett, as they now have two legitimate interior pass rushers (Maliek Collins being the other) on the defensive line.

Minnesota’s interior trio of Pat Elflein (left guard), Garrett Bradbury (center) and Josh Kline (right guard) have struggled this season. Elflein and Bradbury, in particular, have had their issues in pass protection, as Elflein has allowed the sixth-most pressures among guards (20) while Bradbury has allowed the second-most pressures on centers (20), per PFF.

The key for the Cowboys will be winning their one-on-one matchups when their pass-rush package is on the field.

Matching up Bennett one-on-one with Elflein, in particular, would be wise for Dallas. Bennett’s ability to play with leverage and power should exploit Elflein’s poor anchor.

The alignment of a four-man front makes it exceedingly difficult to double-team both defensive tackles. The primary means for a team to double a defensive tackle is by sliding the center toward a particular defensive tackle, creating a double team with the guard. The side effect is that this creates a one-on-one matchup for the other defensive tackle.

Here’s an example:

On this play, the Chiefs are in a “33” even front, meaning there are two under tackles (33 just means two three-technique defensive tackles). Notice that Bradbury slides to provide Kline -- who was doing a poor job defending the right under tackle’s club-arm over -- help on the right side. Bradbury’s help may stymie the right under tackle, but it leaves Elflein one-on-one against left under tackle, Chris Jones (No. 95), who is one of the better interior pass-rushers in the league.

The result shouldn’t surprise you, as Jones used power to walk Elflein into Cousins’ lap for the sack.

An offense could opt to double team the under tackle (three-technique defensive tackle) in the B-gap with an offensive tackle and guard while double-teaming the nose tackle in the A-gap with the center and the other guard, but this would create a one-on-one matchup for a defensive end against, likely, a tight end or running back.

This would be a dangerous affair for Minnesota, considering the Cowboys have two venomous pass-rushers off the edge – Robert Quinn and DeMarcus Lawrence.

On top of Bennett and Collins taking advantage of one-on-one opportunities, don’t be surprised if the Cowboys run a number of interior stunts and blitzes to stress Minnesota’s interior offensive line in pass protection.

Given the talent of Quinn and Lawrence, the Cowboys should still generate pressure off the edge on occasion, but the path of least resistance will be by attacking Minnesota’s soft interior.

Cowboys wideouts vs. Vikings CBs

The Cowboys need to capitalize on Minnesota’s suspect play at cornerback, regardless of how much Amari Cooper can contribute. Cooper, who had an MRI on Wednesday (knee), said he plans to play against the Vikings on Thursday.

Xavier Rhodes has seen quite the fall from grace in recent years.

In 2017, Rhodes was regarded as one of the top cornerbacks in all of pro football, as he allowed just a 55.4 reception percentage along with a 77.4 passer rating when targeted, per PFF. This year, however, Rhodes has hurt the Vikings defense more than he’s helped, as he’s allowed a 84.4 reception percentage and a 121.5 passer rating when targeted.

Quite frankly, the days of fearing Rhodes in coverage are over. In fact, he’s someone teams should look to exploit through the air.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, Trae Waynes hasn’t been much better on the other side, as he’s currently allowing a 70.0 reception percentage and a 109.2 passer rating when targeted.

Given that Minnesota likes to run a lot of quarters (Cover 4) to take away the big play, it’s tough to beat them deep without some deception involved -- the cornerbacks are playing from off-coverage while guarding against the deep pass.

One of the best ways to deceive against off-coverage is with double moves, as they are aimed to get a defensive back to bite on the first move, giving the receiver the ability to separate once he accelerates downfield.

Here’s an example:

On this play, Waynes is aligned off with an inside shade over Bears receiver Javon Wims. Once the ball is snapped, Wims eats up the Waynes’ cushion before feinting with a stop-route 10 yards downfield. Waynes bites on the fake momentarily, which is all Wims needed to accelerate and create separation downfield, which resulted in a 37-yard catch.

It’s important that these throws are placed outside the numbers as a means to limit the deep safeties’ ability to affect the pass at the catch point.

On top of potentially creating some big plays down the field on double moves, the Cowboys should also be able to find success in the short-to-intermediates routes that take advantage of the cushion provided to the receivers in quarter situations. Stop-routes, comebacks and quick slants should be the flavor of the day when Minnesota is in off-coverage.

RB wheel routes vs. Minnesota LBs

The Eagles proved that the Minnesota defense can be susceptible to big plays in the passing game from running backs out of the backfield.

Philadelphia created two explosive plays – a 32-yard TD reception and a 45-yard catch – with wheel routes to rookie running back Miles Sanders. The Cowboys would be wise to take a page out of Philadelphia’s book, as Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard possess the skills necessary to be effective on wheel routes.

Much like Sanders with the Eagles, Pollard possesses the kind of deep speed that poses a serious issue for the Minnesota linebackers, as it’s tough for any LB to keep up with a back who runs a 4.4.

Here’s an example of Philadelphia using Sanders’ speed to take advantage:

Kendricks has been one of the best linebackers in football this season, but even he is susceptible to getting beat deep by a wheel route. On this play, he tries to re-route Sanders, but the Eagles RB simply runs by him, creating enough separation to give the QB an easy TD-throw.

Even when pure speed isn’t enough, the wheel route can be tricky when combined with an in-breaking route from a receiver with a reduced split, as it creates a natural rub to create separation for the running back. Here’s an example:

On this play, the tight end’s slant route naturally creates a rub on linebacker Anthony Barr, who is responsible for Sanders’ wheel out of the backfield. With Barr having to fight through the rub, Sanders is able to create a ton of separation.

Though Minnesota’s defense is stout and full of talent, the wheel route is a great option to create some big plays for the Cowboys.

Twitter: @JohnOwning

Enjoy this post? More film studies:

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— Why DeMarcus Lawrence isn’t playing as poorly as his sack total suggests