If the Dallas Cowboys have any hopes of beating these rolling Rams, a fundamentally gap-sound strategy could go a long way.

I’ll start this off with an obvious disclaimer: The Dallas Cowboys aren’t playing well. As it stands right now, this team looks no healthier than the homeless man living under your city’s local train station. The only rumblings of Cowboy confidence throughout DFW center around Jason Garrett’s offseason departure.

While NFL business is booming, the Dallas Cowboys are dining at soup kitchens and collecting disability. No, these aren’t humorous metaphors – things really feel this bad around here.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams (8-5) will be next to visit the metroplex. In stark contrast to Dallas’ recent fortune, the disappointing-turned-contending squad enters Week 15 fresh off back-to-back dominations over the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. These Rams are undoubtedly hungry, too – only one game out of the NFC playoff picture with 3 weeks remaining will all but ensure a competitive ballgame on Los Angeles’ part.

To the casual fan, this gamescript has already been written – the Rams are clearly the better group, ready to curb-stomp America’s Team without much resistance. Thoughts of “6-8” are already dancing in football minds everywhere, and after watching the Dallas Cowboys through November, it’s hard to blame them.

It doesn’t have to be this way, though.

If there’s a silver lining in facing the Los Angeles Rams, it lies in their overall offense and its thematic flow. Defensive Coordinators don’t need their Masters in Rocket Science to dissect this group – stop the run game, limit the effectiveness of their play action, and force Jared Goff to beat you through the air seem to be the general consensus in taking down the playoff hopefuls.

Fortunately for Dallas, this defense is no stranger to a McVay-branded offense – *insert your crappy 30-22 postseason memories here*. Even more fortunate for Dallas, the season-wrecking C.J Anderson, who unforgivingly mauled the Cowboys for 123 Yards and 2 Touchdowns in that affair, currently resides as an NFL Free Agent. The chance for a narrative-changing doesn’t seem *too* far-fetched.