FRISCO, Texas — Entering the Week 8 bout against the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys' defense is hoping for, nay, starving for, nay, demanding a better showing of themselves after the 47-point explosion allowed to the Detroit Lions heading into the bye week.
It's true they've fared better on the road than at home in that regard, at least this season, and the fact they've also had two weeks to prepare for Kyle Shanahan certainly doesn't hurt.
What does hurt, literally, is just how ravaged both teams are by injury right now, though it's something DeMarvion Overshown says the Cowboys won’t use “as an excuse” on their side, and Jourdan Lewis made it known he doesn't expect it to matter when it comes to just how hard the 49ers decide to play on Sunday.
"I feel like, regardless of whoever's out there, [Kyle Shanahan] has a really good plan to go out there and have a competitive game," said Lewis.
Shanahan will be without Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey, amongst others, on the offensive side of the ball but that doesn't mean the Cowboys' defense, especially as it continues to try and find its identity this season, can afford to downplay the ability of whomever the next man up might be at any respective position in San Francisco.
Jordan Mason, for example, has stepped right in at running back and made defenses pay.
It's less the who and more the what, and the what is Shanahan's scheme that has plagued the Cowboys time and again over the previous three matchups.
"They're still extremely dangerous," Lewis said of the injury bug-bitten 49ers offense. "They've got guys that can go out there and run routes. I'm seeing a lot of young guys that can get it done — deep balls and things like that — and they have a really good running back there in [Jordan] Mason that's picking up the slack for McCaffrey.
"… Regardless of if they have those guys out, they still have a lot of All-Pros that's still on that line, and some guys that can make some plays, so it's still gonna be a very dangerous offense."
One of the biggest keys to victory will be Dallas' defense getting back to being one of the most dangerous in the league in their own right, largely fueled in the past by the ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks and to take the ball away – even as they struggled to stop the run.
This year, however, they've been unable to stop the run, to pressure the QB or to take the ball away, in what's become a perfect storm of inconsistent showings through the first six games.
It's also true that Mike McCarthy has continually led the Cowboys on a run following the bye week, and that this version of the club is 3-0 on the road, so there's more than a solid chance they could use the 49ers as a launching pad and, in the process, punch Shanahan into a 3-5 record.
So what exactly is it about the annual bye week tweaks in Dallas?
"Just the way we practice and the way we prepare, it always feels like we rev up around this time," he explained. "We try to finish strong toward the end of the season. Kudos to coach [McCarthy]. He's been doing it since I've been here, where we play better ball later on in the season, which is good.
"You wanna play really good ball around playoff time. Hopefully, we can get to the playoffs and then make some noise."
It's been two weeks of looking in the mirror for all involved, as Lewis explained, and it's time to show the result of that introspection, and against a team that would love nothing more than to continue to keep their collective foot on the neck of the Cowboys.
"It's just understanding how we wanna attack the offense on all different levels, and how they wanna attack us, too," said Lewis. "Just seeing how we can get better as a team and seeing different things on the same page."
The sooner they're able to get on that page, the more enjoyable the read will be when the book is eventually completed later this season.
