One of the greatest hip-hop albums of all-time is The Blueprint by Jay-Z. It was released on this day 22 years ago. This album was appropriately named that because it laid a foundation for other rappers to follow. Jay-Z collaborated with some of the best young producers in music at the time. Kanye West, Just Blaze, Timbaland and The Trackmasters were just a few of the producers from this album who went on to become mega stars in hip-hop.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!A lot of rappers used The Blueprint as their blueprint to success. A similar strategy is used in sports. The term
“copy cat league” is used a lot in the NFL as teams see a new thing that is working and try to implement that into their strategy. A famous example of that is the Wildcat formation.
In 2008, the Miami Dolphins caught the league off-guard when they started using the wildcat. They were able to make the playoffs off the back of that formation. This lead to other teams using it as well. NFL defensive coordinators eventually found ways to slow it down but it is still used in small spurts today.
On Sunday night, the Dallas Cowboys obliterated the New York Giants, 40-0. That is not a typo, the Cowboys won a NFL game over a team who made the playoffs last year, 40-0. The Arizona Cardinals are hosting the New York Giants in week two. Did the Cowboys lay down the blueprint on how to beat Giants? If so, can the Cardinals follow that blueprint to victory?
How did the Cowboys do it?
Fast Start
Dallas got off to a very fast start but in a unique way. The Cowboys first two touchdowns were non-offensive. They blocked a field goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown. This was quickly followed by an interception return for a touchdown. The Giants found themselves down 16-0 in what seemed to be the blink of an eye.
The Giants are a team that likes to run the ball with their star running back Saquon Barkley to set up the pass. Their quarterback Daniel Jones is also a good runner which helps with their running attack. The problem is if you find yourself down by 26 with eight minutes left in the second quarter. The run game can’t help you much.
Force Turnovers!!
Getting out to big lead like that is way easier said than done. The best way to do that is by forcing turnovers. The Cardinals may be able to do it as their defense showed the ability on Sunday against the Washington Commanders to score. Defensive end Cameron Thomas recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
DEFENSE IS HUNGRY AND THEY ARE EATING 🍽@DGardeck x @CameronThomas44 pic.twitter.com/jJU3S8CtP8
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 10, 2023
Daniel Jones has been turnover prone in the past. If the Cardinals are able to get a lead and force Jones into must pass situations. A defensive score may come with that.
Jones was horrible against the Cowboys, he completed 15 of his 28 passes for 104 yards and 2 interceptions. He was sacked seven times in the game. The Cardinals have the ability to make a quarterback uncomfortable in a similar fashion. They sacked Commanders quarterback Sam Howell six times.
The Cowboys have a superstar edge rusher in Micah Parsons who is a one-man wrecking crew to opposing offensive lines. The Cardinals do not have a player like that but they can still create the same type of pressure through blitzes and stunts against the Giants offensive line. Now, the Cardinals do have to be careful to not lose contain in these situations. Jones has the ability to get out of the pocket and run for positive gains.
Run The Ball!
A big part of being able to hold on to a lead is the ability to run the football. The Cowboys ran for 122 yards against the Giants including 70 from Tony Pollard. Pollard ran for those 70 yards on 14 carries. That is five yards per carry. Which is amazing for any running back.
The Cardinals ran for 96 yards against a very good Washington defense. They should look to duplicate what the Cowboys did against New York. If they are able to run the ball and create turnovers on defense. Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs will only have to worry about taking care of the ball and making easy throws off of play-action plays. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott only threw for 143 yards in their win over the Giants.
One of the songs on Jay-Z’s The Blueprint is called Song Cry. In that song Jay-Z says, “I can’t see em coming down my eyes, so I got to make the song cry.” The Cardinals can enforce their will on the Giants in the same way with physical play on both the offensive and defensive lines along with no mistakes from the quarterback. Arizona may be able to send the Giants “crying” back to New York with a 0-2 record.
