Dallas Cowboys fans are inadvertently helping their team beat the Carolina Panthers in Week 11.
Days before the match-up, Panthers head coach Frank Reich revealed the team is practicing the silent count in case it is needed when the Cowboys (and their passionate fanbase) are in town.
Of course, it usually works the other way around. Teams on the road need to have the silent count ready in case the stadium is too loud due to the home crowd. In this case, the offense goes to a silent count to snap the ball. Instead of going through a regular cadence (think Dak’s yeaaaah, here we goooo!), a lineman or quarterback signal is involved, which tells the center when to snap the football and begin the play.
The fact that Cowboys Nation is forcing the Panthers to practice as the away team is mightily embarrassing for a team that just used its No. 1 overall pick on a quarterback in the hopes of more than one win ten weeks into the season.
Their season has been so bad that not only is Reich taking over play-calling duties midseason but Panthers fans aren’t even expected to attend Bank of America Stadium on Sunday.
That should go a long way in explaining the fact that the Cowboys are 10.5-point road favorites on this one.
Now granted, it’s tough to be overly confident knowing several things. Here are just a few reasons why this could turn out to be a trap game:
- The Panthers’ coaching staff is desperate. They’ll call all sorts of wild stuff to try to steal a win in Carolina.
- The Cowboys get the Washington Commanders on a short week for Thanksgiving, which means the team could be caught off-guard looking ahead at the divisional showdown.
- It’s an away game on the noon slot on the East Coast. The Cowboys have had slow starts in such games before.
- The Cowboys have been called for the most penalties on the road this season.
Ultimately, the Cowboys shouldn’t have trouble taking care of the Panthers, who enter this contest with one of the worst-ranked offensive lines in football. Meanwhile, the Cowboys offense is humming as it now features
