Josh Norman vs Dez Bryant

[Sam Mills Fan]

The marquee individual matchup of the season so far. Who do you see winning?

[Cary Kollins]

Would be willing to bet Dez doesn't go over 100 yards.

[PhillyB]

dez will get his, but norman will be as good as anyone at limiting him.

and dez is a super emotional guy, the type norman excels at wheedling into mental errors. i would love to see him bait dez into taking a swing and get him ejected on national tv while i munch on cranberry sauce

[Ribs]

I get the feeling Dez will be working out of the slot a lot this game, like other teams have, to avoid him

[CRA]

Dez IMO is his toughest task on the year.

1.  Physically, Dez has it all.  Ability to be more physical than the other elites he sees

2.  Romo will throw all day to Dez.  

[Hotsauce]

Really looking forward to this matchup. 

However, while I think the battle will be fierce, I'm going to give the edge to Bryant (assuming Romo is accurate and doesn't have to force his throws).  

Normans biggest weakness (and arguably one of his strengths) is he has said if a pass goes his way, he would rather try to intercept it vs. knock it away.  Now I know that is probably every CBs goal; interception vs knock away, but sometimes this can backfire.  This happened 2-3 weeks ago where instead of going for a easy knock down, he went for the interception, and he got beat.

Now with that said, Norman isn't flying under the radar anymore, OCs know who he is and will plan around him.  We will be playing a desperate team who I am sure will make plays at towards their top WR.   

[Cary Kollins]

fwiw, Josh Norman lives for these types of matchups...the Dez Bryant's the Julio Jone's of the league

 

My main concern is probably him getting a little too hype and drawing a penalty, but it seems like he's gotten those out of his system.

[WhoaaaCAM]

I think Norman will hold his own, but Dez is a tough matchup for any corner. I hope they can help him out a little bit by getting Pressure on Romo

[Ricky Spanish]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Norman or Bryant get a taunting penalty at some point in the game. 

Wouldn't be surprised if Norman shuts him down, Bryant gets frustrated and takes a swing at Norman. 

Interesting match up. Should be fun to watch. 

[X-Clown on 1]

Personally I think Norman shuts Dez down completely (something like 2 catches for 14 yards).  Dez does not have great speed and Norman is just as physical/athletic as Dez.  Romo is going to have to get the ball out quickly, leaving little time for Dez to get separation.  The Cowboys will line Dez up in the slot, bring him in motion and use pick plays to get him open.  But head to head, Norman shuts him down.

[chknwing]

if the ball goes to Dez, it will be a short pass. hes not going to have time for anything deep.  This will be carolinas game plan.  Bring heavy pressure as to not let romo have enough time to throw it down field.

[goodoleboy]

8 minutes ago, Cary Kollins said:

fwiw, Josh Norman lives for these types of matchups...the Dez Bryant's the Julio Jone's of the league

 

My main concern is probably him getting a little too hype and drawing a penalty, but it seems like he's gotten those out of his system.

I worry about this as well.

I am in the process of re-watching the Redskins game yesterday. I am just watching the TV feed not coaching tape so I am not watching Josh on every play. In the first quarter he made a tackle on a receiver by hitting him high and knocking him to the ground never wrapping up.. It was every bit as bad as the Olson hit that negated that Washington interception TD. No need for it. A few plays later he got called for hands to the face on Washington's long TD pass.

No doubt he is playing lights out this year but there is still room for improvement. Not getting targeted can lead to complacency. Just make the tackle Josh. No need to knock some guy out.

[SteveSmithTD89]

Deandre Hopkins didn't do poo against him.  Julio Jones didn't do poo against him... TWICE.... Allen Robinson, Mike Evans, James Jones, TY Hilton... Nobody has been able to best Norman.  I'm sure it will happen eventually but my bet would be its not going to be Dez.

[General_Purr]

I think Dez would blast Norman with a wild over hand right like Chuck Liddell. Then here comes TD just spearing his mental ass to the ground.. as Bene hip tosses Terrence Williams as Colin Jones takes on Mcfadden as the underdog down to the 50 and just slams him in the wrestling match.. Luke and Jason Witten holding on to each other trying to sort things out but just play a game of Grabbies.