"There's an adage that everyone remembers November and December, that's the reality of our league, especially going to 17 games," head coach Mike McCarthy Monday. "The best football is in front of us."McCarthy's last line, "the best football is in front of us" appears to be the case for his team's defense, specifically against the run. Their rushing defense had been their glaring weakne s, allowing 143.1 rushing yards per game in Weeks 1-10, fourth-most in the , prior to their wins at the and at home against the in Weeks 11 and 12. Dallas has allowed 81.5 rushing yards per game over its last two contests, the sixth-fewest in the league, despite facing two of the best running backs in the NFL -- the Vikings' and the Giants' ."We're just understanding teams are going to do that run the ball right at us ," Cowboys linebacker on Wednesday. "You kind of hope that teams don't play the run, screen game teams don't really want to drop back and pa s anymore, at least against us Matt Skura Jersey it's hard to stay up, but we understand what it is. Right now, we've seen what we need to see, and we're always planning for the unexpected."In Weeks 8 and 10, before and after their Week 9 bye, the Cowboys allowed a combined 447 rushing yards acro s their 49-29 win against the in Week 8 (240 rushing yards allowed) and 31-28 overtime lo s at the in Week 10 (207 rushing yards allowed), a two-game stretch marking only the ninth time in franchise history that Dallas had allowed 200 or more rushing yards in consecutive games. A big source of pride for the Silver and Blue this Thanksgiving was limiting Barkley to 52 scrimmage yards -- 39 rushing and 13 receiving -- and one rushing touchdown in Week 12 Jaleel Scott Jersey after allowing him to get loose in Week 3 when he had 126 yards from scrimmage and a rushing score. "I thought we did pretty good, he Barkley might've had one, maybe two explosive runs, but for the most part contained him and made sure everything was short," Parsons after the game on Thanksgiving. "They pa sed way more than we were probably expecting, so I think we did a pretty good job for the way he's Barkley been playing this year."The Cowboys tied their season-high with 12 mi sed tackles in their 23-16 win at the Giants in Week 3, but they had a season-low one mi sed tackle in their 28-20 win against the same team on Turkey Day in Week 12."Something we were pleased with was our tackling that was a big improvement from the quarterback Daniel Jones to the running back Barkley , guys who are exceptional with what they do in terms of running the ball," Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn on Monday. "Going against this team the Giants , we knew how important it was going to be able to set the edges. This running back Barkley has such a good jump-cut to start outside and bring it back inside, so we worked that as much as we could given the short week. We know how explosive and dangerous he is. We knew it was going to have to be the second, the third, the fourth guy to come in to go make some plays. It wasn't just going to be in the run game. It was him coming out of the backfield on screens. Going into it, that was a focus point for us: the tackling in the run and in the pa s game as well." Week 13 brings another challenging tackling task to AT&T Stadium in Arlington on "Sunday Night Football" in last season's leading rusher, running back . He Nico Siragusa Jersey led the entire league in carries (332), rushing yards (1,811) and rushing touchdowns (18) in 2021 and despite mi sing three games with an ankle injury this season, Taylor has 47 tackles avoided in 2022, eighth-most in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus."It's the speed," Quinn said when asked what stands out about the Colts' lead horse. " Jonathan Taylor is a bigger back, you wouldn't always think that because of the kind of speed that he has, but he is a strong-sized back. The inside run if you mi s your fit or your angle, you can really be vulnerable. I think you saw that against the Las Vegas on the long one that he had a 66-yard touchdown run where if he gets out to the edge and he can split it, he has the speed to go the distance. That was true from his college days at Wisconsin , and it's kind of carried all the way through. He is a tough back that has real good speed, so this will be our third one in a row of guys that can really make the big plays.""He's Taylor just more downhill, more forward,and he has that extra juice at the end" Parsons when asked about the difference between Taylor and the last two running backs Dallas faced, Cook and Barkley. "He's always falling forward where Saquon Barkley and Dalvin Cook are Tony Jefferson Jersey way more elusive, I would put Jonathan Taylor as more of a power back, just smaller than D Henry." Since former Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman and ESPN NFL analyst Jeff Saturday became the interim head coach in place of the fired Frank Reich, he reinstalled as the starting quarterback after he was benched for former sixth-round pick and put more of an emphasis on the ground game. Taylor has had at least 20 carries, 80 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in all three games since Saturday took over.First 6 GamesPast 3 GamesRush Att/Game17.821.3*Rush YPG77.0105.7*Yds/Rush4.35.0Rush TD13*The Cowboys defense may never get a better scouting report on an opposing quarterback from their defensive coordinator than they will in preparation to face Colts quarterback Matt Ryan, Quinn's face of the franchise when he was the head coach from 2015-2020. Their run together included the peak of both of their careers during the 2016 season when Ryan won the NFL MVP award while the Falcons reached the . They fell just short against Bill Belichick, , and the , losing 34-28 in overtime, the only Super Bowl ever to go to OT, after blowing a 28-3 lead. However when Quinn looks back on his years with Ryan, it's all admiration."I love him," Quinn said when Marshal Yanda Jersey asked about facing his former star quarterback. "He is a rare and relentle s competitor. That's one of the first things that you find out about him being around him for a long time. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing. He comes acro s nice and clean cut, but he is a tough-a s competitor. Those are some of the things I remember. From his side, I remember all the support he showed me and the staff, and I certainly appreciate that. He's got a special spot with me because of his toughne s, his leadership and what he stands for."Ryan may not be as happy to see his old bo s on Sunday since the 37-year-old quarterback is averaging the fewest air yards per pa s attempt (5.9) in the NFL this season along with the second-most turnovers in the league, 14, behind only quarterback 's 15. Making matters worse for Ryan, the Colts have allowed the most sacks in the league, 43, while the Cowboys defense has the most sacks in the NFL, 45, the most by any team through 11 games since the 2014 Buffalo Bills. Dallas is on pace for 69 sacks as a team this season, which would be three short of the single-se