Spy vs Spy: These 3 Cowboys defenders hope to minimize Lamar Jackson's impact on the Ravens

The Cowboys are notoriously bad against dual-threat quarterbacks, regularly allowing massive gains in yardage through scrambles, crucial conversions on third downs, and undisciplined execution of planned read options to athletic quarterbacks.

Dallas' heavy use of man coverage, especially Cover 1 looks, only exacerbates the damage because the cover cornerbacks play with their backs to the QB. These coverages are unlikely to change with Mike Zimmer running the defense.

Like Dan Quinn, Zimmer loves man coverage, and given the Ravens' penchant for running and Dallas' difficulty stopping that run, the Cowboys will likely rely on Cover 1 again in Week 3. Because if Dallas plays with just a single deep safety, it has an extra player in the box that the Cowboys could desperately use.

Lamar Jackson, Baltimore's explosive weapon at the position, is not just a good rushing QB, he is, in the opinion of most, the best rushing QB in the NFL. The two-time NFL MVP is lightning fast and can start and stop on the spot, making the NFL's other dual threats look like they're running through mud.

The Ravens use Jackson as you would expect – as a runner. They often call designed runs, read options, zone reads, and even RPOs with a QB running element attached (RPOs do not inherently have QB running options attached).

Even the Ravens' passing game leaves Jackson with running options. Tuck-and-run is often his second read on plays, so the Dallas defense must be prepared for a QB run on every single down.

Normally, that would spell certain doom for the Cowboys. That's especially true after their embarrassing performance in Week 2 against the Saints. But the Cowboys have a few tricks up their sleeve that could make the difference in Sunday's showdown. They have DeMarvion Overshown and Marist Liufau.

The Cowboys' two young linebackers are as explosive as the LB position gets. Overshown has a click-and-close level that makes even Micah Parsons look mortal. Liufau is a hyper-intelligent player known for playing like his hair is on fire for the entire 60 minutes. Both are positioned as QB spies this Sunday. Both could be the difference in whether the Cowboys can stop Jackson.

There is a lot of debate about who will be tasked with this task. Liufau is usually included in base packages while Overshown is included in nickel packages. After shining like a star in Week 1, Overshown took a back seat in Week 2. The reason for this is that the Saints needed more base packages from Dallas last week as they frequently used 12 and 21 players.

Week 3 could bring a similar response from Zimmer, as the Ravens have only played with 11 players (3WR, which requires nickel defense) 26.2 percent of the time this season. Unless Zimmer changes his packages, Liufau should take the majority of the snaps.

Dallas has also hinted at Parsons being a spy. Given Zimmer's use of complicated and/or deceptive blitz packages, he could very well fake a pass rush and then put Parsons in a spy role at times on Sunday. For all we know, Liufau will likely get the most spy opportunities, followed closely by Overshown. Parsons or even a safety could be used behind him in select situations.

Will it be effective?

That's anyone's guess, but the Cowboys finally seem to have some solid options on their team that can successfully fill that role, which is a lot more than they ever seemed to have in the past. Which Cowboys spy will make the biggest difference?

Everyone will find out soon.

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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Spy vs Spy: These 3 Cowboys defenders hope to minimize Lamar Jackson's impact on the Ravens