Who Should the Dallas Cowboys Fear Most in the Playoffs?
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Cowboys enter the playoffs having secured the #1 seed, a bye, and home field advantage. Who should they fear most in the divisional round?
The regular season is now behind us and the Dallas Cowboys have nothing to do but sit back and wait to see who they will face on January 15th in Arlington, Texas. As the top seed in the NFC, Dallas gets to face the lowest seed advancing to the divisional round. That team will either be the Detroit Lions (6th), New York Giants (5th), or Green Bay Packers (4th).
Who should the Dallas Cowboys fear most in this bunch?
Yesterday we looked at the New York Giants and the obvious concern they raise. Excluding week 17 when the Cowboys rested their starters, the Giants are the only team that beat them this year. Let that sink in for a minute.
Related Story: Should The Cowboys Fear the Giants?
Every other opponent, including the Packers and Lions, were dispatched. And those two NFC North teams were done so with relative ease, I might add.
So, it’s got to be the New York Giants, right?
Nope.
For my money, Green Bay represents the biggest threat to the Dallas Cowboys. Aaron Rodgers is playing at an unreal level right now and after rattling off six consecutive wins to take the NFC North, they are undoubtedly the hottest team going in the NFC these days.
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Some may point to the Cowboys dismantling of the Pack earlier in the season. If you haven’t watched them play since that game then you have no idea how different they are. They are nothing like that team the Cowboys faced.
The thing that stands out after reviewing my notes from the Dallas at Green Bay Film Review is my comments about Rodgers:
If Rodgers was even remotely accurate this would have been a completely different game.
Well, Rodgers is accurate now. Surgically accurate. And if the Cowboys face them again you can bet it will be a completely different game – a shootout.
Related Story: Reviewing the Green Bay Film: Standouts, Notes, and Observations
Las Vegas seems to agree with my feelings. After the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys, the Green Bay Packers come in 3rd place on the odds list. Since betting real money is the greatest indicator of real odds, Las Vegas should not be ignored.
Green Bay is far from perfect. Their defense is a mess. Despite ranking 6th in sacks, they are giving up 269 yards through the air (31th in NFL) and fall 22nd overall.
But their strengths and weakness match up well against the Cowboys. Their run defense is ranked 8th, possibly stunting the Cowboys’ backbone – Ezekiel Elliott. Their passing attack has moved up to 7th and salivating at the idea of Dallas’ 26th ranked pass defense.
The Giants are a formidable foe and have beaten the Dallas Cowboys twice before. While they can’t be underestimated they just don’t represent the challenge that Aaron Rodgers and the Pack represent at this point.
Every team needs to be respected this time of year. One fluke play here or there can decide who advances and who goes home. As with all single elimination tournaments, the best team doesn’t always win no matter how painful that is for some people to digest.
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Give me the Detroit Lions any day but the chances of them upsetting Seattle seem slim to the 10th degree. The team I want to avoid the most in the divisional round is the Green Bay Packers. What say you? Who scares you the most in the divisional round?