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Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers: Predicting a winner

By Chris Hill

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - SEPTEMBER 29: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts after throwing an incomplete pass on the last play from scrimage against the New Orleans Saints during a NFL game at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on September 29, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Olreans won the game 12 - 10. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - SEPTEMBER 29: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts after throwing an incomplete pass on the last play from scrimage against the New Orleans Saints during a NFL game at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on September 29, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Olreans won the game 12 - 10. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

When the Cowboys have the ball

The Dallas Cowboys offense was on its way to achieving a bit of a cult following. Even casual fans were talking about the offense and how the oft-criticized Prescott had become one of the best quarterbacks in the league. That all came crashing to a halt last week and fans were again questioning if Dak was our quarterback of the future.

This week, Dak and the offense are playing a team that could not figure out how to stop the run last week again the Eagles. The ability to run the ball is still the lifeblood of the Cowboys and fans should not be fooled by the fool’s gold of anything otherwise. The Saints stopped the run last week with only seven defenders in the box, and all of a sudden the vaunted Cowboys offense looked pedestrian.

Prior to the Eagles game, the Packers had one of the best defenses in football according to Kevin Patra’s ESPN.com piece. Patra points out the following:

"The Packers rank first in the NFL in takeaways (8), second in scoring defense (11.7 PPG allowed) — the last top-10 Green Bay scoring defense was 2010 (won Super Bowl XLV) — tied for third in sacks (12), No. 4 in red zone percent allowed (33.3), and fifth in passing yards per game given up (197.3)."

It all starts in the trenches for the Cowboys and they will go into the game shorthanded with the ankle injury to All-Pro offensive tackle Tyron Smith and maybe hindered even further after it was reported by Stephen Stevenson on the star-telegram.com that offensive tackle La’el Collins may miss the game due to a bad back. The line did not play well last week and will need a better performance, even with the injuries.

While mostly ineffective last week, the Cowboys must establish the running game with Elliott. Teams will not honor the play-action if you’re not posing a threat with the run. The secondary effect is Dak has more time and the wide receivers will face less complex coverages.

There is a possibility that wide receiver Michael Gallup could be back, but if not, the receivers, including Amari Cooper, will have to step up their game and win one on one matchups. This was something they failed to do versus the Saints.

Initially, I was going to make this all about offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and his unwillingness to call an aggressive game, but I’m going to give him a slight pass before I call him the second coming of Scott Linehan.

Prediction: Cowboys score at least 24 points on the Packers defense

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