Who will the Dallas Cowboys play if they make the playoffs?
By Angel Torres
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If the Cowboys sneak in on Sunday and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win, the Tom Brady led Bucs would travel to Dallas for a very intriguing matchup. This is the most likely scenario. Sure on paper it would look like the Bucs would trounce these Dallas Cowboys but the Bucs have been an up and down team all year long.
There are weeks where it looks like they are turning the corner then they have a gigantic letdown that casts doubt. Their offense has their own three-headed monster at wide receiver with Mike Evans leading the way. Antonio Brown has found his place in this offense while teams continue to underrate Chris Godwin. These three would be a huge problem for the Dallas secondary.
Tight end Rob Gronkowski is also starting to ramp up his workload while running back Ronald Jones should be active after missing the last few games after being placed on the Covid list.
The Tampa offensive line appears as it should be better than it is and this is where the Cowboys could take advantage. Tom Brady is not a very mobile quarterback but he moves better in the pocket than most but he gets agitated with pressure up the middle.
If the Cowboy’s defensive line can create upfront pressure, Dallas would have a chance at upsetting the Buccaneers.
The Bucs defense would also be a problem as edge rushers Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett form a dangerous pass-rushing tandem. The interior of their line is solid which allows inside linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White to freely run sideline to sideline. This front seven combo ranks first against the run in the entire league.
I would feel better in this situation if the Cowboys had their backup tackles as opposed to their third-string players out there. The only weakness of this constructed super team would be the Tampa secondary.
The Bucs defense ranks 25th in pass defense meaning the Cowboys would have an advantage somewhere but I’m nowhere close to being comfortable with this matchup. The only hope would be to catch bad Tampa on this particular day.