3 matchups that will decide Cowboys vs 49ers Divisional Round showdown

1. Trevon Diggs vs Deebo Samuel

Dan Quinn would be nuts to matchup Diggs vs Samuel. The Cowboys might use a mixture of Jayron Kearse, Diggs, DaRon Bland and whoever else — perhaps Israel Mukuamu — to contain the all-world receiver.

However, you can guarantee Kyle Shanahan is going to scheme his best offensive weapon, the best receiver in the league after the catch, against Diggs, who proved again Monday he isn’t the most willing tackler in the open field.

If Diggs allows Samuel to break tackles, that’s just asking for trouble. Samuel needs to make just one defender miss to break a big play. He only logged 38 receiving yards in last season’s Wild Card meeting against the Cowboys, but he ran 10 times for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Don’t be shocked if Shanahan targets Diggs to meet Samuel in the open field Sunday night, whether it be on a handoff, or short gadget pass. Even if Diggs doesn’t make a clean tackle, he just needs to slow Deebo down (easier said than done) to allow his teammates enough time to rally to the football.

If he doesn’t, Dallas will have a tough time getting off the field.

Cowboys get 2 positive injury updates after Wild Card win (and 1 negative one)

The Cowboys got encouraging injury updates on Micah Parsons and Jayron Kearse, but there's concern Jason Peters could miss the Divisional Round.