Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys: Lombardi Ave predictions
The Green Bay Packers travel to Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys Sunday in a matchup of two teams that have a long past.
The Cowboys soundly defeated the Packers back in October at Lambeau Field, as Ezekiel Elliott ran all over Green Bay’s defense and the Packers turned the ball over multiple times.
The Packers have been a different team the past two months and capped their eight-game win streak with an important Wild Card win over the New York Giants last weekend at Lambeau.
Who wins on Sunday?
Well there are varying views out there and right here a lombardiave.com.
That said, let’s let the staff here tell you who they think will win.
Freddie Boston: If you’re doubting the Packers this week, allow me to convince you. Sure, Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott will make life incredibly tough on Dom Capers’ defense as they did in Week 6. But for as daunting a task as Green Bay faces on defense, this is just as bad a matchup for Dallas.
The Cowboys pass rush has improved, but still lacks consistent pressure. They now face a matchup with arguably the best pass-protecting offensive line in the league. As the Giants found out last week, even holding coverage for long periods of time might not be enough.
When playing at his best, Aaron Rodgers is near impossible to defend. Give him time in the pocket and he’ll shred your defense. Blitz him? No problem, he’s going to shred your defense.
If this becomes a shootout, it’s advantage Packers. Rodgers is playing out one of the best stretches of his career. He now enters a dome. Will the Cowboys be able to stop him?
Packers 32, Cowboys 30
Thomas Friesen: In the playoffs, the team with the better quarterback wins the majority of the time. I trust Aaron Rodgers to execute a game plan when everything is at stake, more than I trust rookie Dak Prescott to get the job done.
The Packers need to do a much better job containing Elliot than they did in Week 6. Typically, they play the opponent’s best player well, and play the opponent much tougher the second time around in any season.
Packers 28, Cowboys 20
Kenn Korb: Fresh off an explosive second half against the New York Giants, Green Bay seems poised to give the Dallas Cowboys all they can handle.
While the offense should mount a strong effort even though Jordy Nelson won’t play, it’ll be up to the defense to decide what this game becomes.
A good run-stuffing effort early gives Green Bay a great shot at making Dallas play from behind – a situation they rarely found themselves in this year, and one I’m still not convinced they can successfully manage a multi-score comeback.
A bad showing from the defense turns this into a shootout, putting pressure on Rodgers to score every single time out there – something I believe he can do right now versus these Cowboys.
Right now I’m leaning toward the latter, but in either case I see the Packers taking this contest to move on to the NFC Championship Game while ending the run of yet another prematurely anointed Cowboys team.
Packers 34 Cowboys 31
Ralph Mancini: Honestly, the Cowboys are the one team I was hoping to avoid in the NFC in hopes of some other squad knocking them off.
But If the Packers have any designs on going all the way, they’ll need to beat the best to bring the Lombardi Trophy back in its rightful place – Packers News USA.
The winning formula for success? The Packers can’t afford a repeat performance of last week’s Wildcard matchup versus the Giants.
If the Cowboys draw first blood, they will take the air out of the ball behind their potent ground attack and keep Aaron Rodgers pinned to the bench.
The visiting team will need to force Dak Prescott to throw his team to victory.
Though he’s playing like a 10th-year grizzled veteran, he’s still a rookie and in his two losses to the Giants, the Mississippi State product threw the ball 37 and 45 times.
If Green Bay forces Prescott to put the ball in the air 35 or more times, I think Mike McCarthy and company advance to the semifinals.
Another key matchup to focus on is Ladarius Gunter defending Dez Bryant, who didn’t suit up for the regular-season meeting. The second-year cornerback won’t be getting much help in the secondary given the stacked boxes that will be featured in holding down Ezekiel Elliott.
It will be close and it may even be nerve-wrecking at times, but there’s no defense that can stop Rodgers right now … and he’s beaten some strong ones along the way.
Packers 27 Cowboys 24
Joe Olkives: It’s gonna be a tough matchup.
The Cowboys got the best of the Packers the first time around.
However, it was a sloppy game for a Packers team that has improved dramatically since the early season game.
I’ll take my chance with Rodgers at the helm. The Packers must take care of the ball, score points, and then hope for the best on the other side of the ball.
The Packers will win if the defense can just make enough plays to get the ball in the hands of their leader. I think they are up to the task.
Packers 40 Cowboys 27
Ray Rivard: We all know that Aaron Rodgers is going to come out throwing the ball around the yard and despite the fact that his favorite receiver, Jordy Nelson, won’t be on the field, Rodgers has plenty of other targets from which to choose.
In other words, the Packers are going to put points on the board.
That said, this one will come down to the defense.
We know they aren’t going to stop Ezekiel Elliott, but if they slow him enough and get some key defensive stops, especially in the second half, I feel the Packers can use the offense to put this game out of reach.
The Cowboys have been sitting for two weeks and the Packers have been red hot.
Look for big performances from Ty Montgomery, Aaron Ripkowski, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Mike Daniels.
If those guys come to play, Aaron Rodgers will take care of the rest.
Packers 35 Cowboys 27