FRISCO, Texas — The battle between two storied NFL franchises continues on Sunday. The 3-1 Dallas Cowboys face the 3-1 Green Bay Packers in week five’s NFC matchup. The two teams have met 36 times with Green Bay leading the series 19-17.
The Cowboys’ defense has their hands full with future Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. He is a dual threat in every sense of the word. Rodgers is a master of accurate deep downfield passes and is a nightmare when he breaks the pocket on the run, evidenced by his career total 218 rushing first downs. The Packer’s offense centers on No.12 who can solely carry the green and gold to a victory. Dallas’ defense has to create solid pressure up front and get to him quickly before he has time to go through progressions and make the throw or take off with the ball in his hands.
The defense did catch a break with Rodger’s go-to-target and the team’s star wide out Davante Adams likely out of Sundays’ game with ‘turf toe.’ His absence will hurt the team’s offense with a struggling running game ranked 26th in the league. The Packers have not had a balanced attack with less than 80 rushing yards in the past two games.
Offensively, Dallas has to get into a rhythm with more aggressiveness on first and second downs to create that up-tempo offense we all saw in weeks one through three. The offense employed more shots down the field and motion plays (play action, run pass option) on early downs in the previous weeks but against the Saints, the team consistently ran Ezekiel Elliott up the middle for no gain. Elliott finished with 18 carries for 35 yards and a 1.9 average per carry.
Moving the chains will be crucial against the Packer’s defensive front ranked third in the league against the pass. The offensive line has dealt with several injuries this past week with both left tackle Tyron Smith (ankle) and right tackle La’el Collins (back) not participating in practice on Wednesday. Connor Williams took reps at right tackle during practice with the first-team unit and Xavier Su’a-Filo took Williams’ spot at guard during practice. The Cowboys’ offensive line has only allowed 3.0 sacks on 127 pass attempts through four games in 2019, the third-lowest sack rate in the NFL (2.4%). The o-line will have to make in-game adjustments due to injury in order to win the battle at the line of scrimmage to open up the running and passing game.
A good injury update for Dallas- wide receiver Michael Gallup was back at practice on Wednesday after working with Sanjay Lal and Britt Brown on Tuesday getting him ready physically. Barring any issues, he is likely available against the Packers. If he is a go, Gallup along with Amari Cooper will face the speed of Green Bay’s cornerback Jaire Alexander. Alexander is relentless in coverage, is a solid route reader, and is difficult to get away from. The Packers will test the Cowboys at every level as both teams fight to become 4-1.
The other weapon in the Cowboys’ receiving core, slot receiver Randall Cobb, will face his former team on Sunday. Cobb is a player the coaching staff loves and brags on; he can lineup at any position and has the character element that the team wants in the locker room. Today, Jason Garrett described what it was like facing Cobb as a Packer. He paid him a tremendous complement, “ He was a pain in the ass. Always making the play…did the little things that make a difference and we competed against that for a long time.”
