Green Bay Packers @ Dallas Cowboys tips and picks: Back hosts to win by at least a touchdown
- George Dempsey
- 12 January 2024
The Green Bay Packers (9-8) will visit the Dallas Cowboys (12-5) on Sunday (2130 pm GMT) for an NFC Wild Card Round clash.
At 6-8 with three weeks of the NFL regular season remaining, it was backs to the wall for the Green Bay Packers. They won their final three games to make the playoffs.
Their reward, if you can call it that, is a trip to face the Dallas Cowboys where, let’s face it, they could be thrown around like a dog's chew toy.
Mike McCarthy’s side are a perfect 8-0 at home this season, thrashing most sides they play. Dak Prescott has thrown for 2,470 yards and 22 touchdowns in those games.
That’s an average of 308 yards per game and just shy of three touchdowns. In addition to that, Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle have rushed in for a further eight TDs.
So, does Green Bay have a chance? Well, overall they’re the number 10 ranked defence for points against and they perform just as well on the road.
But there’s nothing elite about it. They performed well down the stretch, but they also showed several deficiencies that a top team like Dallas would exploit.
Jordan Love has tuned in a solid performance and is starting to look like the real deal. His young receiver core has stepped up when required, but this is a big ask.
We’ve already touched on how good Prescott has been - and we should mention receiver CeeDee Lamb has been as good - but this is also a top-tier defence that can stifle teams.
Dallas’ average margin of victory at home has been 21.5 points, even though they only beat Detroit by one in their final home matchup.
We think there’s far too much quality on both sides of the ball for the hosts. Matt LaFleur has done well, but it ends here as the Cowboys pick apart Joe Barry’s defensive scheme.
