Cowboys BREAKING: Ezekiel Elliott OUT at Aaron Rodgers' Packers - 5 Keys To Win, Inactives
The Dallas Cowboys will be looking for their third consecutive win and, coming off the bye, should be refreshed and ready to go against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers and his team are currently on a five-game losing streak.
Mike McCarthy's return to Lambeau has dominated the headlines this week, along with the pursuit of Odell Beckham Jr. and the knee of Ezekiel Elliott.
And speaking of "health,'' the Dallas inactives are in play as well. They are ...
Ezekiel Elliott (knee), Anthony Barr (hamstring), Chauncey Golston, Jabril Cox, Markquese Bell, Nahshon Wright and Will Grier.
But there is still a game of football to be played, and the team will want to win for "Big Mike."
So how do the Cowboys win their seventh game of the season? By doing these five things. ...
Control the emotions: Throughout the week, the media landscape has been dominated by Mike McCarthy's return to Green Bay. The players have stated how much they want to win for their head coach, so naturally, emotions will be high.
Controlling those emotions will go a long way to Dallas getting the win. But as we have seen numerous times, teams who fail to keep their emotions in check make costly mistakes. It could be a missed assignment, a flag, or anything.
Given what is at stake, the Cowboys need to use their emotions correctly and come out of Lambeau winners for Mike McCarthy.
Convert third downs: Before the Cowboys' 49-29 win over the Chicago Bears, they had converted only 28 of their 87 third-down attempts, which Mike McCarthy wanted addressed.
Against the Bears, Dallas converted nine of 11 third-down chances, which paved the way for the offense to score touchdowns on four consecutive drives.
Much of the same will be needed on Sunday at Lambeau Field if Dallas is to win its seventh game of the season.
Curtail Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon: If the much-vaunted Dallas defense has one weakness in its otherwise impenetrable armor, it's defending the run. In six of their eight games, the Cowboys have allowed over 100 yards rushing, and running the football is one of only a handful of things Green Bay does well.
The Packers have twice surpassed 200 yards rushing, with a 199-yard game mixed in. If Green Bay is to win Sunday, it will be due to the rushing attack of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon.
Stopping the running duo will boost the Cowboys chances of notching their seventh win.
Cash in red-zone opportunities: Against the Chicago Bears, the Cowboys had a 100-percent record of converting red-zone chances into touchdowns. In their last three games, that number is 81.82 percent.
That'll do on Sunday.
Compelling issue: Does Dallas need to take offensive risks in scoring touchdowns, not field goals? Will that be needed on Sunday because after all is Aaron Rodgers on the other side of the field, one of the best quarterbacks ever - despite this season's struggles.
Or ...
With Green Bay only averaging a modest 17.1 points per game, and with the Dallas defense allowing just 16 per, will "eventual'' touchdowns be enough to heap pressure on the Packers' offense that struggles to put up points?
Win the turnover battle: The last thing the Dallas offense will want is to give extra possessions to a Packers offense struggling to score. Green Bay has failed to score more than 21 points in the last three games.
Giving Aaron Rodgers more chances to score will result in points ... eventually. (We think.) We saw the impact of Dallas turnovers against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6 as Cooper Rush threw three interceptions. Had those not occurred, Dallas may have won that game.
In his third game back, Dak Prescott can't give a Green Bay team that is reeling more opportunities to produce an upset win.
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