'Rather Go to Detroit!' How Much Are CeeDee Lamb & Dallas Cowboys 'Texas Coast Offense' Feared by Packers?
Part of why the Dallas Cowboys’ controversial Week 17 win over the Detroit Lions dominated the airwaves for a week was because of the playoff implications that surrounded it. Neither team saw its playoff hopes realized or extinguished on that Saturday night, but in a sport where home-field advantage can be so crucial, Dallas’ win loomed large.
The victory put the Cowboys on an easy path to the NFC’s second seed, needing to simply win the NFC East. The collapse of the Philadelphia Eagles had given those chances life, and it didn’t take long into Week 18 for it to become clear that the division title would come home to Dallas.
That second seed, though, could have easily belonged to the Lions, who share the Cowboys’ 12-5 record but lost the tiebreaker after sideways officiating (in both directions) a couple of weeks ago. In turn, a potential Divisional Round contest between the two would be played in AT&T Stadium, where Dallas is yet to lose this season.
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It also means the seventh-seed Green Bay Packers will spend Wild Card Weekend in Texas, rather than Michigan.
According to Rob Demovsky on 105.3 The Fan, an NFC North clash would have been preferable for the Packers.
“There’s no question they would have rather gone to Detroit than Dallas. Everyone knows just how explosive the Dallas offense is,” Demovsky said. “I’ll be honest … I don’t know how they cover CeeDee Lamb. And he’s obviously not the only guy that gives teams problems.
“They’ve had trouble covering tight ends and certainly you got one down there that’s capable and people in Wisconsin are certainly familiar with.”
Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson has been a welcome surprise as the team’s second-most targeted and productive pass catcher. The Wisconsin product has logged 102 targets en route to 71 catches, 761 yards, and five scores this season. He’s done a ton of damage up the seam, where quarterback Dak Prescott loves to showcase his aggressiveness.
On that particular pass, nobody does it better. When it comes to defending those throws, according to John Owning, nobody does it worse than Green Bay.
Of course, this Dallas offense is not complete without Lamb’s incredible contributions. He generated 1,749 yards and a dozen touchdowns on a league-leading 135 catches this season and has done an incredible job turning the middle of the field into a launching pad for production. The Packers' defense, notably, struggles to defend the middle of the field.
The two are primed to pop off, and that may be too much to overcome, but that doesn’t mean Green Bay isn’t a threat in its own right.
“I don’t think Dallas was quite the matchup they wanted,” Demovsky said. “However, this is such a young team and you always hear the ‘Oh, they’re so young, they don’t know what they don’t know.’ I do believe this team is that way. They don’t know they’re not supposed to go down to Dallas and win.”
Perhaps the Cowboys’ vaunted home-field advantage will rattle a young Packers team that spent much of the season ironing out the flaws of its inexperience. But with quarterback Jordan Love playing as well as just about anybody in football, Green Bay cannot be overlooked.
Only four quarterbacks have produced a higher expected points added per play than Love and in a must-win road game last week, he casually completed 27 of 32 attempts for 316 yards and two scores. The Packers are armed and dangerous, regardless of how well Dallas matches up on the other side of the ball.
America’s Team is primed to exploit Green Bay’s defense with Prescott and the help of his two favorite targets, but the Packers’ inexperience could add intrigue to Sunday’s contest. These teams are no strangers to January football that lives on in infamy.
“I don’t think the moment will be too big for them. I think they’ll handle that part of it fine,” Demovsky concluded. “I just don’t think they have enough to stop the Cowboys offense.”
