Wild Card weekend is here, and the Dallas Cowboys roll into Raymond James Stadium to take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football.
The Cowboys have now gone 12-5 in back-to-back seasons and hold the No. 5 seed for the 2022 NFL Season. The Bucs finished the season 8-9 but won the worst division in football, so they were rewarded a home playoff game as the No. 4 seed.
While last week’s loss to the Washington Commanders may be concerning to most, the Cowboys have not lost two games in a row all season to this point.
Tampa Bay has had struggles this season, but they still have Brady and a flurry of offensive weapons on the outside for him to make plays. The Cowboys’ primary focus will be preventing Tampa’s front four from dictating the game.
Dallas has only had a total of 151 rushing yards as a team in the last two games. The Cowboys have thunder and lightning at running back; Tony Pollard eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing while only starting four games.
The Bucs’ defense allows 120.7 rushing yards per game; they don’t need to force the run game, but it will be there for them to take.
When you dive into the other side of the ball, the Cowboys’ defense will get back two starters, making things easier for them to operate — Defensive Tackle Johnathan Hankins and LB Leighton Vander Esch. LVE has been their third-best defender this season, and he missed the last two games.
Let’s not forget to mention Tampa has one of the worst offensive lines in football. The Cowboys’ front will create havoc.
Hankins can help plug the middle, as Tampa will try to establish the run. The Cowboys have a bottom-five rushing defense, but the return of Hankins will help.
Even with all the weapons the Bucs have, their offense has only scored more than 23 points ONCE in their last eight games. The personnel is there for them to succeed on offense, but they seem to hit a wall every week.
As injured as the backend is for the Cowboys, they are still only allowing the 10th fewest passing yards per game this season.
We may even see newly signed, and former All-Pro Xavier Rhodes suit up Monday. He can’t be any worse than Kelvin Joseph.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on @1053thefan said it wouldn’t surprise him to see recently signed CB Xavier Rhodes active for Dallas’ wild card game at Tampa Bay
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) January 10, 2023
The Cowboys can help themselves out by getting off to a fast start.
We have seen in most of their 12 wins that they dominate the game from start to finish when they get off to a quick start. It’s playoff football, and Dallas will not control Tom Brady from start to finish in a playoff game.
However, the Cowboys are still a much better football team; everyone knows that.
There is more pressure on the Cowboys in this matchup, and there is always the chance for a vintage Brady performance, but when the game concludes on Monday night, Brady will have to answer whether or not he will retire or return for another season.
The offense will rebound, the defense will force at least one turnover like they have done so well this season, and the Cowboys will win their fourth playoff game in the last 25 years.
