Dallas host Seattle in Wild Card game - live on Sky Sports USA (channel 407) from 1.15am on Sunday
Saturday 5 January 2019 20:43, UK
One of the biggest battles of Wild Card weekend takes place at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas early on Sunday morning as the Cowboys take on the Seattle Seahawks.
There appears to be little separating the two teams on paper, both finished the season with a 10-6 record. They each have a dependency on the run game, mobile match-winning quarterbacks and improving defenses.
Here we break down the Wild Card matchup and see if we can separate them...
The Cowboys topped the NFC East with a 10-6 record. An impressive feat, given that halfway through the season they had limped to a 3-5 record.
However, the arrival of Amari Cooper from the Oakland Raiders seemed to light a spark through the organisation. They recovered to win seven of their last eight games, with Cooper catching 53 passes for 725 yards and six touchdowns.
The Cowboys' miraculous turnaround included a stunning 13-10 victory over the NFL-best New Orleans Saints (13-3) and two victories over divisional rivals, and defending champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Seahawks, meanwhile, finished second in the NFC West behind the Rams (13-3), with a 10-6 record. And, much like the Cowboys, Seattle started the season off poorly. They started with back-to-back defeats to the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears before notching their first win in Week Three, over none other than the Cowboys.
They now arrive into the postseason hot, winning six of their last seven games. Their only defeat, quite incredibly, coming against the 4-12 San Francisco 49ers. Just a blip, as subsequent wins over the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals have suggested.
Quarterback Russell Wilson has had a brilliant year for the Hawks. He has thrown for a career-best 35 touchdowns and is tied for the fewest interceptions in the league, with seven. His quarterback rating of 110.9 is also the highest of his career. He is arguably one of the greatest in the NFL at making plays on the run, outside of the pocket.
Fail to contain Wilson, and it could be curtains for the Cowboys.
The two teams have already faced off once this season, with the Seahawks beating the Cowboys 24-13 in Week Three. Chris Carson took centre stage then, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Such a theme has continued throughout the season. The main driving force behind this Seattle side, and also for Dallas, has been the run game. The Seahawks rank first in the NFL in rushing yards per game with 160, whilst the Cowboys average 122.7 per game.
The Seahawks have used a committee in their backfield this season, with Carson being used as the battering ram at the head of it. The 24-year-old rushed for 1,151 yards and nine touchdowns. He has been ably assisted by Mike Davis and rookie Rashaad Penny, who have combined for 933 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
For Dallas, it's a much different story. They rely heavily on one guy to do all of their ground work. Of their 1,963 rushing yards, Ezekiel Elliott has accounted for 1,434 of them. However, the former first-round draft pick has only managed to rush for six touchdowns, despite his league-leading yardage.
With both sides evenly matched in the running game we could well see a run-heavy encounter. However, both teams are great a stopping the run on defense. This season on average, the Cowboys have only given up 94.6 rushing yards per game and the Seahawks aren't far behind with 113.2.
However, both teams have stellar quarterbacks waiting in the wings to take control if needs be.
As we've already mentioned, Wilson is having one of the best years of his career in Seattle, despite throwing for just 3,448 yards - his lowest amount of passing yardage since 2013. That doesn't tell the whole story, though.
Wilson has attempted (427) and completed (280) the lowest number of passes out of every quarterback who has started all 16 games this season - yet he's tied for third in touchdown passes thrown. Wilson's talents have been used to compliment the Seattle run game that's tormented teams all season.
The emergence of receiver Tyler Lockett has also helped Wilson in the absence of normal No 1 target Doug Baldwin, who has battled injury for much of the season. Lockett, who signed a three-year, $31m-dollar extension in the offseason has had a brilliant season, in which he has caught 57 passes for 965 yards and 10 touchdowns.
As for Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, even when he puts up good stat lines, he still comes under a lot of fire. Granted, throughout the first half of the season, Prescott was poor at best. Through eight games he had thrown 10 touchdowns and five interceptions with an average quarterback rating of 89.9. Since then, he's tossed 12 TDs to just three picks, with an average QB rating of 102.9.
The arrival of Cooper has helped him massively. The duo have linked up for 53 pass completions, 725 yards and six touchdowns in just nine games.
Prescott has also used his feet well, rushing for six touchdowns. He's the only quarterback in NFL history to have thrown for 20+ touchdowns and rushed for 5+ touchdowns in three straight seasons - breaking his own record of two.
The Seahawks possess the best turnover differential in football at +15, thanks to their 26 turnovers on defense (12 interceptions & 14 fumbles). The Cowboys have 20 turnovers on defense (nine interceptions & 11 fumbles), but 17 on offense leaves them with just a +3 turnover differential.
For the Cowboys, linebackers rookie Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith are the standouts. They need to be on top form if they're to slow down the Seahawks running game. The duo have 261 combined tackles between them and have made a massive impact for the Cowboys defense.
Vander Esch is one of the main contenders to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. It's likely a three-way tussle between Vander Esch, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard and Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James for the award.
As for the Seahawks, it's more the veteran presence of Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright tasked with trying to stop Elliott and the Cowboys.
Defensive end Frank Clark too has been a top performer on defense and has registered 14.0 sacks and an interception this season. Dak Prescott was sacked 56 times during the regular season - the second most in the league - so Clark could well capitalise.
Even though both franchises finished the regular season 10-6, the Cowboys had a 7-1 record at home, while the Seahawks had a 4-4 record on the road. The game being played in Texas will definitely help the Cowboys, who were themselves pretty appalling on their travels.
Unlike their similar regular season records, their coach's playoff experience in recent years is the complete opposite. Pete Carroll coached the Seahawks to Super Bowl XLVII success over the New England Patriots four years ago, and has had six other postseason appearances since taking the job in 2011. Jason Garrett, meanwhile, has only led the Cowboys to three playoff appearances since he took over midway through the 2010 season - and to only one win.
Could that become two in the early hours of Sunday morning? Who knows. But with both teams boasting some of the best players in the NFL and having similar styles of play, whatever the result, it should be one to remember.
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