NFL Playoff Odds – Cowboys-Packers Could Be a QB Duel

  • In Charles Jay
  • Sun, Jan 15th, 2017 9:34:57 am
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


The Green Bay Packers bring a seven-game winning streak into Sunday's encounter against the Dallas Cowboys, with the winner going to the NFC championship game.


Can the Dallas Cowboys do some of the same things they did the first time around against the Green Bay Packers, when their two young superstars went up to Lambeau Field and took control? This could be a key to victory and a ticket to the NFC Championship Game for them, as Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott experience their first post-season action. This game will begin at 4:40 PM ET on Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, and while Fox Network is televising it, BetAnySports customers will have the opportunity to place wagers while the game is in progress using the considerable facilities of Live Betting Ultra.

When these teams met previously, it was just the fifth game on Green Bay schedule, and they had stopped the previous four teams cold on the ground. That was not going to be the case against the Cowboys, who sprung rookie Elliott loose for 157 yards, and exposed the Packers for being a lot weaker on the defensive front than they had appeared to be. In the second half of the season, the Packers allowed 4.7 yards per rushing attempt, so the door would seem to be open for Dallas to establish itself by land. They have the offensive line to do it, with all pros like Tyrone Smith, Zach Martin and Travis Frederick. Prescott was intercepted only four times in 459 attempts, which is unheard of for a rookie. But literally from the first day on the job, he assumed command in the hall, taking the place of Tony Romo, who had suffered a broken bone in his back during the pre-season.

When the Packers lost that game to the Cowboys at home, it was just the beginning of some real bad stuff for them. They had a four-game losing streak at one point in which they gave up a total of 153 points. Of course, the secondary was in tatters, and it is glued together a little bit better now. However, this defense was 31st in the league in covering wide receivers, so if the Pack wants to go to the conference title game, they are probably going to have to do it under shootout conditions.

In the NFL playoff betting odds posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, the Cowboys are favored on their home field:

Dallas Cowboys -5.5
Green Bay Packers +5.5

Over 52 points -110
Under 52 points -110

The Packers have won seven games in a row after that four-game nightmare, and one of the things they have done is take care of the football, to the tune of only one turnover in that seven-game stretch. And guess what? They have discovered a running game, upon shifting Ty Montgomery from the wide receiver spot into the backfield. In their last game, the wild-card victory over the New York Giants, Christine Michael also offered a lot of support. Michael was actually the leading rusher for an NFL team this season, but it wasn't the Packers; it was the Seattle Seahawks.

Jordy Nelson is out of this game with a rib injury, so Aaron Rodgers will have to turn to other people. Randall Cobb has been bothered a little bit with injuries, but he had an outstanding game against the Giants, with 116 yards and three touchdowns, including that Hail Mary right before the end of the first half. Davante Adams broke through and had a great season (997 yards) and Rodgers likes what he sees at of undrafted rookie Geronimo Allison, who will get additional playing time. Jared Cook was in and out of the lineup, and did not play against the Cowboys the first time around, but he can help Green Bay expose a weakness Dallas has had in defending against tight ends.

For the most part, you've got to really good offensive lines in action here, and a couple of teams who are good at converting on third down. The Packers have been especially proficient, with a 46.7% success rate. Dallas has allowed just 83.5 rushing yards a game, the lowest figure in the NFL, so yards won't come easy for Montgomery or Michael, and Morris Claiborne, the former first-round draft pick at LSU, has returned from his groin injury to make the secondary a little tougher. But Dallas is going up against a playoff-seasoned quarterback, who has won the Super Bowl before, and who is playing his best football in years, throwing 19 touchdown passes without an interception during this winning streak. The Packers have played nine of their last 11 games over the total, and with this game indoors, it looks like the conditions are right for a high-scoring affair.

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