The Green Bay Packers are looking to get back into the win column against the Dallas Cowboys after a tough loss in Week 3. The Sunday Night Football affair will have a lot of attention on it, as Packers star pass rusher Micah Parsons is playing his first game in Dallas since last month's shocking trade.
As one can imagine, Parsons will be looking to send a message on primetime against his former team, which has given him a ton of bulletin board material this week. However, the Cowboys do not seem phased by this Packers’ team, even though America's Team will be missing two key pieces on offense, including star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
“We’re good enough to beat the Packers without (CeeDee Lamb and Tyler Booker),” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said via ESPN’s Todd Archer.
Now, you can’t blame Schottenheimer for expressing confidence in his squad ahead of a tough game in primetime. Any coach would do the same thing. At the same time, it's obvious that this version of the Cowboys is not good enough to beat the Packers right now.
Cowboys Don't Stand Chance vs. Packers Despite Schottenheimer's Comments
The Cowboys are coming off an ugly loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 3, where their defense didn’t register a single sack, and the offense had four turnovers while being held to 14 points.
If the Bears were able to keep them in check, imagine what Parsons and the Packers’ defense will do without Booker and not having to focus on Lamb? It makes things easier, especially from a coverage standpoint. Now, the Packers can put Keisean Nixon on George Pickens and force the other Cowboys wide receivers to beat them, which defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley can live with.
It's also worth noting that Green Bay's defense ranks high on Pro Football Focus when it comes to:
- Overall defense grade: 80.0, 3rd
- Run defense grade: 71.9, 8th
- Pass rush grade: 79.8, 3rd
- Coverage grade: 75.5, 5th
And when it comes to the Cowboys’ defense, we should expect Matt LaFleur and Co. to try to take shots and test Dallas’ secondary. The Cowboys are giving up 288 yards per game, while opposing QBs have a 125.3 rating against this defense (second-worst in the NFL).
Over the last two games, we’ve seen the New York Giants and Chicago Bears go right after Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs and have success. Green Bay will likely do the same, as they have a speedster in Matthew Golden and Romeo Doubs, who can create explosive plays in the passing game, as well as Tucker Kraft and Dontayvion Wicks.
The oddsmakers already believe this game will not be close, with the Packers favored by 6.5 points on FanDuel Sportsbook. If Green Bay looks like the team fans saw in Week 1 against Detroit, it will be a long day for Dallas, and Parsons will get the last laugh on Sunday night.
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Odds update periodically and are subject to change.