Cowboys vs. Packers: Updated Odds, Latest Player Comments and Predictions

Two gunslinging, superstar quarterbacks will walk into Lambeau Field Sunday, but only one will leave with his season still intact.

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers host Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys in a divisional-round showdown in the NFL playoffs with a spot in the NFC Championship Game on the line. The fact that the Legion of Boom of the Seattle Seahawks may be the prize for the winner may not sound all that enticing, but it sure beats losing. 

While the quarterback matchup takes center stage, there are a number of other factors at play in this postseason clash. Here is a look at the essential information for the game, including the updated odds, before digging into a preview and prediction.

Cowboys vs. Packers

Date: Sunday, Jan. 11

Time: 1:05 p.m. ET

TV: Fox 

Odds: Green Bay -6 (via Odds Shark, as of Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET)

Preview/Prediction

Never in the history of the NFL has a team that went 8-0 at home during the regular season hosted a team that went 8-0 on the road in the regular season in a playoff game. That will change Sunday.

Dallas' road prowess is just one reason why it will be such a difficult matchup for the favored Packers. Bleacher Report's NFL National Lead Writer, Mike Freeman, discussed the upcoming game and pointed out that Green Bay better not overlook the Cowboys:

"

The Cowboys can win in any number of ways. We saw this against Detroit in the Wild Card Round (the Lions beat the Packers in the regular season, by the way). When the Lions slowed Romo and the passing game, the Cowboys went a little more to the running game. When the running game failed, the defense kicked in. Then Romo kicked in. Then the running game. You stop one facet and the Cowboys hit you with another.

"

It may be cold in Lambeau, but the Dallas offensive line won't care about the cold weather because its job is still the exact same—bulldoze its way through the defensive front to create openings for the running game and keep Romo upright.

For as much press as Romo and Dez Bryant, who led the NFL with 16 touchdown catches, get, Dallas' best chance in this game is to ride DeMarco Murray and the offensive line, especially since it will be so cold at kickoff. Murray led the league with 1,845 rushing yards and will face a vulnerable Packers defense that is 23rd in the league against the run.

If the Packers then commit more defenders to the run, it will be Romo's time to make plays. He seemed ready for the moment in his comments leading up to the game, via David Moore of The Dallas Morning News:

"

It's going to be fun. It's going to be a tough game.

They're outstanding. They're going to be as good as we've gone against offensively, and they're playing really good defensive football, too. It's going to be a great challenge.

I do know that this is the kind of game you want to be playing. We have the kind of football team where we're very confident we have a chance to go up there and play a good game.

"

On the other side of the ball, Rodgers will face a defense coached by Rod Marinelli once again, which isn't great news for the Cowboys defensive coordinator who used to coach the Detroit Lions and serve as an assistant for the Chicago Bears.

Mike McGinnis/Getty Images

This chart from Pro-Football-Reference.com, via Jared Dubin of CBS Sports, highlights just how lethal Rodgers has been against Marinelli teams in recent history:

Year	Opponent	Result	Completion Percentage	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	Rating	Defensive DVOA
2008	Detroit	W	63.16	328	3	0	117	32
2008	Detroit	W	67.74	308	3	0	132.2	32
2009	Chicago	W	60.71	184	1	0	92	21
2009	Chicago	W	66.67	180	0	0	88.9	21
2010	Chicago	L	75.56	316	1	1	92.5	4
2011	Chicago	W	67.86	229	1	1	89.7	4
2011	Chicago	W	56.67	244	0	2	55.4	4
2011	Chicago	W	73.68	297	3	1	111.4	4
2011	Chicago	W	72.41	283	5	0	142.7	4
2012	Chicago	W	68.75	219	1	1	85.3	1
2012	Chicago	W	63.89	291	3	0	116.8	1
Total		10-1	67.41	2879	21	6	104.2	11.6

There are some exceptionally good defenses on that list, especially recently, but this season's Cowboys would not fall under that category. Dallas is an abysmal 26th in the league against the pass and simply doesn't have the personnel in place in the secondary to deal with the aerial attack of Rodgers, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb.

Nelson and Cobb were second and fourth, respectively, in the league with 13 and 12 touchdown catches.

Rodgers gave Nelson the ultimate praise, according to Genaro C. Armas of The Associated Press, via Fox11online.com: "I wouldn't trade him for anybody in the league."

The one concern for the Packers offense may be Rodgers' health, but he addressed the possibility that his calf may go out on his ESPN Milwaukee radio show, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com:

"

That's not a concern. If it happens, it happens. At that point, it's out of my control. I've got to get myself in the best position to play and then realize whatever limitations I might have moving. Maybe I won't have any. Maybe we'll get to Sunday, and I'll feel great. Or maybe I'll be very limited. It just depends on how I'm feeling this week, and we'll adjust accordingly.

"

Even if Dallas drops more people back in coverage than it typically does in an effort to deal with the league's eighth-ranked passing attack, running back Eddie Lacy is there to pick up the slack with his 1,139 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. Dallas is going to have to find a way to outscore the Packers because the defense isn't going to consistently stop this loaded Green Bay attack.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

There is a reason the Packers were the NFL's No. 1 scoring offense with so many different weapons on the field, and they will have their way with the Dallas defense.

Yes, the Cowboys will find a way to put up some points behind Murray and the strong offensive line, but Rodgers and the Green Bay machine will continue rolling at home. Look for a late fourth-quarter touchdown strike to Nelson to put this one away. 

Prediction: Packers 34, Cowboys 27

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