Dallas Cowboys vs Detroit Lions – NFL Playoff predictions 2015
By Dan Salem
NFL Playoff predictions 2015 begins with the Wildcard playoff round and the Dallas Cowboys vs Detroit Lions. A star studded match up in Dallas will be an offensive affair, but which top tier quarterback will lead his team to victory? Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.
TODD:
This is the crappiest bunch of wildcard round playoff games in recent memory, and it’s not just the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers who are responsible.
Arizona, along with Baltimore, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Detroit, are such a highly questionable group of double-digit winners that it seems hard to imagine the top seeds not advancing through the later rounds of the playoffs. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
This weekend it will be a battle of weaknesses to determine who moves on.
Let’s start with Detroit at Dallas where the stout Lions defense faces the fantastic Dallas offense, yet the reverse matchup may be so bad you beg for commercial breaks.
Detroit has faced five playoff teams this season. Here are the point totals the Lions have managed in those games: 7 (Carolina), 19 (Green Bay), 6 (Arizona), 9 (New England) and 20 (Green Bay).
On the other hand, the Cowboys defense has come back to earth even while the team continues to win. Can Dallas’ o-line and rushing game keep its defense off the field? Will it matter since Detroit seems unable to score points against anyone remotely frisky?
I say the Cowboys advance. Their strength is just as good as Detroit’s strength head-to-head. The difference is, I have zero confidence in the Lions scoring enough to win this game.
Dallas 27 – Detroit 13
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DAN:
All of the Wildcard teams have shown flashes of excitement in 2014, but the best matchup is certainly Dallas vs Detroit. Forget everything you think you know about these two teams in 2014. Their NFL Playoff debut will be very, very different.
The Dallas Cowboys have been awful at stopping their opponents passing attacks this season, ranking it at 26th overall. Low and behold, who is coming to town this Sunday? Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. That tandem is going to rip it up. Add in the fact that Dallas has performed poorly at home all season and the Detroit Lions will put up some major points. Forget those season stats, I see at least 28 for Detroit on Sunday.
On the flip side, the Detroit Lions were best in the league at stopping the run this season while the Cowboys were excellent at running the football. This will come to a stalemate, forcing Tony Romo to match Matthew Stafford touchdown for touchdown. He is up to the challenge this year.
What this Wildcard playoff game will come down to is Detroit’s inability to consistently run the ball on offense leading to a gross discrepancy in time of possession. A mid fourth quarter turnover by Detroit will put the ball in the capable hands of Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray. Needing only a field goal to win, Tony and Murray run six plus minutes off the clock to seal the victory.
I like the Cowboys in a closer game than you, but either way, they shake off recent history to advance. Tony Romo has matured, has a star running back, and will flick off the pesky Detroit Lions in round one of the 2015 NFL Playoffs.
Dallas 31 – Detroit 28