Seattle Seahawks vs. Dallas Cowboys: 3 Critical matchups in Wild Card Round

1. Ezekiel Elliott vs. Seattle Front Seven

Even with the other two important critical matchups already mentioned, the most important of all is the play of Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott and how he and his offensive line play against the front seven of the Seattle Seahawks defense.

If the Cowboys can use Elliott to not only gain points with his rushing abilities, but also wear down the defense of the Seahawks, the Cowboys can then turn to their passing game for game-changing plays.

Also with Elliott, his play out of the backfield in catching passes will be of great importance, too. The Cowboys offensive line needs to be playing at a high level in this Wild Card Playoff game because if they don’t, the offense won’t be much of anything in this game against a Seattle defense which was 11th in points allowed this season and 13th in rushing yards allowed at 113.2 yards per game.

That isn’t great news for the Cowboys as Elliott will most likely need more than 113 yards rushing in this game, as in the first meeting Elliott had 127 yards rushing on 16 carries, but no touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 11 yards, but again, that was a game where the Cowboys lost.

This is a game where Elliott will need to take over and set the game pace with his rushing attack to open up spots for the Cowboys passing game to then make the big plays at critical times.