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Sunday, December 13th, 2015. You remember that day, even if you don’t know it.
The Cowboys were in Green Bay for a date against the Packers, the final score of which isn’t important, and it was their first visit to Lambeau Field since Dez Bryant heroically caught a brilliant pass from Tony Romo near the end of a game 11 months earlier.
There would be no Tony Romo this time, only Matt Cassel. There would also be Inside The Star Staff Writer RJ Ochoa (hey I know him!) in attendance, that’s me! That’s right. My Dad, some friends, and I ventured to one of the NFL’s most iconic venues last December to watch America’s Team (a trip that I wrote about here).
On gameday we decided that we needed breakfast so we went to IHOP. We feasted, in the middle of tons of Cowboys and Packers fans, and headed to the car so we could head to Lambeau. On the way we passed some little kids playing a friendly game of “Simon Says.”
My Dad’s best friend David was feeling good about this game, and he felt like letting the world know how good he felt. One of the kids began a new command, “Simon Says…” and David interrupted him.
“SIMON SAYS ‘GO COWBOYS!'”
The kids screamed out, “NO!” but the damage was done. The world knew. The Cowboys are the best.
The world will be reminded this Sunday of that same sentiment. Simon Said the Cowboys had no shot this season, but here they are at 4-1… and they want more.
Welcome to my 5 Bold Predictions. Let’s roll.
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Ezekiel Elliott Catches DeMarco Murray’s 2014 Performance Through Six Games
The Dallas Cowboys enter Week 6 of the NFL season with the league’s leading rusher at their disposal. This statement is as true today as it was two years ago at this exact same time.
When DeMarco Murray finished his sixth game in 2014 (a contest the Cowboys won in Seattle) he had 785 yards to his name. As it currently stands rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott has 546. It’s no secret that the Packers Offense has the ability to put points up, and the Cowboys will look to neutralize that with their best defense – their offense.
Ezekiel Elliott is the key to beating Green Bay, both offensively and defensively. This means that he’s going to have a huge day on the ground. 240 yards, the last time an NFL RB had this many in a game was Doug Martin in 2012 with 251, would put Zeke ahead of DeMarco’s 2014 through this point. It’s happening.
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Dak Prescott Will Have A Better Performance Than Brett Favre’s Last One At Lambeau Field
In August we celebrated the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2016, and among its members was legendary quarterback Brett Favre.
The career of “The Gunslinger” is quite the tale, but he’s pretty relevant this week. First off, he came out and said that Tony Romo should let Dak Prescott keep playing. This makes sense since this is the exact thing Brett Favre did with Aaron Rodgers is as stupid as it sounds. Stay classy, Favre.
Brett Favre is also extremely relevant this week because at halftime of this game he’ll receive his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring. Good for you, Brett; however, the last time Favre was on this field as an actual player was not so good.
He was 16/29 for 212 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions. Dak Prescott is going to easily top that.
Also, it should be noted that the only stadium Brett Favre never won in was Texas Stadium. Huzzah.
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Dan Bailey Amasses More Yards Via Field Goals Than Eddie Lacy Does Rushing
So much is made about the “Dez Catch” from 2015’s Divisional Round at Lambeau, but there is another Cowboy besides Bryant that has a score to settle from that day – Dan Bailey.
That day Dan Bailey attempted the only field goal that he’s ever kicked at the historic Lambeau Field, and he missed. That’s right. Just like Favre never won at Texas Stadium, Bailey’s never hit a 3-pointer in Green Bay.
Cowboys Nation held their breaths regarding Bailey last week because his back tightened up just before the San Francisco game. All signs at this point are positive, and he’s going to be a big factor on Sunday… bigger than Eddie Lacy.
I’ve written before here at Inside The Star about how Eddie Lacy completely owns the Cowboys, and I believe that trend is going to halt. Eddie is going to have such a low day on the ground that the yardage added up from Dan Bailey’s field goals are going to be more impressive. How do you like them apples, Eddie?
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Lucky Whitehead Takes A Jet Sweep Over 20 Yards
Death, taxes, and one Lucky Whitehead jet sweep play every Cowboys game.
Lucky has had a jet sweep in each of the last three games and they’ve gone for 3, 8, and 9 yards respectively. The Packers know this, but they also know that Ezekiel Elliott plays for the Cowboys and are far more concerned with that threat.
While Whitehead has yet to hit even the double-digit yardage mark when it comes to the jet sweeps he runs, he’s going to double that with a run to the outside of at least 20 yards due to the lack of attention there since the bulk of it will be focused on Zeke. Vamonos!
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Rookie DT Maliek Collins Gets His First Career Sack
Three of the most impressive members on the 2016 Dallas Cowboys Roster are rookies: Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and Anthony Brown. Only one other rookie has even played snaps on the season – DT Maliek Collins.
Collins has played well so far, just not to the elite level of his rookie classmates. This is going to change on Sunday in Lambeau Field. The Cowboys Defense has been all about surprises this season as far as who steps up, and while that man has been Collins at times it’s going to happen in a collision with Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.
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Bonus Bold Prediction #1
Remember, if you want YOUR Bold Prediction featured here, tweet it at me! It’s that simple! Here are this week’s contributions, thanks to all those who shared!
https://twitter.com/donnykf5stk/status/784488671890157568
Donny is a fantastic guy and long-time contributor to our weekly Bold Predictions, so kudos to him on that.
Here we’re saying that Dez Bryant is not only going to play, but he’s going to hit a hat trick of touchdowns and that one of them wins the game. Goodness, this is spicy! Additionally the Cowboys Defense has six sacks on Rodgers, two interceptions from him, and Ezekiel Elliott crosses the 200-yard mark.
This is quite the hodgepodge of Bold Predictions. At this point it’s not too farfetched to say that Dez plays, and Zeke crossing 200 amazingly seems so easy these days. If the Cowboys Defense balls out to this level then we need to make some more room around here because the bandwagon is going to be trying to join us in full force!
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Bonus Bold Prediction #2
@rjochoa Bold Prediction: Jason Garrett goes for a 2pt conversion when it is not necessary #AgainstTheOdds #GamblinGarrett
— Nico Tusconi (@taserface5) October 13, 2016
I love this, and it makes a lot of sense when you really think about it.
Jason Garrett has shown a new sense of boldness in 2016, and he hasn’t played that hand in the last two games… mostly because he hasn’t had to.
The Packers present a tough test for the Cowboys, and that might require something different. Thankfully it appears Coach Garrett is willing to be different.
Bonus Bold Prediction #3
@rjochoa Bryon Jones gets a pick of tip ball. Dez get a TD. Dak runs it in to for TD. #BOLDpredictions
— Chris (@ChrisD_Beast) October 13, 2016
Another three-for-one!
Dez Bryant catching a touchdown isn’t the strangest sight in the world, although it’s been a while since it happened on a consistent basis, and obviously this is contingent on him playing. Should Dez suit up then I have no doubt that he hauls one in for six.
Dak Prescott has a rushing touchdown in three games this season, that’s 60% of the time. Those are pretty good odds on anything in life so I like where Chris’ head is at! In terms of Byron Jones… we’ve been looking for The Senator to snag an interception ever since he first put on the Cowboys uniform as he has zero for his career. He’s due. It’s time. Bring it!
[signoff author=”rjochoa” source=”rjoshow”]
What are YOUR Bold Predictions for this week’s Cowboys/Packers game? Let us know! Comment below, Email me at RJ@RJOchoaShow.com, or Tweet to me at @RJOchoa!
That Zeke pediction is beyond bold! It’s just down right insane. You do know that Green Bay has the best run defense in the NFL with only 171 yards against them in 4 games or just a little over 42 YPG. This will be a classic example of the unstoppable force vs. the immovable object. A realistic prediction is 120. Bold would be 180. 240 is just s_____. Nah I’m not gonna say it!
@Randy Martin I tend to agree except GB has played 4 teams with rush attacks outside of the top 20. Hard to say they can stop a good RB when they have only stopped decent RBs so far. But I’m still only going for a 100-yard game… not too bold.