Another Thursday game is on deck for the Dallas Cowboys as they host the Seattle Seahawks.
Both teams will be working on six days rest after each team played on Thanksgiving day.
Albeit, with mixed results.
The Dallas Cowboys dismantled the Washington Commanders in Arlington by the score of 45-10.
It marked the seventh win this season by at least a 20-point margin, by far leading the NFL.
The Seattle Seahawks couldn’t defend home field against the San Francisco 49ers, falling 31-13.
Seattle has lost three of their last four games after a promising start and a 5-2 record.
Now their record stands at 6-5, and on the fringe of the playoff picture.
This Thursday’s matchup with Seattle is important to Dallas because playoff seeding is coming into play.
If Dallas wins this game, it would be their first win of the season over an opponent with a winning record.
Seattle has talent, and when QB Geno Smith is on his game, that talent rises to the surface.
I had a good time coming up with my bold predictions for the Cowboys this week because they actually play a team they aren’t expected to beat by 40 points.
Without further adieu, here are three bold predictions for the Dallas Cowboys taking on the Seattle Seahawks.
Seattle Will Rush For Less Than 50 Yards
Over the past few weeks, the improvement of the Dallas rush defense has been obvious.
Osa Odighizuwa has stepped up his game to be a little more dominant in the middle.
Johnathan Hankins has been extremely active in the backfield, and even rookie Mazi Smith is starting to flash.
Seattle brings their 26th-ranked rushing attack (95.8 yards per game) to AT&T Stadium and might be without top RB Ken Walker III.
Walker is nursing a strained oblique suffered early in the Thanksgiving loss to the 49ers, and his status for Thursday is up in the air.
Dallas will jump to an early lead, and the visiting offense will be forced to use the pass to get back into the game.
They will abandon the run much sooner before it can get going, and finish with less than 50 yards rushing as a team.
Dallas Will Rush For Over 200 Yards
On the opposite side of the field, the Seahawks rank in the bottom third of the league in most defensive categories.
That falls right into the hands of the Cowboys, who have actively been trying to re-invent their running game over the past few weeks.
The Cowboys have established that they are a team first that uses the pass to set up the run.
Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle have been splitting the carries in Pollard’s favor, and it has helped him look more explosive.
Pollard is showing that burst that we’ve all come to expect from him any time he touches the football.
Dallas should enter this game with the intention to run the ball and chew the clock after jumping out to an early lead.
That would setup the perfect scenario for my bold prediction of over 200 rushing yards for the offense.
Cooks Eclipses 150 Receiving Yards
This might not seem so bold after Brandin Cooks notched 172 yards just three weeks ago.
However, if you consider the fact that he averages just 31 yards per game outside of that 172-yard performance, my prediction is very bold.
I know I just mentioned above that the Cowboys should establish the run game, and I meant that.
With the way the Cowboys are using Cooks, his skill set is perfect for a game where the run is working.
Cooks is deadly on play action passes, with his specialty route being the “over” route.
On over routes, the wide receiver starts on one side of the field and drags across the field.
The route is reserved for faster wide receivers because speed is needed to create the separation needed to complete the pass.
It’s a route that takes time to develop, but Cooks has already caught several of those passes for chunk yardage.
I believe Cooks shakes free on at least a couple of deep balls off of play action, and my bold prediction is he winds up with over 150 yards receiving for the second time this season.