There are some very interesting matchups that we will be paying attention to on Sunday night.
With just three games remaining on the 2024 regular-season schedule, the roller coaster ride the Dallas Cowboys have taken us on this year is finally about to come to a stop. There’s no doubt it’s been a maddening and frustrating year as far as expectations go, but it’s something we should be pretty accustomed to as Cowboys fans.
With little to play for, we can do now is sit back and enjoy the ride is much as possible. Today, we’re going to look at a few intriguing matchups to keep an eye on in this Week 16 meeting between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cowboys. Generally we try to focus some more of the matchups that will potentially sway the game one way or another, but today we chose to go with the ones on purely based on entertainment value.
RB Rico Dowdle vs. Buccaneers’ run defense
Rico Dowdle has a chance to hit a couple of milestones in Week 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only is he 120 yards shy of rushing for 1,000 yards on the season, but if he has another 100-yard rushing game he will be the first Cowboys RB to have four consecutive 100-yard rushing games since Ezekiel Elliott (2016). It won’t be easy though considering Tampa Bay is only allowing 109.2 rushing yards per game this year. It’s going to be really interesting to see if No. 23 can continue to produce like he has recently.
DT Osa Odighizuwa vs. Buccaneers’ C Graham Barton
Over the past seven weeks there hasn’t been a better pass rushing DT in the league than Osa Odighizuwa. During that time span he has generated 32 QB pressures, the most for DTs in the league. He also currently has a total of four QB sacks this season and with one more he will set a career-high for himself. Graham Barton presents an interesting matchup for No. 97. He has only allowed one QB sack this year, but is the most penalized player at his position with 12 total penalties this season. It will be fun watching these to battle it out.
CB DaRon Bland vs. Buccaneers’ WR Mike Evans
Mike Evans presents an interesting matchup problem for the Cowboys. Although he has struggled with injuries throughout the season, he is coming off a game in which he caught nine passes for 159 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers. Considering the Cowboys secondary is currently banged up and decimated by injuries, there’s a chance Evans could have a field day this week. It may be wise for Mike Zimmer to try to shadow him with DaRon Bland to hopefully limit his impact on the game.
