The 10-6 Seattle Seahawks will travel to Dallas to take on the 10-6 Cowboys on Saturday in the second of 4 Wild Card games this weekend. Both teams have been playing well as they have each won 6 of their past 7 games including last week. The Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-24 at home to wrap up the 5th seed in the NFC. Starting cornerback Shaquill Griffin suffered an ankle injury in the first half and didn’t return. He did not practice Tuesday and his status for Saturday is still up in the air. While the Cowboys had already secured a playoff spot, their 36-35 come from behind victory over the Giants kept their momentum going into the playoffs. The Giants led 35-28 with just over 2 minute remaining when the Cowboys scored a touchdown and converted the 2-point conversion to secure the victory.
Russell Wilson struggled against the Cardinals as he finished with a quarterback rating of just 11.3 and they still won. He completed 12 of 21 passes for 152 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He was also sacked 6 times for a loss of 43 yards. Wilson threw 35 touchdowns this season, which was a career high while throwing just 7 interceptions, which is a career low. Tyler Lockett led the team with 66 yards and a touchdown on just 2 receptions. The Seahawks led the NFL with 2,560 rushing yards this year and they continued that last week. The team rushed for 182 yards on 34 carries, which is an average of 5.4 yards per run. Defensively, they recovered 2 fumbles and sacked Josh Rosen 6 times. Seattle’s defense was ranked 16th this season with 353.3 yards allowed per game.
Dak Prescott finished with a passer rating of 120 against the Giants as he completed 27 of 44 passes for 387 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His favorite target was Blake Jarwin who had a monster game with 7 catches for 119 yards and 3 touchdowns. They struggled running the ball as the team gained just 51 yards on 22 carries. Dallas finished 22nd in the league in yards per game with 343.8. Defensively, they forced 2 turnovers and they had an interception and a fumble recovery. They struggled against the run as the Giants gained 143 yards on 25 carries, which is an average of 5.7 yards per rush.
Dallas will have home field advantage and are 2-point favorites. They have gone 9-6-1 against the spread this season including 5-2-1 at home. The Seahawks have gone 9-5-3 against the spread including 4-3-1 on the road. While Ezekiel Elliott led the league in rushing for the second time in his career, Seattle ranked first in the league this season with an average of 160 rushing yards per game. The Seahawks have also done a great job in protecting the ball as they lead the league with just 11 turnovers this season. Both of these teams have momentum as they have 1 loss each in their last 6 games.
