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Factoid

Playoffs / sacks

Pass rush might prevent Dallas challenging Green Bay

The Cowboys don’t have much of a pass rush, and I think that will make it tough for them to pull an upset at Lambeau on Sunday. How can you stop Aaron Rodgers if you can’t get some pressure on him?

Dallas went 12-4 in the regular season, but it did so with an unusually low number of sacks – just 28. In the past 10 years, 46 teams won at least 12 games, but only two of those teams finished with fewer sacks.

No team has really stopped the Packers at Lambeau. The Patriots held them to 26 points, when Green Bay piled up tons of yards but settled for 4 field goals with red zone breakdowns. The Packers have scored at least 30 points in all seven of their other home games.

For Dallas, the best hope is to perhaps control the ball with DeMarco Murray running. Maybe they get lucky and Aaron Rodgers re-injuries his calf. Or the weather is so terrible that the passing games are nullified. Current forecast calls for a high of 15 degrees, which could make it similar to the Packers-Giants NFC Championship game from a few years back, when it was so cold that some of the helmet decals fell off.

But odds are the Packers will pile up plenty of yards and points and win this game pretty decisively.

I don’t see a juicy upset candidate. Of the four road teams, I believe the Ravens are most likely to maybe pull an upset. I’ll put the Cowboys in the No. 2 spot, but only because I have little confidence in the Colts or Panthers making serious runs in their games.

Here are the sack totals for the 12-win teams of the last 10 years. This year’s teams are in bold. Super Bowl participants with a dot (•), and Super Bowl winners with two dots (••).

TEAMS WITH 12 WINS (last 10 years)
YearTeamRecordSacks
2006San Diego14-261
2006Baltimore13-360
2013Carolina12-460
2012Denver13-352
2008••Pittsburgh12-451
2005•Seattle13-350
2009Minnesota12-448
2010•Pittsburgh12-448
2011Baltimore12-448
2013New England12-448
2005Jacksonville12-447
2007•New England16-047
2005Indianapolis14-246
2007Dallas13-346
2006New England12-444
2008Tennessee13-344
2012Houston12-444
2013••Seattle13-344
2008NY Giants12-442
2011San Francisco13-342
2013•Denver13-341
2014Denver12-441
2014Green Bay12-441
2006•Chicago13-340
2011•New England13-340
2014New England12-440
2013San Francisco12-438
2008Carolina12-437
2012New England12-437
2014Seattle12-437
2007Green Bay13-336
2010New England14-236
2009••New Orleans13-335
2009San Diego13-335
2011Pittsburgh12-435
2009•Indianapolis14-234
2011New Orleans13-333
2010Atlanta13-331
2008Indianapolis12-430
2011Green Bay15-129
2012Atlanta13-329
2005Denver13-328
2007Indianapolis13-328
2014Dallas12-428
2010Baltimore12-427
2006••Indianapolis12-425

—Ian Allan

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