1. Dallas vs. 5. Atlanta
How Dallas can win: Atlanta’s offense would be able to move the ball against most opponents, but the stout defensive front of Harvey Martin, Von Miller, Mean Joe Greene and Bob Lilly is the perfect antidote to contain Fran Tarkenton and his scrambling ability. He’s good, but he’s no Patrick Mahomes, who will have a field day against Atlanta’s mediocre back seven. Atlanta boasts a matchup nightmare in WR Calvin Johnson, but Dallas’ aggressive secondary will force turnovers to allow Earl Campbell, LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson to feast in the modified Wishbone. — K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire
How Atlanta can win: Although Dallas has a stacked offense and a nasty defensive front, Atlanta has the talent to compete with anyone. The key will be neutralizing the Cowboys’ pass rush by utilizing the short-passing game. QB Fran Tarkenton will need to look for TE Shannon Sharpe over the middle and RB Herschel Walker out of the backfield early and often. Containing Cowboys QB Patrick Mahomes won’t be easy, but Atlanta needs to focus primarily on stopping Dallas’ three-headed monster of Earl Campbell, Adrian Peterson and LaDainian Tomlinson at running back. This game should be a shootout between two high-powered offenses, but look for Tarkenton to swing the game on a deep shot to Calvin Johnson or Sterling Sharpe. — Matt Urben, Falcons Wire
[opinary poll=”which-team-wins-this-matchup_usatodayhss-HqjmEl” customer=”usatoday”]
Other matchups: