A few observations taken from the Dallas/Cincy game replay:
Dallas D:
This is the kind of D that has been giving Rodgers trouble. Rush 4, drop 7, some man, mostly zone, rarely blitz and when they do they bring 5. Vanilla, not a many variations, but very disciplined. Vulnerable in the short-to-intermediate middle. Not a lot of team speed in the front 7. On the whole, not a good match up for the Packers. Unless the Lacy injury is exaggerated, the Packers may have difficulties controlling the ball unless they get the ball control passing game in gear.
Given Dallas' less than impressive 4 man rush, I suspect we'll see a lot of 4 wide with the RB releasing improving the numbers to 5 on 7. With Montgomery likely to get a fair amount of snaps at RB, he's my sleeper as a factor in the passing the game against those less than speedy LBs.
Claiborne shut down A.J. Green; Nelson may be looking at more of same. Carr is vulnerable. The best opportunities will be attacking underneath and out of the backfield; Cobb and Adams showed a lot of life against the Giants; they need to come up big today. We may see Nelson more out of the slot to exploit the underneath.
The Cowboy's 4 man pass rush did not look particularly impressive against a less than impressive Cincy pass blocking line. Mayowa doesn't have the impressive stat sheet but has quickness and some moves and will need to be accounted for. They used him against Cincy's RT, so the Bulaga matchup will be critical.
All in all, this is a very similar defense to that of the Giants, but with a better #1 corner.
Dallas O:
In the run game, it's not just the vaunted O-Line. These guys run a lot of 2 TE formations shooting 2 guys out to the second level. Elliott was clean to the second level with regularity against Cincy. Unaccountably, they consistently played 7 in the box in the first half and Dallas ran all over them. Ryan and Martinez will need to come up big.
In camp there was talk of Burnett working at hybrid LB. Now would be the time to use it. When Dallas comes out with that 7 man line, look for Burnett to come up to the box, either over Whitten or supporting Matthews side. For all his virtues, Matthews can be run at.
Prescott is pretty impressive. The few times Cincy got some pressure, he was able to get off some accurate throws. I think you have to get some blitz pressure to upset timing. I expect more Matthews in the middle on passing downs or Burnett blitzing from the box. Dallas throws a lot of short timing passes...look for the Capers zone blitz dropping a DL or OLB to try to snag a cheap INT against the rookie.
A lot will have to go right for the Packers to win this game. The O needs to dial up some wrinkles, the receivers will need to execute better than they have, and the defense must contain Elliott and put pressure on the rookie QB. Zero turnovers will be necessary.
This is a coaches game, a match up game. On the whole, he who game plans best and adjusts best wins.