Bucs vs. Cowboys: 5 Key Matchups To Watch – Defense

Each week Pewter Report takes a look at the matchups to watch in the upcoming Bucs game. Here are the five key matchups to watch as the Bucs defense tries to slow down the Cowboys’ high-scoring offense in a rematch in the Wild Card playoffs at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay won the season opener, 19-3, at Dallas.

DB Antoine Winfield Jr. vs. WR CeeDee Lamb

Bucs DB Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Lamb was held to just two receptions for 29 yards in the Bucs’ Week 1 win, and the star receiver also had a drop. Winfield played a role in covering Lamb, and will match up with him when the big, 6-foot-2, 200 pound receiver lines up in the slot. Lamb finished the year catching 107 passes for 1,359 yards (12.7 avg.) and nine touchdowns. He’s the key to Dallas’ passing game taking off in Tampa Bay and Lamb will have to post 100 yards and at least one touchdown if the Cowboys have a chance of winning.

Winfield will see action at free safety in base defense and moves inside to the slot cornerback position when Tampa Bay’s defense is in nickel personnel. While he’s missed four games due to injuries (concussion, ankle), Winfield did finish with 80 tackles, including a career-high 13 stops in Week 18 at Atlanta. Winfield also had a career-high four sacks blitzing from the slot, and there’s a good chance Todd Bowles will deploy him against Dak Prescott on a couple of blitzes on Monday night. The surprising thing is that Winfield has only had one interception this season, and that came in Week 1 versus Prescott.
ADVANTAGE: Push

LB Devin White vs. QB Dak Prescott

Prescott started and ended his 2022 season with his worst games of the year. Against the Bucs in Week 1, Prescott completed just 14-of-29 passes (48.3%) for 134 yards and an interception. In Week 18, Prescott completed 14-of-37 passes (37.8%) for 128 yards with one touchdown and a pick-six. Prescott has thrown at least one interception in each of the last seven games, including four games with two picks. Prescott got hurt in Week 1, breaking his hand, which caused him to miss four games. He returned to throw a total of 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 12 games. Prescott will have to win the chess game at the line of scrimmage against White and play his best football in the playoffs.

White started the 2022 season with a bang, recording two sacks, eight tackles and a pass breakup. The Bucs love to blitz White and he finished the season with 5.5 sacks, which is tied for the second-most on the team. He uses his sideline-to-sideline speed to not only rush Prescott, but he can also limit the Cowboys quarterback’s ability to scramble for yardage. White will need to play as well as he did in Week 1 with regards to coverage and blitzing, as well as tackling Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott.
ADVANTAGE: Push

LB Lavonte David vs. TE Dalton Schultz

Bucs CB Jamel Dean and LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While Lamb is the Cowboys’ primary weapon in the passing game, Schultz has proven to be a nice outlet receiver for Prescott underneath. He finished the 2022 season with 57 catches for 577 yards (10.1 avg.) and five touchdowns. All of those totals were second on the team behind Lamb. Schultz is a big target at 6-foot-5, 244 pounds, and can move the chains and be a functional weapon in the red zone. He doesn’t get much yardage after the catch with his longest reception of 30 yards, which came against Chicago.

David is the Bucs’ best coverage linebacker and graded out as the best defender in Tampa Bay, according to Pro Football Focus. When the two squared off the last time in Week 1, David covered Schultz on three targeted plays, surrendering just two catches for 18 yards. He’ll need to do a similar job erasing Schultz from the passing game, and make factor in with an occasional blitz against Prescott.
ADVANTAGE: David

NT Vita Vea vs. C Tyler Biadasz

Biadasz injured his ankle in Dallas’ Week 17 win against Tennessee and missed the regular season finale at Washington. He’s expected to return versus Tampa Bay where he’ll match up against an old nemesis in Vea. Biadasz is undersized as it is 6-foot-3, 316 pounds and he gives up about 40 pounds in size to the massive Vea, who is adept at bull-rushing. His sore ankle will certainly be tested in pass protection and also in the run game.

Vea had a sack in the season opener and finished the regular season with a career-high 6.5 QB captures, although he hasn’t notched a sack since November 6 and has missed several games with a calf injury. After returning to action in Week 17 against Carolina, the Bucs held out Vea versus Atlanta in Week 18 so his sore calf could get more rest. With the one-two punch of Elliott and Pollard, the Bucs will need Vea to manhandle Biadasz at the line of scrimmage to shut down the Cowboys run game and then apply pressure on Prescott up the middle.
ADVANTAGE: Vea

OLB Anthony Nelson vs. LT Tyler Smith

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Smith has had a decent rookie season taking over for Tyron Smith at left tackle. The athletic lineman from Tulsa has had 13 penalties logged against him, in addition to surrendering six sacks and 39 pressures. One of those sacks came against Nelson in Week 1. Yet Smith has been solid down the stretch with just a pair sacks allowed against Jacksonville out of the last 10 games. Smith definitely hasn’t hit a rookie wall, but will get his first taste of playoff pressure on Monday night in Tampa Bay.

Nelson has a new career high with 5.5 sacks this season, which is tied for second on the team behind Vea’s 6.5, to go along with a team-best three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. His first sack of the season came against Smith in Week 1 and Nelson had a hot finish to his contract year with 2.5 sacks, including a pair of strip sacks, in his last three games. The Bucs will need to win the turnover battle and apply pressure on Prescott as they did in their Week 1 win. Getting another strip-sack from Nelson would go a long way for Tampa Bay.
ADVANTAGE: Nelson