The Dallas Cowboys will take on the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Week 13 and in case you were wondering, they're big favorites yet again.
Oddsmakers have the 8-3 Cowboys nailed down as nine-point favorites against the 6-5 Seahawks. But there's an injury update that could certainly help the Seahawks' chances of pulling off the upset.
Right tackle Abraham Lucas is trending toward a return and the Seahawks hope he can return in time to try to hold off the ravenous Micah Parsons and friends from making Geno Smith's life chaos.
According to Tacoma News Tribune's insider Gregg Bell, Lucas is trying to return from Injured Reserve in time for the game. He's been out since Week 1 with a knee injury.
Cowboys game could get slightly more complicated
An Abe Lucas return would potentially mean the Cowboys wouldn't be able to exploit the Seahawks' biggest weakness this season: Right tackle.
Through 12 weeks, Pro Football Focus lists the Seahawks as the right tackle unit that's allowed the most pressures percentage-wise. Against the San Francisco 49ers, both of Lucas' replacements struggled big time.
Stone Forsythe and Jason Peters allowed a combined eight pressures in 38 pass-blocking snaps, leading to an already banged-up Geno Smith being under pressure consistently throughout the Thanksgiving Game.
Smith was sacked six times as the Niners recorded 12 QB hits, five of which were courtesy of Nick Bosa.
Facing the Seahawks' current rotation of right tackles would be a huge mismatch against Parsons, who's been playing some of the best football we've seen in his career. Against Forsythe or Peters, Micah would have a one-way ticket to the quarterback play in and play out.
Considering the pass rush is one of the biggest reasons why the Cowboys can close out games, leading to blowout wins, Lucas' injury is the big one to monitor for both teams. If he returns, pressuring Geno will be slightly more difficult as he could very well be considered the strength of the unit.
Now granted, Parsons can be moved around all game long. If it's Lucas in at right tackle, it'd make sense to keep using him as a chess piece. If it's the backups, Dan Quinn should consider tapping into the mismatch.
Seahawks enter Week 13 banged up
In addition to worrying about Lucas' imminent return, the Seahawks had five players listed as non-participants on Monday's practice including RB Kenneth Walker and DT Leonard Williams.
More must-reads: