The Dallas Cowboys look to bounce back after a demoralizing loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 3. Their Week 4 opponent, the Green Bay Packers, have a talented team on both sides of the ball, with notable players garnering attention on defense. Let’s take a look at the defensive side for both teams and find a couple of players to watch.  

There’s a lot of reasons to keep an eye on Clark. The obvious is of course the fact that he came over from the Packers in the infamous Micah Parsons trade. 

From an on-field perspective, it’s entirely possible that Clark has a game wrecker of a performance. For all the hype around his run defense, he’s been an effective pass rusher for his position with a 70.9 PFF grade in that regard. 

Meanwhile, no Green Bay starting offensive lineman has a PFF grade higher than a 59.4. A surprisingly weak offensive line could be just what Clark, and the Cowboys defense need to rattle Jordan Love. 

While it looks like DaRon Bland could make his return on Sunday, Steward has earned consistent snaps even if the former Pro Bowler is healthy. 

While Steward struggled like everyone else on the Dallas defense in Week 3, he still recorded a passable 64.3 coverage grade. This follows his 74.1 grade in that area in Week 2. 

While the Packers lack a true number one threat in the passing game, they have multiple above average to good players at receiver. This includes Matthew Golden, whom Steward is likely to spend a great deal of time covering. 

If he’s able to limit Golden’s impact, it would likely force the Packers into a more run-centric approach, playing right into the hands of a Cowboys defense that has allowed only 3.7 yards per carry while putting Dallas in position to possibly upset Green Bay. 

The Packers surprised many when they released former All Pro corner Jaire Alexander over the summer. Most pundits thought it was due to their confidence in new signing Nate Hobbs, but it seems like Nixon has been the one to step up. 

Once an All-Pro kick returner, Nixon has transitioned beautifully to being a full-time corner. Not only does he have a very good coverage grade of 80.0, but he also has a respectable run defense grade of 62.3.

With CeeDee Lamb out, Nixon will likely be the one to shadow George Pickens all day. If Pickens can be impactful with Nixon on him, Dallas has a chance at being able to move the ball. But, if Nixon locks down Pickens, then it will likely be a long day for Dallas offensively.

The other half of what’s been a fantastic pass rushing duo, Gary has gotten out to a fantastic start. Through three games, he has four and a half sacks. 

But lest we assume that it’s due to the impact of Michah Parsons, Gary actually has sacks in eight straight games, showing his ability to make an impact on his own. With injuries to the interior of the Cowboys offensive line, the tackles will likely be on island with Gary more than they’d like. 

And with Terence Steele (50.5) and Tyler Guyton (37.5) both struggling as pass blockers, those islands could get pretty crowded pretty quickly. But, if they can step up, Gary might be adrift just enough to give Dak time to make things happen, even without Lamb.