The Dallas Cowboys lost their first meeting with the Seattle Seahawks this season, but take that loss with a grain of salt, as both teams have changed dramatically since Week 3.

The Seahawks lost Earl Thomas (who had two interceptions in that matchup) but have since seen their offense climb to new heights.

The Cowboys were in the pre-Amari Cooper era, when their offense was anemic and unable to consistently score on anyone. Sean Lee was still the starting WILL linebacker in and Cowboys Nation had no idea what it had in Leighton Vander Esch, who missed a lot of training camp with injuries.

It's safe to say both teams have grown and improved since that first matchup, when neither looked like playoff material.

The Cowboys are back in the playoffs, but the NFC seeding did them no favors, as the Seahawks are one of the hottest teams in football, having won six of their last seven games. The Cowboys are very hot in their own right, winning seven of the past eight contests, and both teams appear to be evenly matched on paper.

With that being said, it's time to get bold. Let's get into some predictions for Saturday night's wild-card matchup at AT&T Stadium:

Cowboys find success using 2-tight end sets

For most of the season, the Cowboys didn't have the talent to utilize two-tight end sets, as Geoff Swaim was the only above-average tight end on the roster for a large portion of the season. The lack of talent at tight end was the main reason Dallas ranked 25th in the NFL in 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two wide receivers) usage during the regular season.

However, since Swaim got injured, Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz have developed into a sneaky good tight end duo.

Blake Jarwin’s third TD of the day and third TD of his career.



Dak Prescott now 18 of 28 passing for 218 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 123.8 passer rating (video: @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/WDwgROfYrE — Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 30, 2018

Jarwin is Dallas' stretch tight end who can line up wide and attack the defense down the seam. Listed at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds with 34-inch arms, Jarwin is a large target with impressive yards-after-catch ability, as evidenced by his seven-catch, 190-yard and three-touchdown performance against the New York Giants in Week 17. He's deceptively fast and possesses the leaping ability to make plays above the rim.

Another fantastic block from Dalton Schultz. Here he pins Al-Quadin Muhammad inside on the base block. Gives Rod Smith the ability to bounce outside. pic.twitter.com/MexnFnqV0j — John Owning (@JohnOwning) December 18, 2018

Schultz is a more traditional tight end who excels as a blocker and can provide a good outlet in the short-to-intermediate depths of the field. Schultz shows impressive technique for a rookie to get his hands on defenders, allowing him to steer them out of their gaps or displace them off the line of scrimmage. Schultz's footwork as a blocker allows him to play balanced and sustain blocks.

The development of Schultz and Jarwin finally gives Dallas a reason to utilize 12 personnel with some consistency. And the Seahawks struggle most defending 12 personnel, allowing a 55-percent success rate (explanation on success rate here) when opposing teams use that personnel grouping in the last four weeks, per Sharp Football Stats.

For comparison's sake, the Seahawks have allowed a 45-percent success rate against 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end and three receivers) over that same time span.

The Cowboys are coming off a game where they found some success using two tight ends on the field, as Jarwin's touchdown at the end of the first half can attest:

On this play, the Cowboys are using 02 personnel (zero running backs, two tight ends and three receivers) and Schultz's curl route occupies the deep middle defender just long enough for Jarwin to get behind him for the score. The deep middle defender never saw Jarwin because Schultz was able to hold his attention long enough for Jarwin to get to his blind spot.

Don't be surprised if the Cowboys find even more success using two tight ends against the Seahawks.

Cowboys have 2 or more explosive runs (10+ yards)on wham/trap concepts

The Seahawks possess the best off-ball linebacker in the NFL: Bobby Wagner. The Cowboys should remember Wagner well from the Week 3 matchup, when he recorded eight total tackles and two pass breakups.

Wagner was one of the main reasons (Thomas and his two interceptions being another) the Cowboys' offense was limited to just 13 points, so they would be wise to devise better ways to slow the All-Pro linebacker down in the rematch.

Another way IND got their OL to the 2nd level quickly was by running a lot of trap and wham concepts. This play is a great example.



The RG and C leave Antwaun Woods unblocked for the TE to trap, allowing them to get up to LVE and Jaylon Smith extremely quickly.



9-yard gain. pic.twitter.com/4g6af0GvMU — John Owning (@JohnOwning) December 18, 2018

To do this, the Cowboys would be wise to steal a page out of the Indianapolis Colts' book: use wham and trap concepts to get offensive linemen to the second level quickly. The Colts did an excellent job of getting linemen on linebackers quickly using these concepts, which mitigated the impact of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith.

Linebackers aren't used to dealing with offensive linemen climbing to the second level without securing the line of scrimmage first, and by leaving an interior defender unblocked initially, it allows the offense to get two offensive linemen on the linebackers right after the snap.

Now, the Cowboys haven't run a ton of wham or trap concepts in the past, but they have run them sparsely this season. Here's a great example from Dallas' Week 14 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles:

Hopefully, the #DallasCowboys run with a higher frequency vs SEA. pic.twitter.com/xNTugEHbCJ — John Owning (@JohnOwning) January 3, 2019

Here, the Cowboys are running a trap concept against Philly's base defense. Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is initially unblocked, allowing Zack Martin and La'el Collins to quickly climb to the second level to create an alley for Ezekiel Elliott once he breaks the line of scrimmage. Xavier Su'a-Filo was able to get enough of Cox, allowing Elliott to get to the second level for a big gain.

The only major difference between trap and wham plays is that trap plays use an offensive lineman as the trap blocker, while wham plays use a tight end or H-back. The Colts clip above is an example of a wham concept, as the tight end is the one who traps an unblocked Antwaun Woods.

If the Cowboys allow Wagner to free-flow to the ball without getting blockers in his face quickly, he has the ability to totally disrupt the flow of their offense -- he's that good. Dallas knows this and should try to take advantage with wham and trap concepts.

If they do, expect the Cowboys to find a lot of success on the ground.

Jaylon Smith records 2 sacks

One of Smith's biggest strengths at linebacker is his ability to blitz from the second level. Smith possesses great timing, explosiveness and pass-rush ability, which make him effective when his number is called on a blitz.

Against the mobile Russell Wilson, don't be surprised if Dallas sends Smith on a number of delayed or "Green Dog" blitzes to try to take advantage of Wilson escaping from the pocket.

Dallas also will likely opt to use Smith as a QB spy on Wilson in certain situations since the Seattle quarterback can kill teams with his feet if left unchecked, especially on third downs and in the red zone. The Cowboys used Smith to spy on Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson in Week 5 and it paid off:

My latest with @dmn_cowboys:



Film room: Jaylon Smith and the art of playing LB: Breaking down the #Cowboys LB's stellar play vs the #Texans.



READ: https://t.co/uh9qda1hYm pic.twitter.com/UQpTPZb5vK — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 10, 2018

Here, Smith is spying on Watson. Smith is supposed to mirror Watson's movement so that he is in position to rally and tackle him if he decides to run, which is exactly what happens.

After moving through his progressions without finding an open receiver, Watson decided to scramble outside, looking to score. But because Smith was spying, he was able to race to the sideline to cut Watson off before he could score.

Don't be surprised if Smith is able to record a couple of sacks Saturday, as he will be one of the players primarily tasked with corralling Wilson once he breaks from the pocket.

Twitter: @JohnOwning