Canadian duo flavours Cowboys’ playoff run

Wake, Dolphins face Steelers on Sunday

Canadians Tyrone Crawford and Louis-Philippe Ladouceur will both be interested spectators when the NFL playoffs begin this weekend.

Crawford, a defensive lineman from Windsor, Ont., and Ladouceur a 35-yearold Montreal native in his 12th season as Dallas’s longsnapper, helped the Cowboys clinch the top playoff seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record. That secured America’s Team an opening-round bye and home-field advantage for the divisional contest Jan. 15.

Dallas will open the postseason facing either Green Bay, the New York Giants or Detroit. The Lions visit the Seattle Seahawks in one NFC wild-card contest Saturday, while the Packers and Giants square off in the other Sunday.

The Atlanta Falcons also have an opening-round bye in the NFC.

In the AFC, the Oakland Raiders face the Houston Texans on Saturday, while the Miami Dolphins play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

The New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs have opening-round byes.

The Cowboys were a big story this year. Quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott both emerged as bona fide stars as rookies and helped the franchise win 11 straight games during the regular season.

The six-foot-five, 256-pound Ladouceur is in the NFL playoffs for the sixth time with Dallas, while this will mark Crawford’s second post-season stint his fiveyear career. The six-foot-four, 285-pound Crawford had 28 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 14 starts, but missed the Cowboys’ regular-season finale with shoulder and hamstring injuries.

Crawford resumed practising this week and expects to be ready for the Jan. 15 matchup.

Here’s a look at other Canadians and notable former CFL players with NFL playoff squads:

Christian Covington. The six-foot-two, 305-pound defensive lineman from Vancouver is in his second season with Houston. Covington made five starts and registered 26 tackles and one sack.

Cameron Wake. The veteran defensive end began his pro career with the CFL’s B.C. Lions. Wake had 11.5 sacks in a comeback season.

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. The six-foot-five, 321-pound native of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., is in his third season with Kansas City and second as the starting right guard.

Brett Jones. The 25-yearold native of Weyburn, Sask., is a backup centre-guard with the Giants.

Stefan Charles. The sixfoot-five, 320-pound defensive lineman is in his first season with Detroit and is currently on injured reserve.

Luke Willson and Jon Ryan. Willson, a tight end from LaSalle, Ont., and Ryan, a punter from Regina, have both made two Super Bowl appearances with Seattle, winning in 2013.