Entering Sunday's showdown in Green Bay, it was clear that the game would be determined defensively. Sure, the Packers and Cowboys both have potent offenses, but it was going to be the team whose defense answered the challenge best that would come out on top.
Once the game concluded, it was clear that team was the Dallas Cowboys, as they cruised to a 27-16 victory.
One of the biggest question marks for the Green Bay defense entering the game was how they would contain Terrell Owens and Jason Witten. The Packers did a solid job on both, holding Owens to only two catches for 17 yards and Witten to seven for 67 yards.
Unfortunately for the Packers, it was bruising running back Marion Barber III who proved to be the difference-maker, finishing with 28 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown.
The Green Bay defense had troubles containing the run for most of the game, particularly the first half. The line was consistently over-pursuing on misdirection plays and the only guy who seemed to be hitting Barber as hard as he was hitting them was linebacker A.J. Hawk.
Sure, being without starting safety Atari Bigby for the entire game and starting cornerback Al Harris for much of the game hurt, but their absence did not have a significant impact on the outcome. The Cowboys just wore down Green Bay's defense.
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The Cowboys, however, put together a very solid defensive effort. After getting burned time and time again by the Eagles a week ago, it was questioned whether the Packers' receiving corp, far superior to that of Philadelphia's, would be able to do the same thing.
The answer was no.
In the first half Greg Jennings was able to get loose several times and Donald Driver slipped in between a zone for a big pass play early in the second half. Other than that, it was slim-pickings for Aaron Rodgers.
When Rodgers would have a receiver open deep, it often wouldn't matter as Dallas did a great job of mixing up pressure packages and never giving Rodgers a good pocket to sit and throw in.
Likewise, whenever the Packers were able to put together a drive and get into the red zone, the Dallas defense would, again, step up, and hold the Packers to field goals. The game was a big statement for the Cowboys, who clearly stated their case as the best team in the NFC, and likely the entire NFL.
It proved that the team is well-rounded, and that even when their superstar receiver Owens has an off night, others can pick up the slack. Miles Austin had two big catches for 115 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
The game also left the Packers with a lot of question marks. Over the past year-plus they have done a great job of not letting the opposing team's running game beat them. Even when they allow opposing backs to rack up yards (such as the Vikings' Adrian Peterson in week one), they still contain them enough to the point that they never have a significant impact on the outcome.
That was not the case tonight. Barber was racking up yards, moving the chains, and keeping the clock rolling all game. At the same time Felix Jones provided a nice change-of-pace and reeled off a 60-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
While the Cowboys proved themselves the class of the NFL, the Packers are still the best team in their division and are a likely playoff team.
They will need to shore up some of the question marks they created tonight if they want to have any chance of competing with the Cowboys and the other elite teams in the NFL throughout the season and potentially the playoffs.
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2 months ago
Dallas was dominant tonight. I think Madden said it all when he said that the Packers' defense was on the field for way too long. You can't expect them to be out there all that time and not get tired and allow big time plays to develop.
2 months ago
Darn, you just scooped me with this. Good article, although I think if you take away that big run of Jones in the first half, we were doing fine against the run. It's just hard when the offense is not putting anything together and the D gets that tired. They had to have a 10+ minute edge in time of possession.
from 2 months ago
I was actually going to use the TOP as a stat to back up how tired I got, but when I looked it was only about 33:00-27:00 or something of that nature. But still, I'd imagine it was much worse entering the final 5 or so minutes of play.
from 2 months ago
Good point, since we did sort of dominate that stat after the Barber fumble...
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