Pack Faces Dallas in NFL Action
Cowboys, Green Bay Meet Tonight in Battle of 10-1 Teams
The Green Bay Packers meet the Dallas Cowboys tonight in Dallas in a match-up of 10-1 National Football League squads.
As the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys prepare to face off in tonight’s contest between 10-1 National Football Conference clubs, it’ll be the old versus the new – and vice-versa.
Veteran Packers’ quarterback Brett Favre takes on second-year Cowboys’ QB Tony Romo, while Dallas most definitely sports a more experienced roster. Besides suffering from a less experienced player portfolio, Green Bay also sports an impressive list of walking wounded.
At least four starters for the Pack won’t play: Tight end Bubba Franks, defensive tackles Johnny Jolly and Colin Cole and safety Aaron Rouse, and Green Bay won’t know the status of cornerback Charles Woodson – who suffered a turf toe injury on Thanksgiving – and defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila until game time. The lone bright spot for the Packers is that safety Nick Collins will rejoin the team after missing two games.
Green Bay's Offense Vs. Cowboy's Defense
The Pack has run its record to 10-1 behind the passing of Favre, throwing the ball 58.5 percent of the time over its last five games. The O-Line will have to give the 38-year-old enough time to pass, even though Favre has thrown from a drop-back slot 105 times during 178 attempts (59 percent of the team’s passes out of the shotgun) over the same period.
Ryan Grant has provided Green Bay with virtually all the team’s runs from scrimmage, though he’s posted three 100-yard rushing games this season. The Packers’ reliance on the play-action pass could backfire against a relentless Cowboy defense. Dallas can put an eighth defender in the box to handily stop the run. And the Cowboys have limited the opposition to little more than 82 rushing yards per game all year.
Favre’s passing precision has been nothing short of amazing thus far this season. He’s hit for 22 touchdowns and thrown but eight picks. Last week against the Lions he hit on 20 consecutive passes. But Dallas is not Detroit. Expect them to play Favre tough in the secondary.
"The thing I'm most concerned with is their passing game," Dallas head coach Wade Phillips told Foxsports. "Favre can light you up, and he's done it through the years."
Dallas’ Offense Vs. Packers’ Defense
There’s little question that overall the Cowboys’ offense is more potent than that of Green Bay. With Julius Jones and Marion Barber taking handoffs Dallas should be able to move the ball on the ground well. The two feature backs have accounted for more than 1,200 yard so far in 2007. Barber alone has more than both primary rushers combined for Green Bay.
And QB Romo is no slouch, either. In the wake of his new, multi-year contract he’s more than stepped up to the plate, hitting on more than 66 percent of his passes for 29 TDs and more than 3,000 yards. Primary wideout Terrell Owens has snagged 64 passes for over 1,000 yards so far this season, scoring 13 touchdowns and averaging an astounding 17.1 yards-per-catch.
Although Green Bay’s secondary played relatively well on Thanksgiving, the injury to Woodson can only hurt them, and the Dallas offense will no doubt attempt to spread the Packers’ D-Backs to take advantage of its second-tier receiving corps.
Expect Dallas to continue to dominate, although its margin of victory probably won’t be more than a handful of points.
