Cowboys Beat Packers for NFC Lead, Brett Favre Consecutive Start Streak in Jeopardy
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After beating the Green Bay Packers 37-27 last night, I’m still not convinced the Dallas Cowboys are the best the NFC has to offer. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Cowboys are an excellent football team. They’ve got a great O-line (the foundation of any good team) and they’re solid with their quarterback (Tony Romo) and the skill positions on offense (Terrell Owens, Patrick Crayton, Jason Witten, Julius Jones, Marion Barber) and their pass rush (DeMarcus Ware, Greg Ellis), but the Packers were without three important defensive players (DB Charles Woodson, S Aaron Rouse and DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila) for the entire game and quarterback Brett Favre for most of it (his consecutive start status is uncertain for next week), so I don’t think we saw a fair comparison. Sympathy for the poor Packers? I’m not saying that. No team is healthy this time of year, but Green Bay was really at a disadvantage.
The game didn’t make or break either team’s season, but it will take a monumental collapse for Dallas to lose home field advantage throughout the playoffs. And that’s big because it would be a much different ballgame on the “frozen tundra” (Lambeau Field) in January should these two teams meet again. If there is a rematch, it will most likely be back at Texas Stadium where Brett Favre is now 0-9 as a starter.
One thing the Packers discovered in this loss is their quarterback of the future. Sure, they had planned on Aaron Rodgers taking over when Brett Favre retires (unless Aaron beats him to it), but he has been completely unproven to this point. Brett never misses a game. When Brett left with an arm injury in the second quarter, Aaron took the controls and went 18 of 26 for 201 yards and a TD. As a backup QB, he always has to be ready, but let’s be honest. He was probably shellshocked when it was time for him to enter this game and I thought he handled the pressure extremely well.
Cowboys WR Terrell Owens continues to impress and disappoint. He made several big catches and statistically had a great game (seven catches for 156 yards and a score), but he also had some unexplained drops (I counted three), none more noticeable than his bobbled sure-thing touchdown that ended up in the waiting arms of Packers DB Al Harris. Being more reliable would possibly make him inhuman, but he’ll need to make all the catches if the Cowboys hope to get to the Super Bowl.
All-in-all, the game lived up to the hype, but it would’ve been nice to see both teams at full-strength. I think we might have seen a different outcome and I’m sure we would’ve seen an even better game.
Tags: Brett-Favre, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Terrell-Owens, Tony-RomoRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers
1 opinion for Cowboys Beat Packers for NFC Lead, Brett Favre Consecutive Start Streak in Jeopardy
David
Dec 1, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Brett Favre is expected to start against the Oakland Raiders on Dec. 9 and keep his record streak for consecutive starts going. “Just to quote the medical staff, his streak is not in danger. He’ll be OK,” head coach Mike McCarthy said yesterday.
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