The Green Bay Packers lost their key NFC matchup last night to the Dallas Cowboys and home field advantage along with it, but certainly not all is lost. The Packers took their “B” team in into Big D and even after losing Brett Favre to injury, they had a chance to win. In fact, if not for two highly questionable interference calls and missed call on an interception by Al Harris, the Packers likely would have won the game. One thing is still the same since the last time the Packers played in Dallas, the refs still favor the self-proclaimed “America’s Team”. Just ask Michael Irvin.
The Packers played without three starters and a key backup on defense and it showed with the inability to get pressure on quarterback Tony Romo. It also left huge holes in the middle of the line for Cowboy running backs. The Packers’ defense will be healthy if they can earn themselves a rematch in Dallas in January. Then we’ll see what happens.
The Packers finally were able to see backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a meaningful game and the results were very positive. Rodgers led the Packers to 17 points and with a little help from his defense he may have pulled off the comeback. Rodgers showed great poise, which is remarkable considering the magnitude of the game and his inexperience. In this game only, Rodgers outperformed the great Brett Favre, who seemed determined to hit the big play even when it wasn’t there. We saw this only one other time this year and that was against the Redskins when the sadly recently departed Sean Taylor picked off Favre twice, and could have had two more.
Much has been said about Favre’s poor first quarter, but remember the Packers only had seven total yards of offense after one quarter against the Lions last week and put up 37 points and almost 500 yards of offense. Favre has a history of slow starts and had he played the whole game last night the Packers probably would have had a better chance to win it. Rodgers did fantastic for his first real action and Packers’ fans can take comfort knowing there might be life beyond Brett.
The Packers need to bounce back next week and get a big win over the Raiders in Lambeau because another two-game road trip awaits with dates against the Rams and Bears. Both of those games scare me. The Bears have already beaten the Packers and the Rams’ offense is coming to life since getting healthy. That is exactly what the Packers need to do – get healthy! When Johnny Jolly, KGB, and Charles Woodson come back, the Packers defense will look more like the Packers defense.
The Packers need to focus on the task at hand and that is beating the Raiders and getting in the playoffs. We’ll worry about the Cowboys later if they get that far.