Showdown in Dallas
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by Kroberts
It's quite eerily fitting that these two teams meet at 10-1, especially with both of their offenses based around a gun-slinging mentality. All season long sports writers everywhere have been comparing Tony Romo's gutsy play and reckless abandonment toward his body to a young Brett Favre. While, ironically, the current Brett Favre is quietly having one of his best statistical seasons while leading the league in passing yards, as well as his team to a record start.
The Packers, who began the season 4-0, have worked hard fighting off the "fluke" taunts, ridding any possibility that they are getting lucky by winning tough road games at Denver and Kansas City back to back, as well as traveling indoors to division foes Minnesota and Detroit, and exiting victorious. They've also been downgraded for winning games over the San Diego Chargers and New York Giants early in the season, because those teams at the time weren't "what they are now". But that's all speculation now, because the Packers haven't lost since week 5, when they lost a heart breaker at home to hated division foe, Chicago.
Dallas, meanwhile, is also only one loss from being perfect, and really doesn't have any shame in it. Their only blemish? The undefeated New England Patriots. And the observation that the Packers are inferior to the Cowboys because many of their wins have been come-from-behind or very close, should not be overshadowed by narrow Cowboy escapes from the lowly Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings. Another fun fact? The Cowboys struggled in two wins over the New York Giants, while Green Bay convincingly dropped the Giants 35-13 in week two.
But enough analyzing what happened in week one or two, or who has what stats. Forget about Favre's winless streak in Texas Stadium. Because if I remember correctly, Favre had never beaten Kansas City before the Packers 33-22 victory a few weeks back. Come to think of it, Favre led teams have never been all that good in domes. Save for this season, where they're 2-0.
So, the question remains, not just which team is the best in the NFC, but which of these two will win this coming Thursday night? The answer is simple, as ESPN's Mike Ditka would say. Whatever team scores the most touchdowns will win. But let's step back from the John Madden logic for a moment, quit referring to statistics and records, and lay it all out on the table. No one else wants to step up and say it, that is, no one not named Emmitt Smith or Troy Aikman, who will defend to the death their Dallas roots.
The Green Bay Packers will march into Thursday night's game as underdogs, and they will prevail. The fact is, outside of Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, the Cowboys don't have too many options. Terry Glenn has been out for forever, and Patrick Crayton is no Wes Welker. He isn't going to be the "x-factor" that decides the outcome of this game. Both teams have great quarterbacks with stellar passing attacks. Both teams have, at least recently, solid running games, as well as outstanding offensive lines. But what both teams do not have is elite defenses. The difference in this game is defense, as it should be. The Packers, if they have a healthy Charles Woodson, will show the Cowboys a kind of physical play that they are not accustomed to, and over the course of the game, their strong defensive front will break that monstrous Dallas offensive line down to the ground.
What can Dallas do to prevent this? Simply do what they haven't been doing consistently up to this point: Play great defense. The key to beating the Green Bay Packers is finding Brett Favre's kryptonite. It isn't about containing the rush attack, or managing the clock. It's about making Favre look like a 37 year old quarterback on his last leg, and not a guy who has been proving all season long that he has a good 3 years left in him. If Dallas can do that, they will win. The beautiful thing however, is that the way things are going for Green Bay, I'm not sure any team can do it.
