The All Football Hair Of The Dog, Friday, September 19, 2008

Romo to TO, oh no!

So, can the Packers defeat the juggernaut that is the Dallas Cowboys? Can Aaron Rodgers continue to play this well in what is likely to be a shootout? Can we stop calling the Cowboys America’s team, as they exist in a state that was once an independent nation and probably wouldn’t mind going that way again? And Can Al Harris hold TO to under 300 yards?

The Cowboy defense has not looked very good to this point. In week one they did hold Cleveland to 10 points, but I suspect that this will be a recurring theme in Cleveland this year as long as they’re not facing the Bengals. (In week 2 Cleveland scored 6 points, giving them a total of 16 for the season, meaning they have scored fewer points this year than the Packers scored in the last 5 minutes (or so) of their game against the Lions.)

Last week the Cowboys lost Roy Williams (who is not actually very good, but does seriously hurt people fairly frequently) and gave up 37 points to the Philadelphia Eagles. On paper it looks like Brian Westbrook was largely responsible for all of those points, but he was mainly responsible for finishing drives, and not for marching them down the field. The Cowboys had trouble with rookie sensation (and sensational moron) DeSean Jackson, and I would expect them to have similar difficulty with Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. In fact, the Packer’s receiving corps will probably cause Dallas fits all day.

That said, if Al Harris lines up across from TO as is planned, all of the offense in the world won’t save the Packers. TO is roughly 5 times better than Plaxico Burress (in my opinion), and everyone remembers what Plax did to Al last year. A repeat of that performance would be devastating.

Dallas is probably the best team in the NFC, and no one should be surprised if the Packers lose. That said, when Aaron Rodgers relieved Brett Favre in the game last year, we may have seen flashes of what was to come. The Dallas pass rush was unable to get to Rodgers because of his superior mobility, and his underneath passing exploited the poor tackling of the Dallas secondary, a problem which still persists.

I expect this to be a close, high-scoring game. I’d offer a prediction, but I suspect luck will ultimately determine the victor, and I am unable to foresee the future, and would merely offer the mindless platitude that the team with the fewest turnovers will probably win. If you’re looking for an edge, Mason Crosby’s booming kickoffs have resulted in 5 touchbacks and generally bad field position for Packer opponents. Nick Folk, on the other hand, has yet to put one in the end zone and averages about 7 yards less per kick than Mason. Perhaps the added special teams opportunities for the Packers will be the difference.

In Other News…

Mark Cuban is awesome.

Matt Millen is apparently now some kind of cartoonish, Ayn Randian super-villain.

Jason Witten is hurtin', but not that much.

Aaron, Be-Ware!

The Packers love the middle of the field.

Just a reminder that there is no Badger game this weekend. I wish there was some other sport we could watch instead. Oh well.

Finally, I don’t think the line could be high enough to get me to take the Bengals over the Giants.

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