Review: Lions 15; Packers 9~ in a must-win game, the Packers caught the ultimate break by seeing the 1-6 Lions. Those Lions also traded, arguably, their best player that week in T.J. Hockenson to the rival Minnesota Vikings. The Packers responded by scoring 9 points. There were fans, unsurprisingly most of them, upset Green Bay didn’t trade FOR a Wide Receiver or a player that could help now!

If the last 12 years has taught you nothing, maybe this last game showed that the Packers are just a QB away from winning…a Super Bowl. The defense is 2nd vs. the Pass, 6th in total yards, but 15th in points. That must mean they give up too much yardage on the ground…while not far off, their offense scores no points and gives the ball back quickly (both in time and momentum).

For example, in consecutive games, the defense intercepted the opponent and in Buffalo, Rodgers threw a pick on the very next plays. This past week, it took double that for Rodgers to give it right back. So you can say “things may be improving.” Also, I stopped counting at how many passes were thrown on RPO’s at 5. As in 5 for 5…the Lions stacked the box so Green Bay got away from the run altogether and their QB still couldn’t pull the trigger to wide open targets all game – yet another game resembling typical January.

There was an article written this week about how spoiled fans are in Green Bay because we’ve been blessed with 30+ years of Hall of Fame Quarterback play. The response to this is easy…it’s either 1 of 2 things, plus a complete misguided look at reality. If QB is so damn important to winning World Championships (which it is, due to it being the most important position in all of sports), maybe Favre and Rodgers just aren’t that good, OR….Quarterback isn’t important. Based on the amount of multiple title won by QBs with all the changing teammates around them, it’s the former. Lastly, it’s a weird way to claim “spoiled,” as the response should be, “Yes, winning 2 Super Bowls in the last 55 seasons is so spoiled that the Packers are one of 15 teams to have won 2 or more Super Bowls in that time span. So spoiled to be in the top 50% of all teams. Yes, how spoiled us fans are that are younger than 50.”

Preview: How’s Dallas?~ the Cowboys are one of the stronger teams in the NFL, currently holding the 5th seed in the NFC playoffs with a record of 6-2.

	Dal D	(rank)	vs.	GB O	(rank)
Rush	135.1	24		120.7	14
Pass	178.4	4		224.7	15
Total	313.5	10		345.3	14
Pts	16.6	3		17.1	27
	Dal O			GB D
Rush	131.5	11		138.6	26
Pass	190.6	25		170.6	2
Total	322.1	22		309.1	6
Pts	22.9	14		20.9	15
T/O
Takeaways	13	T-8th		8	T-24th
Giveaways	7	T-2nd		13	T-24th
Diff.	6	T-3rd		(5)	T-29th

Dallas is better in every matchup category other than their Passing Off v Green Bay’s Pass Def. It’s safe to say that the Cowboys would rank better if they had Dak all year, however they may not have gone 4-1 in those 5 games either because they ran the ball and played solid defense. It’s amazing how that tactic is effective…

The Cowboys have a lot of top tier talent, but the Packers have both top tier talent and solid depth. The Cowboys have two legit running backs, and use them — look for Tony Pollard (#20) and Ezekiel Elliott (#21) ‘Zeke to combine for, at least, their per game average of 25 carries for 126 yards. Green Bay is somewhat close to that with their dynamic duo, but because Rodgers has “no one to throw to,” decides to throw…the…ball. Makes sense.

Cowboys 27 (-4.5)
Packers 17

Season: 4-5
Overall: 85-47