Scheduled Event
Coverage
Film review: Defense, Cowboys @ Packers
Film review for the defense. You can read about the offense, here.
NT - Coach Wade Phillips already talked about what a great job Jay Ratliff did in that game. I concur. He had multiple pressures on the QB, got a sack and was very active in the run game. Besides, how many teams can drop a 3-4 NT into a zone blitz coverage scheme as the Cowboys did with the Rat? The guy was a steal when we drafted him. I didn't see Tank Johnson do a whole lot in the game; he did have a nice tackle on a run in the redzone and did a nice job against a draw play. But I didn't see him get into the backfield much.
DE - Chris Canty had a couple of tackles against the run and almost had an interception. Other than that, not much was happening. Marcus Spears was largely invisible, which is hard for a man that large. He had a semi-pressure once and almost made a tackle for loss but missed it. I was praising Spears for his work in the preseason but it really hasn't translated to the regular season yet. Both Jason Hatcher and Stephen Bowen had little effect on the outcome. In fact, the defensive ends so far are not really making plays, I'm a little disappointed in the results from this position.
OLB - DeMarcus Ware didn't end up with a lot of stats, but he did apply a lot of pressure and made plays that don't always end up on the stat sheet. He had four plays where he chased Aaron Rodgers around the backfield, one almost ended up as an interception and he got a coverage sack late in the game. He also did a good job on the run making a few tackles, but once gave up edge contain that led to a decent run. Greg Ellis could have had a big night; he got to Rodgers twice but couldn't complete the sacks.
ILB - Zach Thomas was very active against the run. I have him down for four good plays in stopping the run and a nice tackle after a short pass. Plus, he had a sack. Thomas is very good at recognizing the run and shooting through the traffic to make the tackle. He's been a big upgrade for us at linebacker. Bradie James was also very active against the run and racked up an impressive number of tackles. These two in the middle are one of the reasons Wade Phillips can say you don't run on the Dallas Cowboys. Kevin Burnett showed up on a few plays, he made a good tackle on a draw play, had a fairly good blitz and drew a holding call on a screen pass. He was also about to light-up a Packer receiver but he pulled off when the pass was dropped. Oh yeah, Bobby Carpenter actually made a partial tackle on a short pass.
CB - It was good to have Terence Newman back. He played a good game because he was rarely on screen. That means they weren't throwing to his guy. He did end up with some tackles and gave up a few passes at the end of the game when it was out of reach, but so did almost every player in the secondary. Like Wade said, the whole secondary needs to tighten it up in the 2-minute defense. Anthony Henry had a big night. He got two sacks in the redzone blitzing from his hybrid LB/S position in the dime and got another QB pressure. He also made a nice tackle in the run game. About the only negative I saw from him was a couple of poor tackles giving up some YAC. I apologize to Adam Jones, I nailed him earlier in the week for giving up the long bomb to Driver, but it was actually Hamlin's fault. I guess I just couldn't believe Hamlin would be that far out of position. Jones actually played a good game. He caused the fumble early in the game and recovered it and made quite a few tackles including closing hard on a short pass in the redzone. Except for dropping a sure interception late in the game at the goal line, he played well. Mike Jenkins gave up a few passes with bad coverage and missed a couple of tackles, but still wasn't beaten for anything significant. For a rookie CB, he's looking pretty good. Orlando Scandrick mainly saw special teams duty.
S - Ken Hamlin gave up the long bomb mentioned earlier where he was way out of position after biting on a route in the middle leaving the whole left side of the secondary vacant. He also picked up a holding penalty in the endzone on their TD drive. But he was involved in a lot of tackles after catches helping to limit the Packers YAC. Pat Watkins made a good tackle on a running play and didn't give up anything deep. I would call that a success for his first starting role in a while. I only saw Courtney Brown make one tackle, but like Watkins I didn't see him give up anything deep and that's a good thing. Keith Davis had a couple of very good tackles on kickoff coverage validating the Cowboys decision to bring him back.
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Film review: Offense, Cowboys @ Packers
Time for a film review. Let's go to the offense first, the defense in a second post later.
QB - Tony Romo seems to fall into a pattern. Early on, he's usually not as sharp, but as the game goes on he gets more in rhythm and starts to hit on his passes. The pass in the redzone for an interception has no excuse. Even though T.O. and Witten ran patterns that brought a gaggle of Packers' defenders into the same area, the real problem was Romo forced it to Witten who was clearly covered. Throw it away, Tony. He also got happy feet a couple of times and ran himself into the pass rush. He also needs to quit trying to throw passes when defenders are right on top of him, he fumbled the ball doing that this week and lost the ball for a TD doing it last week. If they're at your feet, you can try to throw the ball (Aaron Rodgers did that a couple times on us) but when they're up high and you try that, trouble usually follows.
Now, before the Romo Brigade gets their pitchforks out, these are just observations of some mistakes he made. They are SEVERELY OVERSHADOWED by the good plays he makes. He almost always makes plenty of plays that erase the mistakes and this game was no exception. Just witness the way he leaped over a fallen defender and fired a long strike to Miles Austin for a TD. That just one example. You can accuse me of nitpicking, and I am, but that's what I do in film reviews. Overall, Romo is as good as they get in today's NFL.
RB - Marion Barber was sick. He was abusing the Packers at will whether showing patience in hitting the holes, or exploding through tackles at the line or finishing off runs by punishing the defender. He also did a good job on blitz pickups. The only thing he did wrong in the game was put the ball on the turf multiple times which is very unusual for him and I don't expect it to continue. Felix Jones put on a show with one touch of the football. He broke the first defenders ankles with a stutter-step, then beat the second to the outside with his speed and turned it upfield for a TD. When we drafted him, my one question was whether he could turn the corner on NFL defenses the way he did in college. Question answered.
WR - It certainly wasn't Terrell Owens' week to shine. The Packers bracketed him over the top with a safety on almost every play, turning him into more of a decoy than anything. But it worked as Witten and Austin took full advantage. Even the running game benefited from having two defenders always concentrating on T.O. The nice thing was T.O. continued playing hard even though he didn't get the ball. He set up a nice run by MB3 with a block, raced all the way downfield after getting blocked to tackle the Packer who made the redzone interception and escorted Felix downfield on his TD run. The only mistake he made was dropping a short pass. Patrick Crayton was not a factor in the passing game at all. Basically, his only contribution was blocking for the running game. He also dropped a short pass. Miles Austin had his coming-out party at Lambeau Field. Two long catches, one for a TD and one that should have been a TD. On the first one, he stumbled just a bit after catching the ball then made the mistake of running straight upfield instead of towards the pylon, bringing him back into contact with the Packers safety. On the second catch, in a very veteran-like move, created just a hint of separation from the defender with a slight hand-push at the waist, then caught the ball, stayed in bounds and hit the endzone. Hopefully, this is a harbinger of things to come from the speedy wideout. Plus, he didn't drop the ball, a problem for him in the past. One knock was he got a block in the back penalty on a punt return that had nothing to do with Adam changing directions.
TE - Jason Witten is an amazing TE. He converted four third-down plays and caught seven passes overall. But what people outside of the Dallas fan-base miss is his ability to block. On Felix's TD run he actually blocked two guys including the key block to spring him. He had numerous seal blocks on the edge to open things up for MB3 and he can motion to the middle and block in the interior. He's the best TE in football. Tony Curtis was asked to play the FB position in the game and didn't disappoint. I didn't know that he could be such a force blocking in the interior of the line. I counted at least six blocks in the middle that blew open holes for the backs including MB3's short TD run. In addition, he caught a pass, snagged MB3's fumble out of the air and added more yards to the play and had good coverage on a punt. This was easily his best overall game as a Cowboy. Martellus Bennett may be a force in the passing game one day but that's not where he's making his money so far. I have him down for five excellent blocks in the running game, a great block on a kickoff return and a good tackle on punt coverage. He also threw in a nice run after a short catch. His only major mistake I saw was a whiff on a block that ended up being a tackle for loss. Guys, our TE's can really block!
FB - See Tony Curtis above.
OL - This wasn't their best game but it was pretty dang good, especially running the ball. It's no secret the Cowboys like to run behind the right-side of their line and they did that extremely well in this game. Marc Colombo had a good day run blocking and Leonard Davis had a very good day. In fact, Bigg pancaked a couple of guys in the game. The only time Bigg has problems is when he has to get to the second-level where he's occasionally late. But you really can't ask for more than what they give. Andre Gurode is also a beast in the run game and when he and Bigg get a double-team it's over. Kyle Kosier is one of the better pulling guards in the league. Three times when he pulled he opened the lane for the running backs. That's the one thing we'll probably miss when Cory Procter replaces him. Pass blocking was where they had some breakdowns in this game. Flozell Adams didn't have a great game. He had two pass protections that were awful and a couple of bad run blocks to boot. He can play better than he did. We also got lucky a couple of times. Check out the replay of Austin's TD, Bigg tackles Cullen Jenkins right in front of Romo, that play should have been called back. In fact, Jenkins was the one guy we couldn't handle in that game, he was everywhere. Also, on Bennett's catch, Kosier was guilty of a flagrant hold right out in the open, I have no idea how the refs missed it. Toward the end of the game Kosier's pass protection got a little soft. Gurode had a couple of plays where he struggled picking up a middle linebacker blitz and Colombo blew a block on a bootleg pass and totally missed a stunt by Jenkins on another play. So while the pass protection was hit and miss, the run blocking was outstanding.
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Dallas Cowboys news & notes
I'll be doing DCFanatic's show at 3 PM EST today (about 15 minutes from now). Tune in if you can.
Kyle Kosier came up a little lame at the end of the game.
LG Kyle Kosier's left foot was stiff and sore last night. He played well last night, especially in the running game, but he might have come back too early after suffering a sprain and hairline fracture in the foot Aug. 22.
Kosier wore a protective boot on his left foot when he arrived at the Cowboys' Valley Ranch facility. He walked into Blue Star Imaging, the office connected to the facility where the Cowboys get MRIs done.
Guess we'll find out a little more from Wade's presser today.
Good article detailing the Packers defensive game plan. Basically, they wanted to take away Owens and Witten. Guess they forgot about Marion Barber.
"He's real patient, but he's explosive," defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said of the 6-foot, 225-pound Barber. "He's a guy who can wait and pick his holes and then really explode with force. It makes it tough if you don't have the right angle or you don't tackle him right. He'll break it or he'll run away from it."
Nice article from Matt Mosley on the game.
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Cowboys @ Packers: What They're Saying
Time for another edition of What They're Saying. In this episode we'll explore the emergence of a couple of offensive weapons, a defense that showed they can get the job done, a QB who can struggle but still win games and a media that somehow still doesn't believe in the Cowboys.
Let's kick it off with Miles Austin. Through training camp and the early season, Austin had Cowboys fans dreaming of a speed threat opposite Terrell Owens. His performance was tantalizing until he injured his knee and was put on the shelf for a few weeks. No longer an afterthought, Austin emerged as a force in this game. Here he re-creates his TD catch.
"It was an outside double move - a stutter-go," Austin said of his first career touchdown reception. "It was one-on-one cover out there and when I stuttered, he was still on my hip a little bit behind me. That one was a perfect ball, right on the sideline, and I caught it in stride."
It was a beautiful thing too, and it broke the game open. Romo gets credit for delivering a perfect strike.
"That was a perfect ball Tony threw," Austin said. "I had a whole bunch of ideas before the game about what I would do if I scored, but I was so excited, I didn't do any of them."
Keep it that way Miles, TD's are the thing, not celebrations that bring penalties.
Patrick Crayton and Sam Hurd are now on notice; Miles Austin is ready for the big-time. Well, he still has a few things to work out, like taking proper angles once he catches the ball in the open.
"I don't know what I was doing," Austin said. "I'm not really used to running that play, even in college. I usually don't [catch] the ball in the middle of the field that way. I didn't really think anyone was behind me. But I just went straight instead of keeping the angle."
"I can't believe I didn't get in," Austin said. "That was a dumb mistake, I guess."
You're forgiven for this week. Besides, as long as you get it down to the goal line, we know MB3 will punch it in. Austin might get plenty more chances this season because his QB likes what he sees.
"I have a lot of confidence in Miles," Romo said. "He's really coming into his own. You can see that he's a guy who has confidence to go up and make a play. And that's what he did."
When the Cowboys passed on Rashard Mendenhall in the draft and picked Felix Jones, there was a chorus of naysayers who blasted the move. Time for them to reconsider their folly as El Gato has put on a show in the first three games of the season.
"Felix Jones really gives us a boost in the offense," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. "We're still finding ways to get him involved. But he keeps showing that he can handle everything we give him."
Keep giving him more Garrett, the kid can play. Like the 60-yard TD run he popped early in the game.
"It was designed to go to the left side and we thought it would be a big play," said Jones. "It was a great feeling to get out there in clear and just go. It was great blocking and I just took off."
It was good blocking, including a certain wide receiver who escorted him down the field while exhorting him to score.
"Come on," [Terrell] Owens said. "Come on."
Who says T.O. isn't a great teammate?
The head coach loves what the rook brings to the table.
"Felix gives us, as Jerry Jones says, that 'wow' factor," coach Wade Phillips said. "He slipped on some of his runs, but once he got out in the open, he was gone. He can do it. He's explosive."
But while we're extolling the virtues of the young running back, let's not forget the veteran.
"Felix had the big run and made some nice space plays," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said, "but over and over again, we just handed it to Marion. He really controlled the tempo of the game."
The only knock on MB3 in this game was some questionable ball handling, but that can be forgiven when you clock over 140 yards on the ground.
Click the link below to keep reading about Tony Romo's night and the play of our defense.
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Dallas Cowboys dispatch the Green Bay Packers, 27-16
Well, well. How about that? The Dallas Cowboys went to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers and after a sloppy start, totally obliterated their opponent 27-16. What was supposed to be a clash of NFC powers turned into a one-sided affair. The Cowboys now stand at 3-0 and are at the top of the class in the NFC at this early point of the season. Dallas wasn't sharp early on; the Packers were able to get a competent pass rush going and their secondary was doing a good job of sticking with the receivers. Tony Romo wasn't taking care of the ball and threw an INT in the redzone and fumbled another. But once Dallas started to run the football, Romo settled down as he normally does and proceeded to punish the Packers defense. His passes in the second half were on target and the Packers couldn't deal with his excellent play.
The Cowboys also unleashed their newest weapon Felix Jones who popped a long TD run to get the Cowboys offensive machine in high gear. In other good news, Miles Austin returned to the form he showed in training camp and the preseason with two long pass catches; one a TD and another that set up a TD. Marion Barber also chipped in with some very tough running and a huge statistical game, although he had trouble holding on to the football. And just like normal, Jason Wittten was a human third-down conversion. When the Cowboys can get the pass rush blocked and Romo is under control, their offensive weapons are just impossible for a defense to handle.
Which means that many of the Cowboys games will come down to the play of their defense. On this night, the Cowboys defense stepped up to the task. After giving up a long drive early, they stiffened and held the Packers to a field goal. After that, they made plays by pressuring Aaron Rodgers and stuffing the running game, leaving Green Bay with few options. Anthony Henry came up with a couple of sacks on the evening and DeMarcus Ware chased Rodgers all over Lambeau Field. Also, Adam Jones caused a fumble and recovered it.
The Cowboys went on the road and did what they were supposed to do. They dominated the opponent, an opponent who many people felt were their equal. Based on this game, they were not.
This is an open thread for celebrating our third win of the season.
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Cowboys @ Packers open thread 9/21/08
Open Thread
Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers
Sunday, Sept 21st, 2008
8:00 PM EST, TV: NBC
Lambeau Field - Green Bay, WI
Listen online at WOAI.
My prediction: Dallas 34 - Green Bay 27
Weather Forecast
Partly Cloudy
62 degrees
Wind 5 mph
This is an open thread for game chat.
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Kyle Kosier returns to the starting lineup; Anthony Spencer won't play
Good and bad news on the injury front.
The good news is that we'll have our offensive line back together for the first time this season. Kyle Kosier will return to left guard. The bad news? Anthony Spencer is out for the game. The "maybe" news is that Sam Hurd wants to be active but is still a game-time decision. Hurd says he'll bribe the trainers to let him play. But it could be a case of special teams play and how Wade sets the roster in that respect with Roy Williams, Deon Anderson and Spencer out. All those guys play on special teams to some extent, and Pat Watkins now has to play defense for most of the game, too.

Jason Witten's toughness is becoming legendary.
"I just didn't know what had happened," Witten said of his shoulder injury. "When I fell on it, it just kind of felt like it was stinging there and I was unsure what it was. Once I got the X-rays done right away I knew it wasn't broken, I was fine and I immediately wanted to go back in there."

Ex-Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown gives his preview of the game.

Everybody is watching the matchup between the Packers passing game and the Cowboys pass defense. Aaron Rodgers' play has been stellar in the first two weeks, although that came against some poor pass defenses. But don't sleep on Rodgers, the guy can play. But, he's still inexperienced so the Cowboys will make an effort to confuse him and pressure him.

The Cowboys rookies are rocking.

El Gato explains the art of kick return. Most of it is about setting up the blocks from the wedge, but you got to like this statement about getting in the open field.
"And you've got to finish the play. If that's making the kicker miss or the safety miss, that's finishing the play. You've got to get the ball to the end zone."
Ha! Love it.
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Cowboys @ Packers: Scouting report from Green Bay's view
Earlier this week I put up my scouting report for the Cowboys/Packers game on this here blog. Brandon, SB Nation's blogger for the Packers over at Acme Packing Company, sent me a reply that balances out the scouting report from a Green Bay view. Stop over at Acme Packing Company to catch up on news about the Packers, and read Brandon's scouting report below.
Packers run offense vs. Dallas run defense. Although the Packers only have somewhat of a running game, Ryan Grant was the leading rusher in the game last year in Dallas and he had 2 TDs. Also, he managed 92 yards on 12 carries in week 1 against Minnesota's excellent run defense. The Packers pass more than they run the ball, but their running game is just as explosive.
Dallas pass rush vs. Packers offensive line. LT Chad Clifton has been shutting down the best pass rushers in the NFL for years, and he's doing it again this season as proven by the zero tackle, zero sack line posted by DE Jared Allen in his first game as a Viking. But Ellis and Ware both had sacks in the game last November, and the interior offensive lineman can be beat. I'm not worried if Ware and Ellis each have a sack or two, but it will be a problem if the pressure forces turnovers.
5 WR sets vs. max protection. The Packers will do both and Mike McCarthy is very good at mixing up his play calling. The slant is still a part of the offense, but I'd say they use it less now then they did a year ago. It's true that the offense struggle when the linebackers drop back 10 yards in coverage and clog the passing lanes, but only Chicago has been good at it against the Packers.
Terrell Owens vs. Packers cornerbacks. Al Harris was torched by Owens last season, and when Owens was an Eagle, and probably will be torched again in this game. Nickel CB Tramon Williams is good, but he's not going to stop Owens either. Charles Woodson missed last year's game due to a toe injury, actually he has a toe injury again this year but he's playing through it. Woodson's still very good, but he's no shutdown corner either. The best way to stop Owens is to get to Romo.
Dallas pass offense vs. Packers safeties. S Atari Bigby is out, but he's lousy in pass coverage anyway. He plays 5 to 10 yards off everybody and waits for Tavaris Jackson to uncork a wild pass he can intercept. Backup S Aaron Rouse is much better in coverage, but he's got a bad ankle and WR Calvin Johnson ran by him for 2 TDs last week. Backup backup S Charlie Peprah is good, but he's rarely played and is nursing his own injuries. Again, the best pass coverage will be a good pass rush.
Dallas pass protection vs. Packers pass rush. DE Aaron Kampman, DT Cullen Jenkins, and DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila can get after the QB, but the Dallas offensive line pitched a shutout (no sacks allowed) against them last season. Last November, the Packers only got to Romo once LB A.J. Hawk came on the biltz. As you noticed in the Detroit game, Hawk is blitzing more. So is LB Nick Barnett. Dallas scored on their first five possessions against the Packers last November, until defensive coordinator Bob Sanders started blitzing Hawk and it slowed them down. I expect the Packers to blitz Hawk and Barnett early and often.
Dallas rushing offense vs. Packers run defense. The Packers have a good, above average run defense. Adrian Peterson ran for over 100 yards against them in week 1, but he does that a lot. Barber and Jones will have a big run or two and play a role in the offense, but I'm not expecting this to be the key matchup of the game.
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Wade Phillips press conference 9/18/08
Summary of Wade Phillips' press conference from today.
Deon Anderson and Roy Williams are out, Anthony Spencer didn't practice, he's having trouble with the knee, we're trying to be cautious there, we'll investigate it further. Sam Hurd was limited, but ran around pretty well. Kyle Kosier went through everything in practice and looked good, I have a positive feeling about that, we'll see how sore he is tomorrow. He could have played a game today, if he's real sore tomorrow it could be a problem, but we're encouraged.
Spencer got through the game OK, but his knee wasn't feeling good today, we're being cautious. I don't know about his status for the game. It's questionable.
I did feel good about Kosier today, he worked with the first team, he held own in rush drills with guys like Canty. We'll see how he is tomorrow. He could have played a game today. If he's ready to play, he'll start.
Pat Watkins is a big part of special teams and he's good on all teams, good blocker on kickoff returns, he does the big four on special teams. We'll watch him some, don't want to lose him on ST, especially since Anderson isn't there, we may sub for him some on the nickel and dime defenses. Courtney Brown is getting more reps and will help us in some sub-packages, we don't want Watkins to play every play on defense and special teams.
Donald Driver and Greg Jennings are outstanding WR's. I like Driver a lot, great competitor, I have great respect for the way he plays, all out on every play. I always worry about him.
Guys who can play man-to-man today are special (Woodson and Harris), the offense has so many advantages so it's hard to play that way. They do a heck of a job, I haven't seen any other teams do it the way they do.
Aaron Rouse (sub for Atari Bigby) played some last week against Detroit. He's a big, tall guy with range, he knows what he's doing and played well last week.
Terence Newman looked fine, full participation in practice at LCB and in the nickel stuff. He looks full speed to me.
We may sign a FB on Saturday and play him, maybe sign three of them (seemed like a joke). Jason Witten and Tony Curtis are versatile, Bennett hasn't done it as much. We might put Marion Barber at fullback and someone else at tailback.
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Cowboys @ Packers: Scouting report
After watching the Green Bay Packers game against the Detroit Lions from last weekend, here's my scouting report for the Dallas Cowboys game against the Pack on Sunday night.
Green Bay offense
Even though the Packers found somewhat of a running game last year with Ryan Grant in the second-half of the season, they still do most of their damage through the air. Grant wasn't even their most effective back in the game against Detroit, it was Brandon Jackson who made the majority of big plays in the running game. Grant is suffering from a hamstring injury so the Pack might feature Jackson in this game if they want to establish a credible running threat. The Packers liked to run to the right side of their defense so Marcus Spears and Greg Ellis will have a lot of responsibility in stopping their run game. Green Bay had a lead in the fourth quarter but the Lions were charging fast and eventually took the lead, only to give it back. But the problem for the Packers was they couldn't establish a solid enough run game to milk the clock and take the life out of the Lions defense. While Dallas is very good at doing this sort of thing with Marion Barber, Green Bay is not so fortunate and had to resort back to the passing game and their defense to blow away the Lions at the end of the game.
The Packers make their money on offense in the passing game. After years of mystery surrounding QB Aaron Rodgers as he idled behind Brett Favre on the depth charts, Rodgers has shown in the few games he's started that he has the tools to be a good QB in this league. His arm is plenty strong and his accuracy is very good. He's also a bit like Tony Romo, if you flush him out of the pocket he can run for yards or he can throw the ball on the move and he does it very well. While on the move in the backfield he does a good job of keeping his eyes downfield and delivers the ball as well as he does from the pocket. The Cowboys have to do a good job of containing him on the edges. DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis can not lose contain on the outside during pass rushes because Rodgers can make the Dallas defense pay. The Cowboys would benefit greatly from an inside pass rush that could flush out Rodgers into the waiting arms of Ware and Ellis. Blitzes from the middle by Zach Thomas or a strong game from Jay Ratliff could go a long way towards slowing down the Packers.
Green Bay wasn't afraid to send five receivers into the pattern on a regular basis against the Lions. Last week, the Eagles were running a max-protect scheme much of the time. It will be interesting to see if the Packers decide to go with the 5-man pass protection or will they go more conservative and keep in backs and TE's to help in protection. If they elect to send five into the pattern, the Cowboys front seven have to make them pay. It's very difficult for a defense to cover five receivers if the QB has time in the pocket, the Cowboys can't afford to sit back and let this happen. The Packers scored a couple of their TD's from that formation. Their passing attack is heavily centered on the slant pattern. They run that play over and over and the Lions defensive backs were late getting up on the pass and Green Bay played pitch and catch. Dallas has to be hyper-aware of the slant patterns. Green Bay opens up the lanes for the slants by running a back or TE underneath to drag the linebackers out of the lane. Dallas needs to counter by having their linebackers delay their coverage of the short dump-offs and clog the slant lanes. One note of caution, after the Packers have lulled you into covering the slant pattern tightly, they will run a double-move off the slant. Disciplined defense is a must by the linebackers and defensive backs this week.
Click the link below to keep reading about the Green Bay defense.
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