Green Bay's Missed Opportunities lead to big Dallas Win

Big D put a big whoopin’ on Green Bay last night. It wasn’t as high-flying as the game they won versus Philadelphia last Monday night, but Dallas continued their early-season domination. Instead of the pass, Dallas used the run to pound on the Packer defense throughout the game, which opened up plays downfield and in the play action game. Tony Romo wasn’t brilliant, but he was exciting as always, dodging defenders so his receivers can get open.

Dallas racked up over 400 yards of total offense, behind running back Marion Barber’s 146 yards on the ground. Barber always gets talked about as a guy who should look to avoid more contact so he can stay fresh late in the game. He seemed pretty fresh last night in the final quarter, despite every bruising run. Delivering more pain than he takes, Barber will be just fine this season. He has rookie Felix Jones to back him up and deliver those home runs on the ground. Their production set up the pass last night, as Tony Romo found Miles Austin on two deep throws after fakes to the running back. Terrell Owens only had 2 catches for 17 yards, but had some impressive blocks on some of Dallas’ key running plays. Tight end Jason Witten was instrumental as well, often being asked to block defensive linemen, which he did to perfection.

Dallas’ defense rose to the challenge after last Monday’s poor showing. They only managed one turnover, but they held Green Bay to 4 for 14 on third down conversions. Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times, which killed two Packer drives, causing them to settle for field goals. Dallas made plays to keep Green Bay out of the end zone, keeping the pressure off their offense.

Green Bay shouldn’t feel too badly about this game. Aaron Rodgers didn’t make any mistakes to hurt their team, but he just didn’t have the time to make throws downfield. His running game never got going, only accumulating 84 yards on 21 attempts. That’s not a bad statistic if they had only played three quarters, but for a team that runs the ball as well as Green Bay does, it is just not enough. Ryan Grant’s fumble on the first series of the game only led to a Dallas field goal, so the running game should never have been abandoned. Aaron Rodgers should not have to attempt 39 passes on any night.

While normally dependable, the Packers defense never made its mark on this game. They bit on too many play action passes after being too susceptible to Marion Barber and Felix Jones runs. The two passes to Austin Miles downfield were on play action. The pass rush barely kept tabs on Tony Romo and allowed him time to make big plays.  Green Bay did not defend anywhere near their capability, and that happens during the course of a sixteen game season. Teams will have bad nights, coaches call bad plays, and sometimes you’ll be hit by big plays. Sunday night was just not the Packers’ night, and the Cowboys had no problem taking the victory.