Cold, Hard Football Facts.com: Cowboys 37, Packers 27: Ten things we learned

Cowboys 37, Packers 27: Ten things we learned
Cold, Hard Football Facts for November 30, 2007

By Jonathan Comey

Cold, Hard Football Facts network anchor

In the NFL's third 2007 installment of the “Biggest Game of the Century,” the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers 37-27 to clinch a playoff spot Thursday night.

So, what did we learn, other than the fact that having a Super Bowl-like game on Thursday night doesn't bode well for Friday morning?

Well, more than a few things, according to the almighty wisdom of the Cold, Hard Football Facts -- ten, to be exact.

1. Packer CB Charles Woodson needs to heal if the Packers are going to win a possible NFC title game rematch. Coming into the game, Green Bay had a solid 77.0 defensive passer rating (10th in the NFL). Well, it’s going up, thanks to Tony Romo’s near-perfect game. If it weren’t for Terrell Owens’ dropsies, he’d have had five TDs to no INTs. The Packers’ secondary is thin, and the absence of Woodson was glaring against a good offense.

2. Brett Favre really, really, really hates playing in Dallas. Wow. Favre is now 0-9 lifetime in Dallas, and he ends up watching the second half with numb fingers and thoughts of what might have been. And now, more than likely, he’ll play there again in the NFC championship game, if things hold form in the NFC. It’ll be a tough task, but not impossible – road teams are 12-25 all time in NFC title games.

3. The Cowboys definitely have the top Hogs in the NFC. Green Bay is quite good in both trenches (11th in the Offensive Hog Index, No. 4 on the Defensive Hog), but Dallas was No. 2 on both indexes coming into the game – and it showed. The Packers had no sacks and one fluke interception, and Dallas ran for 105 yards. On the other side, the Cowboys got to Packer QBs three times, forced two picks and knocked Favre out of the game. With the amount of talent the Cowboys have at the skill positions, all that beef seems a bit unfair.

4, Mike McCarthy’s Coach of the Year candidacy took a hit. First, McCarthy challenged a basically unchallengeable play early in the first quarter, when Al Harris ripped the ball out of Terrell Owens’ hands but the play was ruled down by contact. Clearly, emotion (and vengeance) got the best of him. Using a challenge he couldn't win that early in the game was a huge blunder – it left one challenge left, with no shot at a third. And they needed an extra one late in the fourth, when the spot on a third-down Ryan Grant run looked clearly to be wrong. But he couldn’t challenge, and opted to kick a 52-yard field goal down 10 on 4th-and-inches with less than 5:00 left. An odd call, at best. And McCarthy’s refusal to run the ball (14 RB runs) despite the problems on defense reared its head in the fourth quarter as the Cowboys manhandled the tired, short-handed Green Bay D.

5. Sweet lord, the Dallas Cheerleaders are beautiful. We know they set the standard for the industry, but the NFL Network’s frequent, loving high-def images of those ladies doing their thing was almost better than the game. Who knew Victoria’s Secret models could dance, too! (and they’re all probably in their second year of graduate school as well).

6. Marion Barber needs to be "the man." They used to say that the only person who could stop Michael Jordan was North Carolina head coach Dean Smith. Well, the only person who can stop Marion Barber is Julius Jones, who continues to steal carries from the superior Barber. While Jones carried nine times for 26 yards, Barber was 17 for 81 yards. Barber is averaging just under 5.0 a carry for the season, Jones is just under 4.0. Barber does have more carries (162-133), but the gap needs to widen.

7. The Big Play Index was a wash. Dallas had four of what we define as “Big Plays” (two interceptions, a 40+ yard pass and a 50+ field goal) and so did Green Bay (interception, 40+ yard pass, Ryan Grant’s long run and a 50+ field goal). So it was a push. But for the last three weeks and one game, the winners of the Big Play battle are 36-7, an overwhelming number (83.7 win percentage).

8. Cris Collinsworth and Bryant Gumbel are brutal. If you missed the game, there’s at least one thing you can be thankful for – you didn’t have to hear these two jokers going back and forth. All in all, watching the game on NFL.com was probably a better experience, with Jamie Dukes giving commentary instead of commercials. Plus, you could be playing online Yahtzee while watching a football game, which is surprisingly fun.

9. The Packers’ kick coverage units were brutal. Dallas didn’t come in with much of a reputation in the kick-return area (21.7 per return, 25th), but they had several good ones Thursday – GB kicker Mason Crosby had to make two tackles, never a good thing. Myles Austin had returns of 32, 35 and 38 yards, and Crosby's kickoffs were barely getting inside the 10.

10. Dallas’ is the front-runner in the NFC, but that defense has problems. As we've pointed out, the Cowboys’ defense has been just awful against good teams this year – they’ve now allowed 130 points in their four games against winning opponents, a 32.5 point per game average. The offense is good enough to overcome it (3-1 in those games), but as the Colts discovered last year, defense sometimes has to win the championship for you even if your offense looks great in the regular season.