Packers-Cowboys: Who's Defense Will Step Up?

Sunday night's game between the Packers and Cowboys is a great early-season matchup. It's an exciting game that will be an important momentum-builder for whichever team comes out on top moving forward.

At the same time, this is not a make-or-break game for either team. If the Packers falter it won't be time to call for Aaron Rodgers' head and if the Cowboys lose it doesn't mean that Tony Romo was distracted by Jessica Simpson.

That being said, there are several key factors to consider when determining which team will come out on top. The most obvious being each team's passing game against each team's secondary.

The match-up between the Dallas passing game and the Packers' secondary seems like an incredibly mismatch on paper. After seeing what the Cowboys did through the air last week against the Eagles (312 yards and 2 TDs), as well as seeing how the Cowboys performed against the Packers in last year's game (309 yards and 4 TDs), it's easy to pick the Cowboys to throw all over Green Bay's secondary yet again.

However, in last year's game the Cowboys absolutely torched the Packers' secondary in the first half. Part of the reason for this was the match-ups that the Packers' coaching staff created. They stubbornly matched up Al Harris one-on-one with Terrell Owens with virtually no safety help.

As good of a cornerback as Harris is, NO corner in the league can cover Owens on-on-one like that. It was a stubborn move by the Packers that the Cowboys exploited.

Likewise, Jason Witten created match-up problems for the Packers' secondary. They matched Atari Bigby (a HORRIBLE coverage safety) on Witten for a majority of the game, another match-up that the Cowboys exploited.

As bad as the Cowboys torched the Packers in the first half last year, the Packers made wholesale strategy changes at halftime. The Cowboys' offense struggled mightily in the second half through the air, putting up only 125 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Additionally, the Packers finally gave Harris the safety help he needed on Owens. TO only managed two catches for 24 yards in the second half, and Harris came away with an interception.

Expect more of the same in this game. The Packers won't start out this game with the same strategy they used last year. If they want to have success they will have Harris play Owens aggressively off the line then use Nick Collins as safety help over the top on him.

But at the same time they need to utilize zone-blitzes and even possibly double-teams to contain Witten. As good at coverage as Hawk may be, Witten is a premiere tight end and Hawk, as well as Aaron Rouse (starting in place of Bigby), won't be enough to contain him.

As intriguing as that may be, the match-up between the Packers' passing game and the Cowboys' secondary is just as interesting.

Aaron Rodgers looked very good against Dallas in last season's game, but the Cowboys had prepared in that game for Brett Favre and did a great job of containing him. Don't expect Dallas' defense to be as ill-prepared for Rodgers this time around, having seen him once and having two regular season games worth of tape on him.

But at the same time, Rodgers can still have quite a deal of success against Dallas. After seeing the Cowboys' secondary get burned last week by Philadelphia (257 yards and a 67 percent completion percentage), it's likely that you will see even more this week.

The Packers' wide receivers are one of the elite corps in the NFL. With Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones, as well as rookie Jordy Nelson and tight end Donald Lee, Rodgers has a plethora of options in the passing game. If the Cowboys had trouble containing the likes of DeSean Jackson, Hank Baskett, and Greg Lewis, they may find it even more difficult to stop the Packers.

The key will be avoiding letting Jennings go over the top on a fly route. It has become obvious over the first two games that Jennings is a favorite target of Rodgers and at the same time Rodgers has proven he can hit Jennings with the deep ball. The Cowboys will benefit from having Terence Newman back near 100 percent and it will be up to him to keep Jennings from getting loose in the secondary.

With Pat Watkins and Ken Hamlin patrolling the secondary, Rodgers will look to exploit the Cowboys deep early and often. It will be up to those safeties to not bite on the play-action and stay home when the Packers look to go deep.

Another big key in the Packers' passing attack is the fact that they will have starting center Scott Wells back for the first time. Left tackle Chad Clifton did a great job of containing Vikings' pass rusher Jared Allen in week one (zero sacks, zero tackles). He must do the same to DeMarcus Ware to give Rodgers time to throw the ball.

Everyone is predicting a shootout in this game, and reasonably so. Both offenses have exploded in two games thus far (albeit Dallas against far superior opponents). The key to the game is which defense steps up the most. If Dallas can rattle Rodgers early and avoid letting him get in a rhythm, it could be a long day for the Packers.

But if the Packers' secondary can step up against Dallas' passing attack, and the Packers' defense can pressure Romo, Green Bay may be able to come out on top.