Packers Tire, Cowboys Roll

At least that big mouthed, never won anything in his life team-wrecker was kept to two catches for just seventeen yards. My suggestion to other teams: make sure he doesn't beat you and wait for him to show he still cares about himself alone.

However, tonight belonged to Marion Barber. In the first half, the Packers held him pretty well in check, although they gave up a 60-yard touchdown to Felix Jones.

By the second half, Barber was battering a tired Packers defense for nearly ten yards a carry. It reminded me of the NFC Championship game after the 1995 season, in which the Packers were so worn down by the fourth quarter that the Cowboys were running on them at will.

There were, however, two differences. The first is that in that playoff game, the Packers were leading 27-24 at the end of the third quarter. They never so much as threatened to take a lead in the second half in this one.

On the positive side, they forced a late fumble in this one they were unable to do in that one, and it allowed them to drive down the field and make the game close. Had the onside kick attempt been recovered one yard further downfield, it would have been enough to make things interesting. But at least the Packers did not go away with a whimper.

In looking at the major contributing factors to their appearance of being simply overmatched, there are two that the team and its fans can take solace in:

1. Just like last season, they were banged up. Woodson looked fine on his broken toe and Grant seemed to be mostly over his sore hamstring, but Al Harris was knocked out of the game early, Nick Barnett spent time on the sidelines, and Atari Bigby, the team's best safety, did not play at all.
2. This is the youngest team in the league, and playing in these big games should make them better. They avoided most turnovers, but once again were infected by the penalty bug. You can't do that against elite teams, and the coaching staff better remedy that fast.

I charted 57 of the offensive plays in the game, and by unofficial count, there were 44 in which the Packers forced the Cowboys to put their nickel or dime defense on the field. This is something coach Mike McCarthy does to exploit favourable match-ups of the Packers reserve receivers, the best in the game, against the reserve defensive backs of his opponent.

Of those 44 plays, 35 were pass plays and 38 involved Rodgers dropping back to pass (he scrambled three times for nine yards). In those 35 pass plays, Rodgers was sacked five times for 40 yards; he had been sacked just once in his first two games.

However, in the other 30 passes out of a spread set, Rodgers completed 18 for 196 yards. The team also ran six times for 31 yards and Rodgers TD run, even excluding his scrambles (although it was out of this set that Grant fumbled).

Thus, in total that formation produced 336 yards in the 44 plays I charted for an average of over 7.6 per play. By contrast, in the 13 plays they used either a two-tight end, one back or standard pro set, they gained just 66 yards. Rodgers completed just one of three passes, although it was for 26 yards.

For one thing, this shows the Packers like to run out of standard personnel sets and throw out of spread sets. It may not be a good thing to be that predictable. However, it may be a sign the team needs to utilize their mismatch in the spread offense more, since it was wildly more effective in this game.

Hey, if it's something I can see, I hope the guys they are paying to do this can, too.