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Most of Packer Nation is absolutely speechless after the Packers gave up 38 points to the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After losing to a truly bad team, the Packers must now face a very good Dallas Cowboys team.
Was the Buccaneer win a fluke? Will the Packers pull out a win at Lambeau against the Cowboys? Let’s see what the stats have to say.
Packers/Buccaneers Recap
The Packers completely outclassed the Buccaneers in nearly all phases of the game. Although, you wouldn’t know it by the final score.
Here’s a smattering of some of the more notable stats:
- Total Yards: Packers-404, Bucs-279
- Rushing Yards: Packers-170, Bucs-81
- Receiving Yards: Packers-234, Bucs-198
- Yards/Rush: Packers-5.3, Bucs-3.2
So, how did the Packers find a way to lose to the Buccaneers?
- Kick Returns: 2 for 107 yards
- Interception Returns: 3 for 86 yards
- Sacks: 6 for 32 yards
- Blocked Punts: 1 for a touchdown
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Packers/Cowboys Preview
So, the Packers have to regroup and try to win one, at Lambeau, against the Dallas Cowboys. How do the teams match up?
Aside from a couple early loses to the New York Giants and Denver Broncos, the Cowboys have done very well this season. They are currently sitting atop a very tough NFC East division with a 6-2 record.
In week 9, the Cowboys scored 10 4th quarter points to put the nail in the coffin against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Dallas offense is ranked 3rd in the NFL averaging 404.5 yards of total offense every game. Compare that to the Packers total defense. The Packers rank 4th in total defense only allowing 282.9 yards per game. This statistic is, of course, skewed by the fact that Green Bay has played weaker opponents than the Cowboys.
The Packers’ special teams will get another challenge. The Packers should be able to contain the Dallas kick returners. Miles Austin and Kevin Ogletree are #30 and #43 respectively in kick returns.
The Dallas punt return game is a different story. Green Bay will have their hands full containing the 3rd best punt returner in the league, Patrick Clayton. Of course the best way to contain the punt returner is to avoid punting altogether by sustaining drives.
That brings us to what is probably the only chink in the Cowboy’s armor… their defense. The Cowboys are only ranked 20th in the NFL in total defense. If the Packers can exploit the Cowboys defense and keep drives alive, they may win this game.
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This illustrates that in the end the only stat that matters is the one that is on the scoreboard at the end of the fourth quarter. We have a “great” quarterback with a great passer rating, lots of yards and a great completion percentage and we are 4 and 5. One of our losses was against an o’fer team with a rookie starter. This team has to realize that a lot of passing yards doesn’t win games…it’s getting in the endzone. And whatever combination get’s that done is the most important thing for our team to be doing right now.