Green Bay’s Aggressive, Swarming Defense Too Much for Dallas. (AP Photo/ Morry Gash)
The Dallas Cowboys (6-3) came into Sundays game (Nov. 15), against the Green Bay Packers (5-4), ranked 3rd in the NFL in offensive yards per game (404.5) and 5th in points scored per game (27.1). Against the Packers, the Cowboys managed only 278 total yards and were held without a point until Roy Williams caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo with 39 seconds left in the game.
Green Bay came into the game against Dallas having allowed 78 points over their last two games, and with only three total sacks in their last three games. Against the Cowboys the Packers had five sacks, two fumble recoveries, and an interception. Packers’ cornerback Charles Woodson led the way with eight tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles, and an interception.
"It seemed like guys had a lot of passion out there today for the game," Woodson said. "Where it came from, I don't know, but we were happy to have it and got a big win for this team. We've got to have that passion every week, and it's got to show up on the field."
On their first possession of the game, Dallas drove all the way down to the Green Bay 20-yard line. After Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo was sacked on third-and-three, Dallas kicker Nick Folk lined up for a routine 38-yard field goal. After going 9 for 9 on field goals from within 40-yards in Dallas’ first eight games, Folk hooked this one wide left and the Cowboys’ turned the ball over on downs.
The Cowboys’ offense went five possessions in a row, starting with ten seconds left in the first quarter and ending with 13:14 left in the fourth quarter, converting only one first down. Romo went 24 for 39 (61.5 percent) for the game with 251 yards passing along with a touchdown and an interception, but most of his yardage and his only touchdown came late in the fourth quarter with Green Bay up 17-0.
"Their defense is good, they've got a good scheme," Romo said. "I don't know how they are normally, but today they definitely got good pressure on the quarterback, slowed our running game and they played good behind it. The secondary, they've got good players."
Romo and wide-receiver Roy Williams seemed to be on the same page for the second week in a row as Williams had the most receiving yards (105) and best yards per catch average (21.5) as a Cowboy. These stats don’t tell the full story; however, as Williams had a 41-yard reception turned fumble that led directly to Green Bay scoring the first points of the game: a field goal to end the first half, giving the Packers a 3-0 lead. Williams also killed a drive in the first half on a pass that went straight through his hands and then literally hit him right in the face-mask.
The Dallas defense did the best they could with what they had to work with, but their offense put them in some difficult situations. The Cowboys totaled four sacks for the game, forced three fumbles (recovering one), and held Green Bay to only 283 total yards.
The Cowboys’ also had numerous players sitting out plays or series with injuries sustained during the course of the game. Offensive tackle Marc Colombo broke his leg with 5:41 left in the first quarter and may miss the rest of the regular season.
After back-to-back losses to sub .500 teams, Green Bay touted this meeting with Dallas as their most important game of the season, and they played like it. Dallas plays their next game at noon, Sunday Nov. 22, against the Washington Redskins.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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