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| ATL at STL | BUF at WAS | CIN at PIT | CLE at ARI | DEN at OAK | DET at MIN | GB at DAL | HOU at TEN |
| JAX at IND | NE at BAL | NYG at CHI | NYJ at MIA | SD at KC | SEA at PHI | SF at CAR | TB at NO |
Week 13 Game Recap: Green Bay Packers 27, Dallas Cowboys 37
What you need to know
| Green Bay Packers |
QB Brett Favre, who came into this game 0-8 all-time in Dallas, did not have his best game in limited action. He looked to force throws and often threw into double coverage early in the game. The pass protection didn't help as the Cowboys got good pressure. Favre failed to recognize a cornerback blitz by Nate Jones in the second quarter and was hurt on the play when Jones' helmet hit Favre's elbow while throwing. He left the game and did not return with what was reported as an elbow bruise. Favre finished the game five for 14 for 56 yards and two interceptions.
QB Aaron Rodgers came in for the injured Favre and played very well in relief. He led the Packers on a 69 yard scoring drive late in the first half and hooked up WR Greg Jennings for 11 yards for his first NFL passing touchdown. Rodgers wasn't able to bring the Packers back all the way, but he showed he is a capable backup who can move the Green Bay offense and kept the game competitive. Rodgers finished the game with solid numbers going 18 for 28 for 201 yards and one touchdown. He also added 30 yards rushing by making some plays with his feet.
RB Ryan Grant had another terrific game against a tough opponent. He broke a 62 yard touchdown run late in the first quarter on a third and one play in which the Dallas safeties were unable to come up and make a play on him. Grant would only add 32 yards on 13 more carries in the game, but one of them would be a one yard plunge into the end zone in the third quarter for his second touchdown of the game.
WR Greg Jennings had a nice game as he led the Packers in receiving with 87 yards. Jennings' biggest play of the game came on 43 yard completion which came on a short out pattern that he was able to turn into a big gain after the catch in the second quarter. Later on in that drive, Jennings would catch a pass on the Dallas two yard line and was able to scramble in for a touchdown.
| Dallas Cowboys |
QB Tony Romo had another excellent performance as he managed the game well and used all of his offensive weapons to put up 37 points on a good, but banged up Packers defense. He never wavered in this game even after Green Bay made a comeback, as he did a great job of reading defenses and finding the open receiver. Romo also made plays with his feet rolling out of the pocket and hitting guys with accuracy. He finished the game 19 for 30 for 309 yards and four touchdowns. Late in the game, Romo hit an open WR Terrell Owens in the end zone but, the ball bounced off his hands and up into the air where the Packers' CB Al Harris intercepted the ball in what could have been even a bigger game for him. He now has 33 touchdowns this season and now holds the club's season record.
WR Terrell Owens was pretty much unstoppable in the first half of this game as he had six catches for 147 yards and one touchdown. He had three catches of 34 yards or more in the first half and caught his only touchdown on a ten yard pass midway through the second quarter. Owens should have had a second touchdown in the game when Romo found him in the end zone but, the ball bounced off his hands and into the hands of a defender for an interception. WR Patrick Crayton had three catches for 42 yards and two touchdowns.
RB Marion Barber had a solid game as he had 17 carries for 81 yards, most of them coming in the second half. He came close to getting a touchdown in the second half on nice 17 yard run but, was tripped up and tackled on the Packers five yard line.
What you ought to know
| QB Aaron Rodgers, Pass: 18 - 26 - 201 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 5 - 30 - 0 |
Rodgers stepped in for an injured QB Brett Favre in the second quarter and went five for eight for 69 yards the rest of the half. He would get his first NFL touchdown pass late in the half to WR Greg Jennings on an 11 yard pass. He did a good job of moving the Packers down the field to cut the deficit to only ten points at halftime.
Rodgers led Green Bay down the field on there first possession of the second half on a 69 yard touchdown drive. Rogers threw for 55 yards and ran for nine yards on that drive as he looked really good leading the Packers offense and pulled them within three points of the Cowboys. He did a good job of using his legs scrambling for 30 yards. If Green Bay can take anything from this loss, it is that Rogers looks like a capable backup and can come in and make some plays to move the offense.
| QB Brett Favre, Pass: 5 - 14 - 56 - 0 TD / 2 INT |
Favre and the Packers came out throwing as they opened the game in a five receiver set, something that has been pretty effective for the Packers recently. He threw one up for grabs on the first play of the Packers' third possession of the game. Favre got some pressure from up the middle and threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted. He took plenty of deep shots down the field early in the game and was lucky not to get a couple of other passes picked off. He got his second interception early in the second quarter when a defender came in on a blitz and Favre's throwing arm hit his helmet while trying to throw. Favre looked to be in pain after the play as he held his throwing arm. It appeared he slammed his forearm or elbow on the defenders helmet while trying to throw. Favre would not come back into the game on the next series and back up Aaron Rodgers would take his place. Favre stayed on the sidelines with his helmet on but he would not return to the game as he had a wrap on his right throwing elbow. He played poorly prior to getting injured and having to leave the game.
| RB Ryan Grant, Rush: 14 - 94 - 2, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets) |
Grant broke off the Packers' first big play of the game when he took a third and one play 62 yards for a touchdown. The Dallas safeties should have been able to make the tackle on Grant on this play, but they ran into each other, making it an easy scamper for him once he got through the line. It was the longest run of the year for Green Bay. He would finish the first half with ten carries for 90 yards. Grant got his second touchdown of the game when he punched in a score from within the one yard line. But Grant wasn't a big part of the offense in the second half as he only gained four yards rushing on four carries in the second half.
| RB Vernand Morency (3 targets) |
Morency had three targets but, did not have catches or carries.
| WR Donald Driver, Rec: 7 - 66 - 0 (10 targets) |
Driver got a pass thrown to him in the end zone on the first drive but, CB Terrence Newman had good coverage and was able to break up the pass. He would only catch one pass for three yards in the first half. He made his first big impact of the game by catching a 17 yard pass on a third down and long play early in the second half. Driver caught an eight yard pass to the one yard line and was tackled short of the goal line midway through the third quarter. He caught an 11 yard pass across the middle for first down late in the game. Like usual, Driver caught most of his seven passes over the middle of the field between the hash marks.
| WR Greg Jennings, Rec: 5 - 87 - 1 (6 targets) |
Jennings made his first catch on a short pass and then made a great move and took it 43 yards late in the second quarter. He caught a pass on the Dallas two yard line and was able to scramble into the end zone for an 11 yard touchdown catch. He finished the half with three catches for 63 yards. He caught a 15 yard pass for a first down early in the fourth quarter and would add another catch for nine yards late in the game. Jennings led the Packers with 87 yards receiving.
| WR James Jones, Rec: 3 - 39 - 0 (8 targets) |
Jones had a deep ball thrown to him early in the game but, it was overthrown by QB Brett Favre. In fact, he was targeted early as three of Favre's first four passes went in his direction. He would have six targets in the first half but, only two catches for 32 yards. Jones only had one catch for seven yards in the second half as WR Donald Driver was targeted much more often in the second half and Jones only had two passes thrown his way.
| WR Koren Robinson, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (2 targets) |
Robinson had one catch for seven yards in the first half. His second catch came on a quick out which he was able to take for nine yards.
| TE Donald Lee, Rec: 3 - 30 - 0 (3 targets) |
Lee only had one catch for three yards in the first half. He caught a big pass over the middle for 22 yards to put the ball deep in Dallas territory. He would add one more pass for five yards late in the game.
| PK Mason Crosby 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Crosby made a 47 yard field on Green Bay's first drive of the game. His next field goal was a big 52 yard field goal late in the game that pulled the Packers to within seven points.
| GB Rush Defense |
The Packers gave up 107 yards to the Dallas running backs, but did a pretty good job throughout most of the game against them. They were unable to stop them late in the game as Cowboys were able to run down the clock and kick a field goal for seal up a victory.
| GB Pass Defense |
Injures to the Packers secondary, especially starting CB Charles Woodson, hurt the Packers in this game as QB Tony Romo had his way with them by throwing for over 300 yards and four touchdowns.
| QB Tony Romo, Pass: 19 - 30 - 309 - 4 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0 |
Romo came out and looked very good early on leading the Cowboys to two scoring drives on there first couple possessions. But the drives bogged down in Green Bay territory and they had to settle for two field goals. On their third possession, Romo capitalized on a Packers' turnover by finding WR Patrick Crayton open in the back of the end zone on a three yard pass. He was given plenty of time to throw and pick apart the Packers' zone defense. He hit Terrell Owens on 48 yards pass and came back to throw a strike to TE Anthony Fasano on a great pass on the right side for a 26 yard touchdown. Romo did a great job of looking off the safeties and throwing a perfect pass to Fasano over the defender. The Cowboys would draw a big pass interference penalty which would set up Romo's third touchdown pass of the first half with a ten yard pass to Terrell Owens. He finished the first half nine for 15 for 197 yards. In that half, the Packers did not get much pressure on Romo, and he did a great job of finding open receivers.
Romo started off slow in the second half but completed a big 35 yard pass to WR Patrick Crayton on third and 19 deep in Dallas territory. It was a huge play because it looked like the momentum of the game had turned in Green Bay favor, but Romo was able to lead the Cowboys down into Packer's territory. The Cowboys should have had a touchdown but, Owens had the ball hit him in the hands in the end zone and bounce up in the air for a Packers defender to intercept. Dallas got the ball deep in Green Bay territory after a 42 yard interference penalty. Romo would find Crayton again on crossing route for four yard touchdown and his fourth touchdown. Romo played an excellent game and his play was the difference maker in this contest. Also, give credit to the Cowboys offensive line as they gave Romo all day to throw the ball.
| RB Marion Barber III, Rush: 17 - 81 - 0, Rec: 1 - -3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Barber came in on the Cowboys' second drive and didn't waste much time making an impact as he had a nice 16 yard run up the middle, punishing tacklers all the while. But he would only have six carries for 25 yards in the first half. Barber had another big gain of 17 yards on a run, after cutting it back to the left side of the field on a play designed to go to the right. The defensive back was able to trip him on the play and bring him down on the Green Bay five yard line, otherwise he had six points. He was able to run the ball pretty effectively late in the game as the Cowboys tried to run down the clock. He had 23 yards on the Cowboys last drive of the game that helped seal the victory.
| RB Julius Jones, Rush: 9 - 26 - 0, Rec: 1 - 21 - 0 (1 targets) |
Jones started the game and caught a short screen pass, and took it 21 yards on the first drive to help set up the Cowboys' first score. Romo and the passing game were very effective in the first half, and Jones only had five carries for 15 yards rushing. He started the second half with a 12 yard carry up the middle. But he would only have three more carries for negative one yard the rest of the game.
| WR Terrell Owens, Rec: 7 - 156 - 1 (10 targets) |
Owens had a huge first half as he had six catches for 147 yards. He caught two early passes for 18 yards but, dropped a very catchable ball on third and eight, deep in Green Bay territory. The Cowboys were forced to settle for their second field goal. Owens came back and caught a big pass for 34 yards on the next drive that put the ball inside the Packers ten yard line. Owens caught a 48 yard pass over the middle early in the second quarter to give him 100 receiving early in the second quarter. He capped off a big first half with a ten yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter. QB Tony Romo and Owens continued their half of pitch and catch as they hooked up for a 37 yard completion on the next possession.
The second half wasn't too kind to Owens as he had a sure touchdown in the end zone but, he had the ball bounce out of his hands and into the hands of Packers CB Al Harris. This was a huge play since it would have given the Cowboys a ten point lead early in the fourth quarter. He only caught one pass for nine yards in the second half, but saw plenty of double teams in the half after scorching the Packers' secondary in the first half of the game.
| WR Patrick Crayton, Rec: 3 - 42 - 2 (6 targets) |
Crayton caught Dallas' first touchdown of the game on a play where he got open in the back of the end zone. He caught a big 35 yard pass late in the third quarter on a third and long situation. Crayton's third catch was four yard touchdown on crossing pattern where he was able to get in front of the defender on the play.
| TE Jason Witten, Rec: 6 - 67 - 0 (9 targets) |
Witten did not connect with many throws in the first half but, he was Romo's favorite targets in the second half. He had catches of 13, 12, and 13 yards each for first downs early in the fourth quarter. He had another big first down on a 15 yard catch off a crossing pattern late in the game. He finished the game as Dallas' second leading receiver.
| TE Anthony Fasano, Rec: 1 - 26 - 1 (2 targets) |
Fasano caught his first and only catch of the game on a 26 yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. He almost had a second touchdown on a diving catch on Dallas' next possession but, he dropped the ball when he hit the ground.
| PK Nick Folk 3 - 3 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 13 points |
Folk made a 26 yard field on the first drive of the game and a 51 yard one on the second drive. He would add another 25 field goal late in the game to seal a victory for Dallas.
| DAL Rush Defense |
The Cowboys run defense did a very good job against the run but, made a big mistake on one play in the second quarter when they let RB Ryan Grant run 62 yards for touchdown on a third and one play. Dallas safeties seemed to get tangled up with one another on a missed tackle and let what should have about ten yard gain turn into a big play. Outside of Grant's big run, they held him to 32 yards rushing on 13 carries. They did give up two rushing touchdowns in the game.
| DAL Pass Defense |
The Cowboys intercepted Favre twice early in the game and did a good job of not letting Favre get off to a good start in the game. They gave up 201 yards to Aaron Rodgers in relief and one touchdown. CB Terrence Newman left the game at one point with an injury.
