Desperate for a win to stay in the hunt for a division title and hopeful that a dreadful defense can put things together in the final weeks of the season: that is a good description of both teams that will meet at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.
The Green Bay Packers (6-6-1) and the Dallas Cowboys (7-6) are mirror images heading into a game that will likely determine the fortunes of both teams.
Both teams need a win Sunday to remain relevant in their division race, the only way either team can qualify for the postseason. The Packers are a half-game behind both the Detroit Lions (7-6) and the Chicago Bears (7-6) in the NFC North. Dallas is a game behind the Philadelphia Eagles (8-5) in the NFC East.
Both teams have struggled defensively this season. The Packers have the 21st-ranked defense in the league, averaging 369.4 yards per game. The Cowboys have been even worse, giving up 426.8 yards a game, worst in the NFL.
The Packers have been giving up 25.1 points per game on average, while the Cowboys have been giving up 26.8, including 45 Monday night to the Bears.
On offense, both teams have struggled to overcome their hapless defenses.
“You just have to understand that certain games there’s going to be more scoring, and you’re going to have the ability to put more points on the board,” Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said during a conference call with Wisconsin media on Wednesday.
For the Packers, scoring has been hampered by the injury to quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is still trying to return from a fractured collarbone.
Romo understands the injury, having broken his collarbone in 2010.
“Obviously if you’re feeling it at all, you can’t come back and play,” Romo said. “Even when you get relatively to where you don’t have pain, it still doesn’t mean you are ready to play.”
Romo says there are a lot of cases of guys coming back from it too soon and re-injuring themselves. While Romo did not play again in 2010, he said his injury, which was more significant than the one Rodgers suffered, took 10 weeks to be completely healed.
With the Cowboys likely to add more risks, blitzes and gimmicks to the defense this week, the Packers will be ready, whomever starts at quarterback.
“You just play within your system,” said quarterback Matt Flynn, who has started the last two games for the Packers. “You have answers for every defense, every protection and adjustment. … This offense is built from the ground up to have answers for everything.”
The outcome of Sunday’s game will alter the course these similar teams take for the remainder of the season. The winner will continue to be in the playoff chase, hoping to get some help from division rivals before the end of Week 17. The loser will likely face elimination or be as close to it as a team can get without being mathematically eliminated.
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