Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers Sky Sports 3 Sunday Night 6.05 PM
If you didn’t see Dallas play last weekend, you missed a great game. In a Wild Card weekend devoid of memorable moments, the final quarter provided us with a moment likely to go down in NFL lore. With 8 minutes left in the game, on 3rd & 1, Lions QB Matthew Stafford threw a pass intended for Brandon Pettigrew. A penalty flag for interference was thrown and referee Pete Morelli also announced the penalty. It is not unusual to see flags picked up after discussion between referees and sideline officials. However to announce the flag and subsequently reverse it was quite mystifying.
Cue cries of NFL collusion, with the NFL desperate for the Cowboys to win. Conspiracy theories and Dallas go hand in hand though, right? The Lions didn’t go for it on 4&1 and the subsequent punt was poor.
It’s worth noting too that the Cowboys have been getting away with holding on the offensive line quite a lot and they got away with it twice on the game winning score to Terrance Williams.
They did do extremely well to come back in that game, holding the Lions to only three second half points. Tony Romo played reasonably well against a ferocious pass rush (he could have helped the line at times), and has hopefully silenced those who blame the Cowboys woes on him.
The Lions only completed ten passes to their top two receivers, with only three of those coming in the second half. Give credit to the Cowboys defence and Rod Marinelli for tightening things up. Two of their better defenders in Rolando McClain and Jeremy Mincey are battling concussions, but are expected to play, the Packers may favour the run and the availability of these two to shore up the interior would be very significant.
Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers QB is the likely MVP of the regular season but he goes into the game carrying a stifling injury. Rodgers has a slight tear in his calf, he injured it in the penultimate game of the year against Tampa Bay, but in the final game against the Lions he was taken off the field only to return in true Roy of the Rovers style, and seal the win.
He has played outstandingly, his accuracy is on point, he is incredibly smart in his decision making and he can throw it deep. His mobility and ability to throw on the run makes him a true triple threat, although it seems unlikely this will be seen tonight.
The Packers took a lot of snaps in the shotgun, and some in the Pistol formation, since Rodgers has been affected by the injury. Their running game is certainly capable of picking up any slack caused by his injury. Eddie Lacy is an ox, and wears teams down as the game goes on. Dallas have struggled defending the run, and with the plethora of fine receivers at Green Bay’s disposal (namely Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb), they can still be very effective even with the injuries.
The Packers defence meanwhile has improved, it’s still not a top tier defence but they haven’t held the team back like in previous seasons. Their stout performance against the Patriots is probably their most notable game, holding them to 21 points. The injury to Rodgers may have a bigger impact than expected, but it does look like the Packers simply have too much firepower for the Cowboys.
Sunday Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos Sky Sports 3 9:40 PM
Andrew Luck meets the man he replaced in Indianapolis in our concluding Divisional game. The Colts had a fine win last week, the Bengals were weak offensively hampered by injuries, but following their touchdown in the opening quarter, the Bengals never looked capable of scoring.
The Colts still struggle running the ball but their passing game did look very good last week even if T.Y Hilton had quite a few big drops. Andrew Luck had plenty of time in the pocket as Cincinnati offered little in terms of pass rush, but that is going to change this week.
The Broncos have an incredibly good defence, capable of holding any team. They have terrific defenders in the up front, their star man is Von Miller, superb in rushing the passer and in pass coverage. Their backend is solidified by one of the best CB tandems in the league in Chris Harris and Aqib Talib, and a very good safety combination in T.J Ward and Rahim Moore. Their defence excel against the run and the pass, the Colts are capable of putting up some points on them but it will require them to play at an extremely high level, which I don’t think they are capable of.
The Broncos offense is led by one of the more familiar faces in the NFL, Peyton Manning. What’s been strange as of late however is that it is running back C.J. Anderson who has been the fulcrum of their offense.
Manning has had some issues, with some accuracy and arm strength (this has been an issue for a while to be fair), and his struggles have seen them lean on the run. That’s not to say they can’t or won’t use their passing game, they have some tremendously talented weapons there, namely Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, and Julius Thomas' return is a big boost (The Broncos have had some trouble in the redzone since his injury).
If they continue their reliance on the run, they could exploit one of the weaker sides of the Colts defence. They don’t defend the run particularly well. The run oriented approach could prove to be very effective. In pretty much every facet of the game, the Broncos are better than the Colts the Quarterbacks could be open to some debate (as of late Luck has been better than Manning), but it is one sided.
To quote the late ESPN analyst Stuart Scott, Andrew Luck will need to get “his freak on” and his “Mojo Workin’” to win this game. He will have to outduel Manning, and play pretty much mistake free football. It’s a big ask of anyone against such a talented defence, and I think it’s too great. Luck is a top tier Quarterback but there simply isn’t enough around him for the Colts to win
