If the NFL has truly turned into a “Quarterback League” – then this game is deserving of it’s stage. The second round of the NFL playoffs features two of the league’s best quarterbacks. On one side is Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, who many feel is this year’s MVP and on the other side is the Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Romo, who had a better quarterback rating then Rodgers this year.
Romo has an infamous resume to his name, including botched snaps, untimely interceptions and famous ex-girlfriends. Romo’s mistakes usually come in prime time and when the world is watching, so the “error of his ways” stick to even the most casual football fan. The truth about Romo is, he’s one of the NFL’s treasures at the quarterback position. The Cowboys in recent years, never supplied Romo with a supporting cast around him and each Cowboys win (and loss) was tied to the back of Romo’s week-to-week performances. The story changed for Romo this year as everything has seemingly come together for the Cowboys’ offense. Running back Demarco Murray was very productive thanks to the best offensive line in football – and a receiving core that can wreck havoc on any secondary in the league. Romo finished the season with a quarterback rating of 113.2 – best in the NFL – threw for over 3700 yards and 34 touchdown passes. Regardless of what some may say, Romo has had a great career, but he is looking for a nice playoff run to shake off the notion that he can’t rise to the occasion in big games.
Aaron Rodgers, for the most part, has become the cover boy for the NFL. Some NFL pundits say he is the most complete quarterback they’ve seen and his video game like numbers suggest that that might indeed be the case. 38 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions is a ridiculous ratio – especially when coupled with the fact that his completion percentage is at 65.6% after attempting 520 passes. Rodgers will not be at 100% health for this game though as he will be nursing a slight tear in his calf.
The offensive talent on both squads make many around the league envious.
The Cowboys have one of the league’s elite wide-outs in Dez Bryant. He is not only a game breaker but also a match up nightmare for cornerbacks around the league. Dez Bryant has showcased his talents all year and led the NFL with 16 touchdown receptions – he’s looking to get paid in the off-season and it’s going to be hard to negotiate him away from the hefty price tag he’ll be demanding.
Jason Witten has been a model of consistency at tight end for the Cowboys. This is the first time in 7 years that the future HOF tight end was not targeted at least 100 times through the air, but that is mostly due to a change in offensive philosophy more than anything else. The reason for a change in that philosophy is because they finally had a healthy Demarco Murray, running behind an offensive line that this team has been putting together through the draft – and with patience. The patience paid off because Murray led the NFL in rushing with 1845 yards – a clear leader in that category considering that Le’Veon Bell of the Steelers was second in rushing yards with 1361.
The running attack, gave Tony Romo a balance that this offense has lacked for some time now – and more importantly it kept their defense off of the field. The passing defense of the Cowboys ranks in the bottom quarter of the league giving up over 250 yards a game – but they have proven to be opportunistic if anything by forcing 15 fumbles and coming away with 18 interceptions.
Green Bay has a similar stock of talent on their side of the ball as well. Wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb are both in the top 12 for total receiving yards in the league. Cobb presents the threat of catching the short pass and turning it into a big gain; Nelson has quietly become more than “just one of Aaron Rodgers’ targets.” Nelson has proven he was worth the contract extension received in the off-season and has become one of the more well rounded wideouts in the league.
Nelson finished with the fourth highest receiving yards in the league with 1519 and was responsible for 71 first downs throughout the year. The Packers running game comes courtesy of Eddie Lacy, who had a slow start to the season, but the sophomore back, seemed to get back into the flow of things by mid-season and finished with over 1100 rushing yards.
The game will be played at Lambeau where Rodgers and the Pack have gone 8-0 this year. That would seem to favor the Packers, but recent history has shown that in their last four home playoff games the Packers have only won once. To make things even more interesting the Dallas Cowboys are undefeated on the road this year – including a victory in Seattle against the defending champion Seahawks. The Packers defense at home has been suspect when playing against the likes of Tom Brady and Matt Ryan — but shine against bottom tier quarterbacks like Geno Smith and Christian Ponder. Romo is NOT Christian Ponder. He’s not exactly Brady either – but he might be better than Matt Ryan. On the road, Romo has the best quarterback completion percentage, rating and touchdown to interception ratio.
This game will come down to ball control which the Cowboys do better than anyone else in the league. Last week in the second half against Detroit, the Cowboys went back to basics and fed Murray until it wore down the Lions front line – making life easier for Romo to drop back and pass. Las Vegas has the Packers slated as the favorite and giving 6.5 points – take the Cowboys here with the points.
G.W. Gras
twitter @GeeSteelio
