NFC Divisional Playoffs: (4) Green Bay Packers @ (1) Dallas Cowboys

[Hooe]

Micah Hyde - the cornerback / safety we are discussing - was a first-team All Big-10 cornerback in college his senior season (All B1G honorable mention as a junior). He won the conference's Tatum-Woodson award, given each season to the best defensive back for the league.

Hyde plays slot cornerback and safety in the NFL due to his combination of size and speed, he's plenty capable of playing both positions, and has done so since his time with the Hawkeyes. With three punt return touchdowns, he also has tied the Packers' career record in that stat category, that record held by another B1G dynamo in Desmond Howard, so he's obviously got athleticism to spare.

Hyde is not Richard Sherman, but he's also not just a guy, and he's one of the more useful players on the Packers' defense. To dismiss him at first sight is outright foolish.

[rkwittem]

Quote: Originally Posted by RJTurneR

Why would the defense need to play well when all Rodgers needs is five seconds in the pocket and/or the chance to roll out. Just look how many times he did that last night against a top rated defense. If Dallas can't touch Rodgers, then it's going to difficult for them to keep pace.

"Keeping pace" won't matter if Dallas holds the ball for 7+ minutes more than the Packers. That will almost assuredly be the gameplan again on Sunday. I refuse to live in fear of Aaron Rodgers and bend over backwards for him like he's Tom Brady or Joe Montana.

It just takes one bad play to screw up a drive- be it a drop, sack, penalty, whatever- and GB will have to kick and thus break serve. (And vice versa.) I admittedly haven't seen much to lead me to think that GB's defense will be up to the task against a physical, talented OL. Dealing with the G-Men is not even close to the same kind of game and they left plenthy of points on the field in Green Bay.

Dallas did just fine in week 6 as he tried his run around in circles routine to achieve mixed results. The trick will be keeping him in the pocket. They do not necessarily have to be sacking him and I'm 100% sure the growth from guys like Maliek Collins and David Irving in the last month and a half will pay dividends in this regard unless they aren't calling holding. GB is better than they were then. But so is Dallas.

A Jordy-less WR corps is not nearly as scary especially with Claiborne back and the rest of the secondary healthy. They can lock Claiborne onto Adams and bracket Cobb and force Jared Cook and Geronimo Allison to beat the other cover guys for Dallas.

[PeoplesChampGB]

Ill say this. Rodgers just dropped 38 on a team the Cowboys had trouble scoring seven on.

[Hooe]

Sigh.

Quote: Originally Posted by rkwittem

"Keeping pace" won't matter if Dallas holds the ball for 7+ minutes more than the Packers. That will almost assuredly be the gameplan again on Sunday. I refuse to live in fear of Aaron Rodgers and bend over backwards for him like he's Tom Brady or Joe Montana.

Aaron Rodgers is head-and-shoulders the most talented quarterback to play in the league since Joe Montana, so at least you're putting him in the right company.

That said, keeping pace conversely won't matter for the Cowboys if Aaron Rodgers goes no-huddle for two touchdown drives in less than four combined minutes of time of possession, which he's perfectly capable of doing because he's a uncaring fire-breathing dragon of a quarterback. He's done it to too many other teams to just pass him off as just some other guy.

Quote:

It just takes one bad play to screw up a drive- be it a drop, sack, penalty, whatever- and GB will have to kick and thus break serve. (And vice versa.) I admittedly haven't seen much to lead me to think that GB's defense will be up to the task against a physical, talented OL. Dealing with the G-Men is not even close to the same kind of game and they left plenthy of points on the field in Green Bay.

You have an awful lot of faith in an overachieving Cowboys defense which was middle of the pack in sacks, bottom quartile in interceptions, and top ten in fumble recoveries (fumble recoveries tend to be more indicative of a team's luck than anything skill-based). Who on this Cowboys defense do you trust to get that third down sack? That game-changing interception? Especially against a quarterback who hasn't thrown an interception in two full months?

Sure, you trust Sean Lee to get the run stop on 3rd and 3, he's been awesome this year, but that only gets you so far in this pass-first league.

Quote:

Dallas did just fine in week 6

Throw that game out. Full stop. This is not the same Packers team at all.

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A Jordy-less WR corps is not nearly as scary especially with Claiborne back and the rest of the secondary healthy. They can lock Claiborne onto Adams and bracket Cobb and force Jared Cook and Geronimo Allison to beat the other cover guys for Dallas.

I'm going to regret saying this but Davante Adams might actually be a legitimate NFL wide receiver now. Scandrick couldn't cover Adams in the 2014 playoff game, especially in the second half, and his two bad hamstrings haven't made that matchup look any better for the Cowboys.

More consistently, Randall Cobb has been one of the best slot receivers in the league for several seasons now, Ty Montgomery plays both receiver and running back and is a matchup problem, and though Jared Cook probably will drop a few passes but he's on paper also a matchup problem at tight end who must be accounted for. Also watch out for Jeff Janis and Trevor Davis in the dome, those guys can fly down the field if nothing else, and Rodgers can certainly get it to them.

Look, I'm a Cowboys fan just like you. I'm terrified that Aaron Rodgers is going to run us over - he just ran over a much better defense than ours last week, a defense our offense had two cracks at and couldn't figure out. I fear that Dak, Zeke, Witten, and Dez playing a damn-near perfect game of keep-away is basically the only thing standing in the way of that happening. Our guys are very good, absolutely - they won 13 games, after all - but it's going to take a helluva effort to put this one away because the team across from them this week is also very good.

Bottom line, it's completely unreasonable to expect that this will be an easy game for the Cowboys, and the Packers are probably the single-hottest team in the league entering this game.

[cjonesfan921]

Quote: Originally Posted by PeoplesChampGB

Ill say this. Rodgers just dropped 38 on a team the Cowboys had trouble scoring seven on.

This is the only take on the game that I won't bother entertaining... Only because, each game is truly independent of others.

Rodgers is on fire, though. And, I don't expect that to not be the case on Sunday.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Operation Sports mobile app

[ProfessaPackMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by rkwittem

Again, I was talking about your corners. I don't care about your safeties. Rollins won't play to my knowledge, maybe he will. Randall is the only healthy full-time CB on your team who was actually drafted and plays. Those other CBs are the only other healthy CBs on the Packers' roster. I guess it won't matter if you avoid dime sets but that's pretty thin and pretty appetizing for guys like Bryant or Beasley.

I know you were talking about our UDFA Corners, I just corrected you on the fact that only one of them that actually plays(even with Rollins out BTW). Not even sure why draft status even matters at this point.

But you got it though man.

[PeoplesChampGB]

Quote: Originally Posted by cjonesfan921

This is the only take on the game that I won't bother entertaining... Only because, each game is truly independent of others. Rodgers is on fire, though. And, I don't expect that to not be the case on Sunday. Sent from my Pixel XL using Operation Sports mobile app

Thats fine. My point really was if he could come up with some random bull**** stat to dis a playoff team, I could find a stat as well to show the opposite. Just ticked me off because he's acting like the Cowboys are going to beat the Packers 52-0 Sunday.

[dsallupinyaarea]

Completely throwing out all of the Packers bad games because the good games are more recent seems arbitrary. The whole season is only a 16 game sample and now we're shrinking that sample because... why again? The exact same roster/coaching staff were involved in both streaks. I could see if there was an offseason in between or something.


RK is over the top but the Packers homerism is preeeeeeeeeettttttttyyyyyyyy strong in this thread, too.