That was it for Green Bay’s offense until a 12-play drive in the fourth. It makes sense in a way since he is probably nothing more than the number four receiving option behind Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, and Jason Witten, but I believe that Beasley can be the determining factor in helping the Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers this week. On the other hand, should the Vikings win that head-to-head matchup and finish with the same record as the Packers, they would claim the title based on a better record within the division. Dallas’ front seven is also yielding an impressive 78 rushing yards per game at 3.5 yards per carry on the road in 2015.
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Philadelphia, Washington and NY are all 5-7 meaning Dallas can create a four-way tie atop the division by winning and all of those teams losing. On the day, Rodgers was 22-for-35 for 218 yards and a passer rating of 99.5. In that scenario, Green Bay is the NFC’s top seed. More importantly, the Cowboys’ defense is limiting opponents to a mere 257 total yards per game at 4.8 yards per play on grass and 257 total yards per game at 4.8 yards per play over its last three games. In fact, prior to last Thursday’s game, Green Bay should be encouraged by Lacy’s recent production as he strung together two straight 100-plus rushing yard performances.
Green Bay tacked on another touchdown about 2 minutes later. Cornerback Sam Shields corralled the deflection for an interception.
Dallas couldn’t sustain the momentum, due in part to receiver Dez Bryant managing just one catch for 9 yards, even though star cornerback Sam Shields was lost to a concussion in the second quarter.
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The play has contributed to confusion among some players and fans about the rules that constitute what is and isn’t a catch. On fourth-and-goal, Rodgers’ sneak was stopped by defensive tackle Nick Hayden, among others. During his appearance on “1 on 1 With The Boys”, a weekly radio show on WIXX in Green Bay featuring Packers players, Crockett made sure to correct morning show host Murphy when he incorrectly pronounced Bison to open the NDSU portion of the interview. With McCarthy again calling the plays, Rodgers orchestrated a masterful 11-play, 81-yard TD drive late in the second quarter that featured a 16-yard pass to James Jones, 14-yard passes to Cobb and Kuhn and a 16-yard Rodgers run that converted a third down. This hesitation should give the Cowboys pass-rushers the extra second they might need to get in Rodgers’ face, and bring him down for a few sacks. The Packers defense would have to account for him and not load the box to stop the run. Without their two best offensive players, the team was forced to play with the likes of Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel, which got them to a not-too-respectable 4-8.
