Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy calls a play during the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Green Bay, Wis.
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The above quote comes from the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Ryan Wood, and I would highly recommend following this link if you want to read an incredible piece about Lacy that involves, you know, actual journalistic work.
Every week I’ll share four quick thoughts the day after the Green Bay Packers’ game. “The adjustments that our run-blocking unit was able to make throughout the football game and handled a number of things that they threw at us was impressive”. “The last few weeks, things were a little different”, Lacy said, referring to his missed curfew in Detroit 10 days ago.
At just the right time, too, since Lacy’s bullish running style seems well suited for bad weather in December.
On Sunday against the Packers, Lacy returned to the starting lineup and carried the ball 24 times for 124 yards and a touchdown in Green Bay’s 28-7 victory over the Cowboys.
Even after the Packers’ second offensive series stalled on the Dallas 1, McCarthy and Rodgers orchestrated back-to-back scoring drives in the second quarter to put Green Bay in control. “He just needed to refocus and he did that and you could see it from when he steps on the field”.
The Packers defense and running game came up with big plays in the fourth quarter. “We didn’t do enough offensively and Matt’s certainly a big part of that”, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said.
With the loss, the potential for a. 500 record slipped away from the Cowboys (4-9).
The Cowboys (4-9) suffered a setback to their chances of winning the mediocre NFC East.
Dallas fell two games back of divisional leaders Washington and Philadelphia, who both won on Sunday.
“This is what I love to do and without it I am miserable”, said Lacy. “That game was sobering”.
Coach McCarthy said the first 12 games of the season, Clements may have been calling the plays, but McCarthy was right there suggesting. He called it a hard personal decision to make with a long-time assistant. McCarthy is a much better play caller from the sidelines and the Packers are going to continue improving moving forward. “It’s been about the execution”.
The Cowboys’ 28-7 loss to the Packers Sunday drops Dallas to 4-9 on the year, and effectively ends the season. Dallas’ best bet, now, for the future, will be to finish 4-12 and obtain the highest draft pick they can possibly have.
Dallas also had success on the ground, with Darren McFadden (Pulaski Oak Grove, Arkansas Razorbacks) running for 111 yards on nine carries.
McFadden gained 95 of his yards on two plays – a 50-yard run in the first quarter and a 45-yard run in the third quarter that preceded Turbin’s touchdown.
But the Cowboys’ passing game struggled. Cassel was 13-of-29 passing for 114 yards with one interception and a 41.5 passer rating. Cassel wouldn’t be Bryant’s first choice for who throws him the ball, but nonetheless, it’s a credit to the way Green Bay’s young secondary played against an established star receiver.
Bryant, whose last appearance at Lambeau Field concluded with his controversial non-catch, finished with only one catch for nine yards. He is no longer in the good graces of Aaron Rodgers, which will have a negative impact on his numbers.
“It is what it is, man. When they called it incomplete, it was incomplete”, Bryant said. Particularly in the third quarter, the Cowboys defense looked very strong, and was really the only thing that kept Dallas in the game. Instead, the talented rookie duo of Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins, along with fourth-year player Casey Hayward, teamed up to keep Bryant from making any impact whatsoever.
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I mean, he started off the season as the chubby, out-of-shape guy who let himself go after being a hero who ran for over 1,100 yards in his first two seasons. “Just a great job being ready”.
