Offense
- Shore Up the Middle, or, The Redemption of Daryn Colledge
Last seasons game against the Cowboys saw Packers left guard Daryn Colledge have his worst game as a professional. It was so bad, he was pulled in the second quarter of the game. But he was not the only offensive lineman to have a bad game during that horror show on a late November evening.
Scott Wells should be back at center on Sunday night, and rookie guard Josh Sitton is close to returning, which presents McCarthy with a dilemma. Spitz has played well at center in Wells’ absence and is better than Colledge at either guard spot. But Colledge had by far his best game at the position last week against the Lions. My guess would be we see an interior of Colledge, Wells and Spitz, which means that Colledge will have an opportunity to redeem himself for his horrific performance last season. (Specifically, defensive end Stephen Bowen made his life miserable. Have you head of Stephen Bowen? Of course not. You hadn’t heard of Alphonso Boone either until Colledge made him look like a star) Look for McCarthy to use a lot of three receiver, one back, one tight end personnel packages early on. This will allow him to motion Lee into the backfield to help with a soft interior, while allowing him to get Jennings, Driver and Jones out into the Cowboys zones, where they will have ample opportunities to make plays.
- Pound the Football
Surprised? Yes, though there will be ample opportunity in the Dallas secondary, McCarthy needs to work the weakside isolation run all…day…long. He should use a liberal amount of Ryan Grant and Kregg Lumpkin on second downs to chew up both yardage and the clock. The Cowboys game against Philly this past Monday night was thrilling, but ultimately played into Dallas’ hands. They have a lighter, quicker front seven on defense and a quick strike offense. The Packers need to keep their offense on the field and limit opportunites for the Dallas offense to throw it all over the Packers’ secondary. There are yards to be gained in the middle of this Cowboy defense, even more now that hard hitting saftety Roy Williams will be out of the lineup with an injury. I know McCarthy loves to spread things out, but this is one time he can protect his team by playing things closer to the vest and actually commit to the running game.
DEFENSE
- Hit Romo
I don’t care about sacks. But the Packers must figure out a way to get hits on Tony Romo. It doesn’t matter if he completes the passes, just hit the guy. If the past season and a half has taught us anything about Romo it’s that he doesn’t handle pressure well. Watch any game where he is blizted extensively and you will see it. Last Monday night, he was able to avoid the blitz due to some perfect calls from Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, the biggest of which was a screen to halfback Marion Barber to the blitz side that went for 20+ yards. But even when given the perfect call, Romo can be rattled, much like the 3rd down play at the end of the game where Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson sent the house after Romo. All he had to do was hit Barber in the flat and the game was over. But Romo, as is his wont when presented with pressure in his face, overthrew Barber and gave the Eagles one last chance.The Packers don’t need to blitz him on every play, but they do need to make him unsure of when the extra rushers are coming, and when they do come, they need to hit the quarterback. Hard.
- Slow Down T.O. and Witten
A lot of previews for this game will focus on the T.O vs. Al Harris angle. And it will no doubt play an important part. But there’s no realistic way the Packers will stop Owens. They can only hope to slow him down. T.O. will get his. But tight end Jason Witten is a much bigger problem. T.O. can be doubled, bracketed, etc but Witten must be handled in this defense either by a linebacker or safety and the Packers don’t have one that is up to the job. Hawk has improved in coverage, but Witten will embarrass him. Rouse and Collins have no chance against him. The Packers will be forced into more zone coverage than we are used to seeing because of the threat that Witten poses, especially to the middle of the field.
In last years meeting, the Cowboys sent Owens in motion play after play, thereby forcing Harris to either play off or pass T.O off to the next interior member of the secondary. Needless to say, chaos ensued. It will be interesting, especially in light of Harris comments yesterday, how the Packers try to address this tactic. There’s no doubt the Packers are well aware of the damage the motion caused last year and have spent this week schemeing ways to negate the effects.
