How the Green Bay Packers can defeat the Cowboys in divisional round
Win without Jordy Nelson
The Packers will likely have to take down the NFC’s top seed without Jordy Nelson.
#Packers WR Jordy Nelson suffered at least two fractured ribs in the win over #Giants, sources say. Will take an incredible effort to play.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 9, 2017
If Nelson is out as expected, gone will be 1,257 yards and 14 touchdowns of production. Aaron Rodgers’ most trusted and reliable pass catcher will be nothing more than a bystander. And while Nelson’s season-ending injury derailed the Packers’ Super Bowl hopes before they even began in 2015, his absence doesn’t have to sound the death knell of the 2016 Packers.
As I wrote earlier in the week, Green Bay can win without Jordy. Does it become a tougher challenge for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense? Of course, but this team is better prepared than a year ago.
First off, Davante Adams is a completely different player. Fully healthy, he’s become the boundary threat the Packers hoped they had drafted in the second round three years ago. He can shake off press coverage, win deep downfield and fight for contested catches. Without Nelson last week, Adams stepped up with eight catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. If Randall Cobb can continue last week’s form, look out.
Rodgers is playing at a higher level than he did for much of last year, and a key piece to this is his protection. Injuries plagued the Packers offensive line in 2015, but Rodgers’ pass protection this season has been arguably the league’s best.
Losing Nelson for any length of time is bad news for the Packers, but unlike last year, it’s not an absence they can’t overcome.