Green Bay Packers: Predicting the five toughest games of the 2017 season
By John Dales
Packers @ Cowboys, Week 6
Why it’s Important
A match up between two of the NFC’s top teams a year ago could reveal which teams are legitimate contenders.
This game is one of the first true tests of the season for the Cowboys, with the exception of the Giants in week one. This game will go a long way in testing whether or not last year’s success in Dallas was a fluke or a legitimate sign of things to come.
As for the Packers, this is their fifth game of the season, and the third time that they go up against a 2016 playoff team. If the Packers can get through this stretch of five games with one or even two losses, than they certainly end up proving that they can play with the best teams in the NFC.
Last time they met
In last year’s divisional playoffs, the Packers won 34-31. This was a memorable one.
After punching the Cowboys in the mouth right off the bat, the Packers held leads of 21-3 and 28-13. Dallas did not give up, however. Led by a rookie quarterback, they battled back and tied the game two separate times in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Rodgers proved why he’s regarded as one of the best players in the NFL with his fourth quarter heroics. On a third-and-20 with 12 seconds to play in regulation, the Packers had the ball at their own 32 yard line in a tie game. A scramble, throw on the run, and sideline catch put the Packers into field goal range. After Mason Crosby’s 51-yard kick split the uprights, the Packers were moving on to the NFC Championship.
Score Prediction
Cowboys 27, Packers 20
The Cowboys come into this game with much more motivation to win than the Packers. They were the ones that got their hearts broken at their home stadium last winter.
However, the Packers will be coming into this game off a bye week, with two full weeks of preparation for Jason Garrett‘s Cowboys. Nevertheless, it’s hard to imagine the Packers coming into Dallas, and leaving with a win for the third time in as many tries.
Dallas finds a way to win this one, due in a large part to the progression of second-year players Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. The strong offensive line of the Dallas Cowboys gives Dak Prescott time to sit back in the pocket and find his open receivers, picking apart the unproven Green Bay defensive backfield.