Packers vs. Cowboys: Tale of the tape for Week 5 matchup
Coaching
Packers
Led by first-year head coach, Matt LaFleur, the Packers are off to a great start this year. Now, the offense hasn’t necessarily been great, or even good, but when installing a brand new offense, you can’t expect the team to be rolling right away. It takes time.
The first three games were a bit of a struggle, but even in a loss last week, the offense looked to have woken up. Yes, the running game wasn’t great, but you need to look at how good the run defense for the Eagles has been all season. They are good, so I don’t think that it’s too much to panic about yet.
The defense has been the bright star of this team so far this season. Mike Pettine deserves a lot of credit for where the Packers are so far this season. The Packers have the 10th-ranked defense in total yards allowed, third in passing yards allowed, and ninth in sacks.
No matter how good the defense has been, LaFleur still deserves some credit as well. The chemistry in the Packers’ locker room is better than I can remember in the past few years. LaFleur has a lot to do with that.
Cowboys
Jason Garrett is still the head man in Dallas. It feels like he’s been there forever and Jerry Jones has given him way more chances than he should, but at the same time, Garrett has this Cowboys team winning.
The Cowboys’ offensive coordinator is Kellen Moore. Moore is in his first year as the OC for the Cowboys after serving as the quarterbacks coach last year. While young and somewhat unproven, he’s had a fair amount of success in his first few games in charge of the offense.
Granted, they’ve played the Giants, Dolphins and the Redskins, who have a combined record of 2-10, but you still have to beat the team in front of you. Last week, the offense fell flat against the Saints, scoring just 10 points.
On the season, Moore has this offense third in total yards per game (425.2) and eighth in points per game (26.8). The Saints defense is nothing to sneeze at, but I don’t think they are quite at the level this Packers defense has shown so far this season.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys are led by Rod Marinelli, who is in his sixth season as the Cowboys defensive coordinator. This defense ranks seventh in yards allowed and third in points allowed per game. Again, they’ve played some weak competition and a Saints team without Drew Brees so far, but that’s still a solid unit.
Overall, I think LaFleur is getting this offense on the right track and Pettine has this defense playing pretty well. I think the Packers’ coaching staff has the edge.