10-1 vs 10-1

Whoa Nellie (as Keith Jackson would say) have we got a wild game coming up tomorrow. Dallas (10-1) and Green Bay (10-1) play Thursday night at Texas Stadium. This is a HUGE game and could well determine who has home field throughout the playoffs. It is quite conceivable that both teams could run the table and win out after Thursday:

Dallas ' remaining games: @ Detroit, Philly, @ Carolina and @ Washington
GB's remaining games: Oakland, @ St. Louis, @ Chicago and Detroit

So the loser of tomorrow's game could be 14-2 and not have home field advantage...crazy. NFC is weak, weak, weak. And I don't know about you but I'm not too crazy about Dallas going up to Green Bay in mid-late January for the playoffs as that is a brutal place to play AND Dallas has NEVER won at Green Bay (they have won in Milwaukee, but not Green Bay). But then again, Brett Farve has never won at Texas Stadium so the idea of the Packers coming back down to Dallas for a possible NFC Championship game may not thrill Packer fans.

I'm not buying into this 'Dallas is going to win by at least 2 TDs crap' that I'm hearing in the local media. I think this is going to be a close game and the one that scores last may end up winning. I see this game shaping up like Dallas' first game this year vs. the Giants, with Dallas winning closely in the end. But I can also see the game going GB's way too because Dallas' secondary is the Achilles heel of the team and passing the ball is what GB does best.

I fear what Farve is going to do to Dallas' secondary. Really, the times that Dallas has faced a decent, or better, QB this year their defensive backfield has been carved up. Look what Eli Manning and Jason Campbell did (I think Campbell is maybe a touch better than Q-Car, but not much) not to mention Tom Brady. I don't want to beat a dead horse but you know the Pack are going to try to get Roy Williams in coverage and you also know if that happens the chances of that pass going for big yardage or even a touchdown are pretty great. Green Bay is running the ball better these days with Ryan Grant so Dallas can't just sit back and wait for Farve to pass every down.

Plus, I think this may be the best defense Dallas has faced to this point. The Packers defensvie line gets after the QB pretty good and if Romo is careless with the ball (as he has been a couple of times this year) then Green Bay has two great cornerbacks in Charles Woodson and Al Harris who can take it back for a score if they get an interception.

I'm not saying GB is going to win but I really think Dallas' only shot is to outscore the Packers. Offensively, I give a slight nod to Dallas and defensively GB is just better in my opinion b/c the Packers have the superior secondary. I don't know...I'm trying to talk myself into Dallas winning by 14-17 pts but for that to happen, I really think GB (and Farve) is going to have to play very badly with Dallas taking advantage of every opportunity...and I just don't think that will happen.

In the end, I think Dallas will win by 3-7 pts...Dallas 35, Green Bay 31.