The Green Bay Packers put together an awesome second half to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 37-36 on Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Here are five more thoughts on the win.
Jordy Nelson is still filthy
He didn’t have his biggest day statistically, with five catches for 61 yards, but Jordy made two of the best catches of the season on Sunday. His third quarter touchdown catch came over the top of a defender on a pass that could easily have been intercepted. Then there was the one-handed grab where he tipped the ball up to himself on a pass that was thrown too far in front of him. Nelson helped make Matt Flynn look pretty good on Sunday and was key to the win.
Jarrett Boykin and Andrew Quarless continue to come on
Boykin was the Packers leading receiver against Dallas, catching six balls for 83 yards. He made a number of adjustments on the ball to come up with big plays. Quarless, meanwhile, isn’t exactly Jermichael Finley, but he’s been more than solid lately. On Sunday he came up with six catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. That’s his second week in a row with a score.
Once again, awful at stopping the run
DeMarco Murry gashed the Packers for 134 yards on 18 carries yesterday. That’s 7.4 yards per run. If the Cowboys were smart, they would have kept handing him the ball instead of putting the game on Tony Romo. Once again, B.J. Raji was pretty much invisible. He tallied only one tackle. Once again, A.J. Hawk was pretty much terrible. He had only three tackles. Finding competent replacements for these guys in the offseason should be a priority.
Where did the pass rush go?
The Packers had three sacks on Sunday, but they certainly weren’t generating much pressure on Romo for most of the game. Clay Matthews, although he had half a sack, hasn’t exactly been playing at a high level lately. Remember when Raji could actually rush from the inside? That guy has zero sacks this season. The only guy who seems to be getting a consistent pass rush is Mike Daniels. Wasn’t this problem supposed to be fixed by now?
What else can we say about Eddie Lacy?
We’ve pretty much been heaping praise on this guy all season, but we’re going to heap some more. On Sunday, Lacy had 21 carries for 141 yards and touchdown. That’s 6.7 yards per carry. He also caught four balls for 30 yards. He did all that a week after spraining his ankle. The effort also put him over 1,000 yards rushing on the season. Next to Aaron Rodgers, this might go down as Ted Thompson’s best draft pick.