The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys will meet next Sunday in legendary Lambeau Field for one of the more highly anticipated divisional round playoffs in recent memory. It’s the first time since the 1995 season that the two teams have met in the playoffs and the first in Green Bay since the Ice Bowl. The Cowboys ended the Packers’ season three years in row from ’93 to ’95 in Dallas.
The weather for this game should be a little nicer. Like 20 degrees or so warmer than the -13 it was at kickoff in 1967. Little wind is expected with a partly cloudy sky, all in all a great day for football in Wisconsin.
I am not a believer that warm weather teams are at a disadvantage in cold weather climates. With today’s high-tech winter clothes and heated benches, playing in cold weather is no longer an issue. It is much harder for a team to go to a hot climate and battle extreme heat than it is stay warm in the cold.
The Cowboys didn’t have much trouble with the cold in the Ice Bowl and I don’t expect this team to have any trouble with it either. This game is going to come down to the Packers ability to contain DeMarco Murray and getting pressure on Tony Romo. The Packers should be able to move the ball on the Cowboys but will need to be better in the red zone than they have been in recent weeks. Field goals will not beat the Cowboys if in fact the Packers can actually get one off without it being blocked.
The game couldn’t be more evenly matched. The Cowboys are 19th on defense, the Packers are 15th. The Cowboys are seventh on offense, the Packers are sixth. Both have a solid quarterback and stud running back. Both have excellent receivers and good offensive lines. The Cowboys have the edge at tight end but rookie Richard Rodgers has been playing very well of late for the Packers.
There is going to be a lot of hype this week and way too many comparisons to the Ice Bowl. Aaron Rodgers bum leg will also get a lot of talk but all signs look to him being available for the game. Should be a fun lead-up to what could be another Lambeau classic.