Week 10 Preview: Cowboys @ Packers

The Dallas Cowboys are riding high after a big win against their division rival Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers are licking their wounds after suffering their second straight loss against the lowly Tampa Bay Bucs.

The NFC had some very good teams coming into this season, but as the season progressed many of these elite teams in the NFC began to drop off and slip into a mediocrity. At one point the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears and the Atlanta Falcons were thought to make a playoff push and a possible run at being a Super Bowl contender, but after suffering some disappointing losses all of these teams have taken a backseat to the cream of the crop in the NFC.

The New Orleans Saints, Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys are now the teams to beat in the conference as they have all hit their stride this season. The Saints have been flawless all season long sitting at 8-0 after a comeback victory against the Carolina Panthers in week nine, the Vikings suffered their first loss of the season the Pittsburgh Steelers but bounced back with vengeance against the Packers in week eight before going into their bye week and then we come to the Cowboys who have struggled at times during the year, but really started to get back in grove recently with big wins over the Falcons and the Eagles.

The Cowboy will come into this game against the Packers at Lambeau with all the confidence in the world after beating their hated rival Eagles and will most likely put up a big number on Aaron Rodgers and company in week 10. Every win is huge for both of these teams from here on out as they try to contend in their divisions. Dallas sits atop the NFC East right now after beating Philly last week and the Packers are struggling to keep up with the Vikings in the NFC North.

If the Packers can get a win over the Cowboys in week 10 they will get some much needed momentum and back above .500 again this season.

Can the Packers Still Contend in the NFC?

Coming into this season the Green Bay Packers were thought to be on their way to possible Super Bowl appearance or at least an NFC championship game, but it has been a rough ride so far as they have not lived up to expectations.

The Packers are 4-4 in a tough NFC North division and already have two losses to Brett Favre's division rival Minnesota Vikings who look as good as any team in the NFL this season. This is not good news for the Packers who desperately needed to get the win at Lambeau Field against Favre and company a couple of weeks ago. Now the Packers are licking their wounds and hoping to somehow snag a playoff spot down the road.

The biggest problems is the offensive line that has given up a league high 37 sacks this season. Aaron Rodgers isn't exactly helping situations either as he has a terrible habit of holding on to the football too long and allowing the opposing team to put him on his back time after time.

Despite their problems though the Packers have looked very good on offense at times during the season as Aaron Rodgers and running back Ryan Grant has gotten back to form this season with some impressive numbers.

Can the Packers contend in the NFC?

Not this season as I believe that even the Chicago Bears will finish with a better record and standing in the NFC North when it is all said and done this year. The future does look bright in Green Bay though if they can make some upgrades to the offensive line in the offseason and keep both Rodgers and Grant healthy I can see the Packers giving the Vikings a run for their money.

Rodgers Late Touchdown Finishes Off the Bears

It was a slow start, but an absolutely perfect finish!

It seems as though that is the way it went for a lot of teams in week one of the NFL season as many title contending teams started off slow and finished with a bang!

The New England Patriots started off very slow against the Buffalo Bills as they couldn't seem to get going at all offensively, which has always been their strong point with Tom Brady behind center, but in classic Brady fashion he came through in the end throwing for the game winning touchdown after almost everyone counted the Patriots out of contention in the fourth quarter.

The defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers opening game against the Tennessee Titans also came down to another Ben Roethlisberger two minute drill as he lead his team down the field to end the game with a game winning field goal by veteran kicker Jeff Reed.

Coming into their match up with hated rivals in the Chicago Bears the Green Bay Packers have high expectations for the season as they have been getting predictions as being the NFC champs and possible Super Bowl contenders. Aaron Rodgers is healthy and ready for a breakout season with the help of his wide receivers in Donald Driver, Greg Jennings and running back Ryan Grant.

The defense looks solid once again and the offense looks better than ever, but that is not what we saw in the beginning of this game against the Bears as Aaron Rodgers, much like the Bears Jay Cutler, struggled to get going.

Cutler is the guy everyone in Chicago is looking at to turn around the Bears offense, but instead improving Chicago's offense Cutler had a nightmare of a game as he looked more like Rex Grossman than the Cutler we remember in his first Pro Bowl season last year with the Denver Broncos. The young quarterback is supposed to be the next big thing at the quarterback position, besides Aaron Rodgers that is, but he threw four interceptions and just couldn't get connect with his new receivers.

As if Cutler playing like Grossman weren't bad enough for the Bears, their best defensive player in linebacker Brian Urlacher was injured in the first quarter and will be out for the season with a dislocated wrist.

The Packers running back Ryan Grant on the other hand was true to form as he played well against Chicago finishing the game with 61 yards and a rushing touchdown. Grant struggled last season after having a breakout season of his own in the season previous, but he is off to a good start this year and could get back into the elite back role in the NFL.

Even though Rodgers did struggle for the majority of the game failing to hook up with his talented receiving core, but he did start to get it going later in the game and was able to finish off the Bears with a sweet 50 yard touchdown pass to his go to guy in Greg Jennings which destroyed Chicago chances pulling off the upset as they fell to the Packers 21-15.

So although the Packers did have a tough time against the Chicago Bears in week one they will look to get back on pace in week two against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lambeau Field next weekend.

Rodgers numbers weren't all that impressive, as the pressure is on this year for the young quarterback, but he didn't turnover the football over with 184 yards and the one touchdown pass to Jennings to send the Bears home packing.

Are the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl bound?

Still remains to be seen, but once they guys get clicking on offense the rest of the NFC better look out because they will be putting a lot of points on the board!

Week 2: Cincinnati Bengals @ Green Bay Packers Sept. 20th 1pm EST

Brett Favre Gets Released from the Jets

Brett Favre's retirement happened pretty quick after the 2008 season ended with no postseason appearance and New York Jets fans with somewhat of a bad taste in their mouth. As always though the media has to keep asking the same question over and over again on whether he will return to the NFL.

Well, the Jets fired Eric Mangini, hired Rex Ryan, signed Bart Scott, drafted Mark Sanchez and have seemed to have decided to start all over again. Not a bad start, the Jets definitely have a promising future, but what about Favre?

Honestly, I kind of hope he stays retired. I love Brett Favre, probably my favorite quarterback all-time, but I get the feeling if he comes back it could get ugly.

The only reason I am actually writing this is because the New York Jets have officially released the future hall of fame quarterback and since he is no longer under contract he is free to play elsewhere.

One of the places he was rumored to land when all that nonsense was going on with the Green Bay Packers before he became the Jets quarterback was the Minnesota Vikings who have struggled to replace Daunte Culpepper at quarterback.

The Vikings have begun to make some big time improvements over the last couple of seasons. First of all you have Adrian Peterson in the backfield who is arguably the best running back in the game right now. Then last season Minnesota decided to make a move bringing defensive beast Jared Allen into the mix, but they have failed to get a solid quarterback.

The Vikings did add Sage Rosenfels to the roster which is definitely an upgrade, but Sage is no Brett Favre.

The rumors flying around right now are claiming that Favre to Minnesota is a possibility. I don't know how possible that is, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't intriguing!

Now that Favre no longer has ties to any other NFL franchise

Packers Sign Safety Anthony Smith

Looks like the Packers are starting to address their problems on defense this offseason by signing former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Anthony Smith.

The one thing that hasn't really had that much trouble, until last season that is, was the Packers defense. With Al Harris and Charles Woodson patrolling the secondary the Packers defense was a scary sight for any opposing offense, but they seem to have lost that spark on the defensive side of the football that made them such a great team.

Although signing Smith was a huge signing compared to say getting Albert Hansworth, Ray Lewis or Bart Scott this offseason, the move could still have a significant impact to team trying to break out of the shadow of Brett Favre.

Will the Packers have a top ten defense in the NFL next season? Maybe, maybe not, but at least they are taking steps to improved the one part of their franchise that couldn't hack it last season.

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Will the Cardinals Upset the Steelers?

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It is just the thing to do whether you enjoy watching the game or not. Some people watch it for the commercials and some watch it because they just love football, but for whatever reason the biggest football game of the year always seems to bring people together.

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Defensive Coordinator Bob Sanders and 5 Others Get the Boot in Green Bay

This season for the Green Bay Packers was a disappointment compared to last season. The Packers have been through more crap this season than any team in the NFL with Brett Favre heading to the New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers becoming the starting quarterback.

In the beginning of the season things were looking pretty promising with Aaron Rodgers fitting in perfectly as the team's new starting quarterback and almost making the fans forget about the Favre fiasco that happened in the off season.

Even though the offense began to click and put up quite a few points on the scoreboard every game, it didn't last long as they team began to break down as the season progressed.

Although this season was a feeling out process with the huge change of not having Brett Favre behind center, the Packers were not satisfied at all with the team's final outcome and someone had to take the blame.

The part of the Packers organization that took the bulk of the blame for the less than impressive season was the defense. In years past the Packers defense has been one of the best in the league lead by Al Harris, AJ Hawk and Charles Woodson, but this season they struggled toward the end of the season.

Since the blame went to the defense, six defensive coaches were given the boot including defensive coordinator Bob Sanders to make way for a whole new look for the Green Bay Packers on defense.

Will this be the move that gets the Packers back into contention in the NFC like they were last season? Maybe, but I do think the move was a bit drastic. If it works, great, but if it doesn't we could be in for some dark days at Green Bay.