Heatherthepackgirl
Cheesehead
Our top 10 reasons why Thursday night's titanic Green Bay at Dallas game rates as must-see TV (the key stipulation being, of course, that you have access to the NFL Network) ...
1. It's a quarterback's world: Were it not for a man named Brady, the seasons being turned in by Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Packers quarterback Brett Favre would be 1-2 (in some order) in the MVP race. Romo and Favre rank in the league's top five in almost all the major passing categories, which seems to prove at least two things: Romo's career didn't disintegrate after he bobbled that hold of a potential game-winning field goal try in the playoffs at Seattle last season, and at the moment, retirement doesn't seem to be the right call for Favre, now does it?
At the risk of pointing out how much fun both Favre and Romo are having these days, have you noticed how much fun they're having these days? Sometimes the comparison game is so over-done and tiring, but in this case, Romo's gift for improvisation and play-making creativity really does remind me of a younger Favre. Without quite so many forehead-slapping underhanded throws.
2. We haven't seen many matchups this good, this late: This is only the fourth time in the Super Bowl era that teams with 10 or more wins and one or fewer losses are colliding. The last time it happened, when the 10-1 Giants met the 10-1 49ers in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 1990, Bill Parcells was still in his first NFL head coaching gig (that's a while ago), and Joe Montana was still comfortably holding off that pesky start-Steve Young movement.
The 49ers won that highly anticipated showdown 7-3, but the game that everyone remembers came in that season's NFC Championship, when the Giants knocked Montana out of action and got their revenge in a 15-13 nail-biter.
3. We all love a good anniversary retrospective: Green Bay and Dallas are playing for huge stakes a month and two days shy of the 40th anniversary of the Ice Bowl, the nickname for their famous meeting in the 1967 NFL Championship Game at a rather frosty Lambeau Field. How cool is that?
You know the essential details: Game time temperatures of minus-13, with a wind chill of minus-46. Bart Starr. Jerry Kramer's block of Jethro Pugh. A 1-yard quarterback sneak for the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining. Three straight NFL titles for the Pack. All that great NFL Films footage of people who can see their breath while wearing really hideous ski masks. It's the stuff of legend.
And the best part is, Thursday's game might only be an appetizer for the real throwback treat: A rematch in January's NFC Championship Game, dare we dream, back at Lambeau? Be still our symmetry-loving hearts.
4. The unsung head coaches are getting it done: Before January 2006, when you brought up any mention of the McCarthy era in Wisconsin, it wasn't exactly a source of state-wide pride. But Packers second-year head coach Mike McCarthy is changing all that. McCarthy lost eight of his first 12 games, but since then he's a ridiculous 14-1, with winning streaks of eight and six games sandwiched around the Packers' Week 5 home loss to Chicago. His 27-game record leading the Pack is 18-9, a .667 winning percentage. Some guy named Vince Lombardi is in second place among fast-starting Green Bay coaches, at 17-10 (.630).
And then there's a man named Wade. He might look like a tire salesman who eats donuts two out of every three meals, but the guy is coaching circles around the Cowboys' opponents. There were plenty of snickers when Jerry Jones hired Wade Phillips to replace the retired (again) Parcells, but by leading Dallas to a 10-1 start this season, Phillips has done something that Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, or the Big Tuna himself never accomplished.
something happened to the other five couldnt get them up on my computer so we will go with the top 5..
1. It's a quarterback's world: Were it not for a man named Brady, the seasons being turned in by Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Packers quarterback Brett Favre would be 1-2 (in some order) in the MVP race. Romo and Favre rank in the league's top five in almost all the major passing categories, which seems to prove at least two things: Romo's career didn't disintegrate after he bobbled that hold of a potential game-winning field goal try in the playoffs at Seattle last season, and at the moment, retirement doesn't seem to be the right call for Favre, now does it?
At the risk of pointing out how much fun both Favre and Romo are having these days, have you noticed how much fun they're having these days? Sometimes the comparison game is so over-done and tiring, but in this case, Romo's gift for improvisation and play-making creativity really does remind me of a younger Favre. Without quite so many forehead-slapping underhanded throws.
2. We haven't seen many matchups this good, this late: This is only the fourth time in the Super Bowl era that teams with 10 or more wins and one or fewer losses are colliding. The last time it happened, when the 10-1 Giants met the 10-1 49ers in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 1990, Bill Parcells was still in his first NFL head coaching gig (that's a while ago), and Joe Montana was still comfortably holding off that pesky start-Steve Young movement.
The 49ers won that highly anticipated showdown 7-3, but the game that everyone remembers came in that season's NFC Championship, when the Giants knocked Montana out of action and got their revenge in a 15-13 nail-biter.
3. We all love a good anniversary retrospective: Green Bay and Dallas are playing for huge stakes a month and two days shy of the 40th anniversary of the Ice Bowl, the nickname for their famous meeting in the 1967 NFL Championship Game at a rather frosty Lambeau Field. How cool is that?
You know the essential details: Game time temperatures of minus-13, with a wind chill of minus-46. Bart Starr. Jerry Kramer's block of Jethro Pugh. A 1-yard quarterback sneak for the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining. Three straight NFL titles for the Pack. All that great NFL Films footage of people who can see their breath while wearing really hideous ski masks. It's the stuff of legend.
And the best part is, Thursday's game might only be an appetizer for the real throwback treat: A rematch in January's NFC Championship Game, dare we dream, back at Lambeau? Be still our symmetry-loving hearts.
4. The unsung head coaches are getting it done: Before January 2006, when you brought up any mention of the McCarthy era in Wisconsin, it wasn't exactly a source of state-wide pride. But Packers second-year head coach Mike McCarthy is changing all that. McCarthy lost eight of his first 12 games, but since then he's a ridiculous 14-1, with winning streaks of eight and six games sandwiched around the Packers' Week 5 home loss to Chicago. His 27-game record leading the Pack is 18-9, a .667 winning percentage. Some guy named Vince Lombardi is in second place among fast-starting Green Bay coaches, at 17-10 (.630).
And then there's a man named Wade. He might look like a tire salesman who eats donuts two out of every three meals, but the guy is coaching circles around the Cowboys' opponents. There were plenty of snickers when Jerry Jones hired Wade Phillips to replace the retired (again) Parcells, but by leading Dallas to a 10-1 start this season, Phillips has done something that Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, or the Big Tuna himself never accomplished.
something happened to the other five couldnt get them up on my computer so we will go with the top 5..
