Patriots and Cowboys on Super Bowl track
If the Patriots-Colts game in Indianapolis was Super Bowl XLI-1/2, then let's call last night's Packers-Cowboys game in Dallas Super Bowl XLI-1/4.
Why XLI-1/4?
And why not XLI-3/4, since we're getting closer to Super Bowl XLII in Phoenix in February?
Because neither Dallas nor Green Bay is better than the Patriots. Or the Colts, for that matter.
But the Cowboys, after beating the Packers, 37-27, now are the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl against the winner of what just about everyone outside of Pittsburgh and San Diego is expecting to be a rematch of the Colts and Pats in the AFC championship game.
Which this time, thanks to New England's, come-from-behind, 28-24 win at Indianapolis, is almost certain to be in Foxboro.
If you're a Patriots fan, who should you have been rooting for last night?
Well, for starters, it was probably easier to pick a favorite between the Cowboys and Packers than it was between the NFL Network and the cable companies that refused to air last night's battle for NFC supremacy.
There is no sympathetic choice in the tussle between the greedy owners of football teams and the greedy owners of cable companies. The league wants cable operators to include the NFL Network in basic cable packages. A number of cable companies -- including those doing business in Wisconsin and Dallas -- insist that, if they're going to pay extra for the NFL Network, then so are their customers, and want to make it a premium purchase.
And so it was that, amidst cries from Dallas owner Jerry Jones for Cowboys fans to drop their cable services, less than 40 percent of America's households were able to watch what was a highly-entertaining game.
The Cowboys, with young QB Tony Romo looking sharp, jumped out to a 27-10 lead and, when veteran Green Bay QB Brett Favre went to the sidelines early in the second quarter with an injured elbow, it seemed as if Dallas would win as easily as, well, as easily as the Patriots have won most of their games this season -- including a 48-27 victory in Big D in mid-October, when both teams were undefeated.
That game with New England remains the only blemish on the Cowboys' record this season. Green Bay also had lost only once going into last night, so the winner was likely to wind up as host of the NFC championship game come January.
And if you don't think it makes a huge difference to the Cowboys whether they play the Packers in Dallas in January, or in Green Bay, well, you've never seen a playoff game played on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.
Not that it will matter much to the Patriots. (Or Colts, if you insist on including them.)
Although the Cowboys' 10-point margin of victory may look reasonably comfortable, it wasn't if you saw the game.
It was only because of a very questionable pass interference penalty that Dallas was able to open up a 34-24 lead against a Green Bay team which continued to move the ball effectively agains the Cowboys, even with backup QB Aaron Rodgers calling signals.
Rodgers ralled the Pack from 17 points down to within three with five minutes to go in the third quarter. After Dallas increased its lead to double-digits following the costly pass interference penalty against the Pack, Rodgers brought Green Bay to a 4th-and-1 at the Cowboys' 35 with just over five minutes remaining.
Instead of trying to pick up the first down, the Packers kicked a 52-yard field goal. But Romo and Cowboys answered that with a drive into the shadow of the goal line in the closing minutes that led to a field goal.
It was a good win for the 'boys, but not one what should strike fear into the hearts of Patriots fans. If Favre, who has started every game for the Packers since Sept. 27, 1992 -- a remarkable streak of 248 consecutive starts -- finally has to go to the sidelines, then Green Bay's chances of getting another crack at the Cowboys is severely compromised, despite how well Rodgers played filling in for Favre last night.
Dallas, now 11-1 clearly is the best team in the NFC, and, with likely home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, is in the fast lane for Phoenix and Super Bowl XLII.
But, if the Patriots can stay healthy down the stretch, it doesn't seem likely that the Cowboys can outscore New England's prolific offense.
If you're a Patriots fan should make Patriots fans feel good that the Cowboys had more trouble beating the Packers last night in Dallas than the Pats did beating the 'boys
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