Packers, Cowboys Offer Thrills, Fun And A Close Score

Of this season’s marquee NFL game here today between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, only two predictions can be safely made.

It will be a hoot and a howl.

Brett Favre, Packers quarterback, will do something that will make you say, “Hot damn!” just the way he says.

Troy Aikman, Cowboys quarterback, will do something that will make you want to stick a wad of snuff under your lower lip and say, “Mmmmmmm” just the way he does.

Robert Brooks, Packers receiver, is going to bust something.

Emmitt Smith, Cowboys running back, is going to bust something else.

Reggie White, Packers defensive end, is going to make you shiver.

Deion Sanders, Cowboys everything, is going to make you laugh.

Who will win? Not so easy.

The Packers played a nearly perfect game in upsetting the San Francisco 49ers last week.

If they play that same type of game against the Cowboys, they will be knocked clear to Amarillo.

On defense, if they put only three men at the line of scrimmage and use seven defensive backs, as they did against the 49ers, Smith will rush for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

On offense, if they try to send their fast guys deep and throw underneath to tight ends Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson, as they did against the 49ers, they will score about three points.

Perhaps you have heard of Darren Woodson? He is playing as if he is the game’s best strong safety again. With him roaming the middle of the field, the Packers tight ends don’t stand a chance.

So what can the Packers do to fulfill the dreams of millions of NFL traditionalists, cold-weather types and just plain geezers?

On defense, they can stack the line against Smith, whose most complete game of the season was against the Packers earlier this year. They can then use single coverage and make Aikman beat them.

We don’t know if the battered, quietly struggling quarterback can do it. We don’t know if he knows.

On offense, they can give the ball 30 times to Edgar Bennett until the suspect Cowboys run defense crumbles. In between runs, they can send everybody deep and let Favre work his magic.

The Packers run the type of West Coast offense that the Cowboys often dominate with their quick front seven. They must modify that short passing attack to have a chance.

If you think a hot quarterback can carry a team to a championship - as Steve Young of the 49ers did last year and Aikman did in 1992 - then you will bet the Packers.

If you think strong coaching can carry a team to a title - as happened with Bill Walsh’s 49ers’ in the 1980s - then you will bet the Packers.

But if you think this league is just too difficult for teams to take more than one giant step at a time … If you think nerve is as important as strong necks. … If you think coach Barry Switzer is now smart enough not to cost his team as he did last year … then maybe you pick Dallas.

Us? We watched kicker Lin Elliott cost the Kansas City Chiefs a shot at the Super Bowl last week, and we think trend.

We see that the Cowboys’ Chris Boniol has made 28 consecutive field goals, including a last-second, game-winning, 35-yarder against the New York Giants on an icy field in December that might have saved the Cowboys’ season.

We see that the Packers’ Chris Jacke hasn’t had to make a big kick in more than a year, and has missed three of his last 10, including a low one that was blocked in San Francisco last week.

We see this being a field-goal game.

Dallas wins in the final minute.

The Packers next year.