The Cowboys are preparing to take on a familiar face who has haunted Cowboys Nation for almost a decade. Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are the demons that the Cowboys have struggled to conquer. No, the Cowboys aren't in rough shape if they lose the game this Sunday, but a win could go a long way in making a statement to the rest of the league.
Cowboys Nation remembers the heartbreak suffered at the hands of Aaron Rodgers, especially during the 2014 and 2016 NFL playoffs. But both teams are different, and this is not the playoffs. However, that does not devalue what a win against this team would mean for the Cowboys.
The Packers are self-destructing, one might think. They have lost five straight games and Aaron Rodgers has not looked like the back-to-back NFL MVP that he has been over the last two seasons. Aaron Rodgers is going to come into this game trying to save the Packers' season and the Cowboys cannot let that happen.
We already know this will be a homecoming for Cowboys' head coach Mike McCarthy, and I don't doubt for one second that he will have this team ready to play. But the Cowboys are going to have to dig deep and play some of their best football if they hope to slay Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Some people might look at this game as a trap game, where everybody expects the Cowboys to win, and they somehow lose – which is what usually happens for the Cowboys in most fans' recent memory.
The Cowboys have the opportunity to go into Lambeau Field this Sunday and put the nail in the coffin on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers season.
A win for the Cowboys would show not just the NFC, but the entire NFL that this Cowboys team is legit and different from teams of the past. The Cowboys have too loaded of a roster to fall to this Packers team. Knocking the Packers down to 3-7 and handing them their sixth straight loss would be worth a celebration for Cowboys Nation and further support the expectations that the Cowboys are dominant this year.
I anticipate Mike McCarthy will approach this game with a lot of emotion behind it, hoping to make a statement to his former team. McCarthy knows Aaron Rodgers and his weaknesses probably better than most of the current staff on the Packers' roster, which should give this team the edge they need going into the game.
I don't expect the Cowboys to completely control or dictate this game. I think Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay will put up a tough fight and push the Cowboys, but I believe the Cowboys will prove why they are the better team.
It would be thrilling to see this story of the Mike McCarthy-led Cowboys come full circle and put Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' season in the dirt once and for all.
