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The Double Thursday Thunder-Trial


Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, folks. Lemme, see now. According to my record-books, I gobbled down at least seven turkey sandwiches during the game in Fort Detroit, one for each Packer’s score. Thank good-ness I was clothed in my finest eating slacks with the generous waist-band-feature.
You’ve got to hand it to Brett and that swift receiving corps once again. They had decent-enough protection from the line and were able to literally dissect the Lion secondary. If Brady wasn’t setting the record-books a-blaze out in New English Territory, I think Number Four would easily be the leading candidate for a Favr’th MVP award. He is, simply put, on an incredible plateau few mortals ever achieve in sport or in life. Enjoy every moment, dear readers. Enjoy every moment.
Favre aside, did the Thanksgiving game make any-one else a bit nervous in the guts? I’ll be! That first quarter had me un-easy, as did the last ten minutes. More than the unnecessary close-ness of the box-scoring, I was just-a twitchin’ at the irrational injury spree that be-fouled our fine defensive squadron. Most troubling was Charles Woodsen’s recurrent swollen toe hindrance. I’ve been meaning to write on his punt return duty this season. First off, he’s not giving us anything more than Tramon Williams so far as quick-nesses and field-visions; and second off, it puts him in danger of health problems. I know I’m just hashing hind-sight here, but there you have it. Sounds like he should be able to play against the Cowboys this week, though. He’s a tough kid, and with‘em locking down opposite Mr. Harris, Coach Sander’s Famous Bump-N-Run Press Coverage Scheme really sparkles and shines. Put another way, Woodsen’s presence takes our defensive unit from a High B to an A Plus. Anyhoo, I’ll be eating my lucky Walnut Pie rations all week to help Number 21, KJB, Nick Collins and all the other walking wounded recover from their boo-boos.
So I’ve cleverly touched on the two factors I believe will largely decide next Thursday’s game. (On a side note, who ever heard of playing two games in a row on Thursday? Geeeeeeeesh.) Well, in order to best Dallas on their home moon-carpet, we’ll need another huge game from both Brett and the Defense. The Cowboys boast the best statistical offensive attack in the NFC, but I can’t think of a better team than The Packers to slow them down. Regular readers know of my disdain for the ridiculous Romo Hype. Many folks in the sporting media have all but crowned this Wisconsin product ‘The Next Favre’ - but let’s be honest. Romo hasn’t won a play-off game yet. He hasn’t even played a full season. I’m not denying that the kid’s got talent, but at this point in time, he isn’t on the same hemi-sphere as Favre. As such, I believe our pressure defense will expose his in-experience. On the flip side, Favre seems primed to gouge the Cow-Bell’s. They might have made the horrendous Jets look silly, but the last time they faced a premium passing attack their sluggish secondary got scorched. I expect more of the same come Thursday.
It takes a Top-End team to start the season 10-1, so even with these advantages, The Green and Gold will still be in for a tough, tough foot-ball game. We’ve not been effective down in the Big D for quite some time, so it’s difficult to be overly optimistic. With the scales so closely balanced, I look to Coach McCarthy’s stunning road record. Although he said publicly last week that he will not treat the game as a playoff contest, that he will not take risks with injured players, I am confident McCarthy will put the team in a favo-rable position to win with the healthy players we have. This may not be a playoff game, but we all know the advantage an eleventh win will bring. By a moustache-whisker-thin margin, I’ve got to keep the streak alive: Packers – 30, Cowboys – 28 in a real nail-bite-inducer. Find yourself an NFL Network viewing-portal and enjoy every moment folks. I’ll be knocking on my cousin Walter’s door come Thursday. Until next week, then.