In a rough game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers lost star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It was a crushing loss for a team that had dreams of championships. In the aftermath, the Packers have struggled and many fans have vocally called for the firing of most coaches and staff.
Just last week, the Dallas Cowboys started life without Ezekiel Elliott for several weeks. It was a tough game that saw the Cowboys lose on the road to the Atlanta Falcons. Where was all the vitriol from the Cowboys front office? The national pundits did not decry the terrible team without Elliott.
Dallas Cowboys Give Perspective on Loss of Aaron Rodgers
Packers and Cowboys Lose Stars
Aaron Rodgers is a two-time MVP. We all know this. Elliott is a second-year player who helped lead the Cowboys to a dominant season in his rookie year. Common knowledge.
Rodgers has been a consistent force in the NFL since taking over for Brett Favre. The Packers have been to the playoffs nine straight years. Rodgers has led this team to three NFC Title game appearances and a Super Bowl win in this time. No questioning his value to the Packers.
Elliott lifted a Cowboys team that finished 2015 as the 22nd ranked offense (in total yards). The 2015 Cowboys finished ninth in rushing yards per game. Adding Elliott boosted the Cowboys to the fifth-ranked total offense in 2016. They were also second in rushing yards. Elliott also helped improve the Cowboys from a 4-12 team to a 13-3 division champion. There has been lots of credit given to the coaching staff, the offensive line and Dak Prescott as well.
The Fall in Green Bay Without Aaron Rodgers
So, everyone is very familiar with the Packers fall. They lost three straight games (including the loss to Minnesota). Brett Hundley had a rough start. He threw for only 87 yards in his first start against the New Orleans Saints. However, he was able to put up 245 yards against the Detroit Lions and then 212 yards against the Chicago Bears. Nothing amazing, and far short of the usual Packers passing attack.
Context is always important and seldom given. Hundley came in cold against a very good Vikings defense. The Vikings are currently the 12th best defense in terms of passing DVOA defense. Minnesota is also the eighth-ranked overall defense using this opponent-weighted metric. Hundley was then sent out against three straight top-end pass defenses: New Orleans (4th in pass DVOA defense), Detroit (10th) and Chicago (11th). It is not about to get easier either. The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers are up next and they are both currently ranked top five.
Then there were the accusations that the Packers defense was talentless in these matchups. So the Saints scored 26 on the Packers. Big number, yes? The Saints are in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. New Orleans has scored 20+ in all seven games. Actually, they have scored 30+ against the Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers and Lions in this span. The Vikings did score 23 points, and that is the fourth-lowest point total of their season so far. Only Pittsburgh and Detroit have kept the Vikings under 20.
The Fall in Dallas Without Ezekiel Elliott
The Cowboys started their season with a 19-3 win over the New York Giants. Since then, they have been kept under 20 points just once (42-17 loss in Denver). The Cowboys scored 28+ points in six straight games leading up to the tilt with the Falcons.
The fall was immediate and scary. The Cowboys managed just 233 total yards against Atlanta. This from a team that had been averaging just over 370 yards a game prior. Dak Prescott threw for just 176 yards, getting just 5.9 yards per attempt. Prescott was also second on the team in rushing yards with 42. The Cowboys managed to maintain a 5.1 yard per carry average, but the lack of a passing game doomed them. Dallas’ lone touchdown came on a short field after the defense intercepted Matt Ryan. Again, turning to DVOA, the Falcons should have been a great matchup. The Falcons are currently 20th in pass defense DVOA and 28th in rush defense DVOA.
The 27 points surrendered by the Dallas defense is the third highest point total of the Falcons season. One of the two games with more points was the Falcons home opener in their brand-new stadium. Add to this the fact that Devonta Freeman left the game after just two carries.
Wrongful Outrage
After the injury to Rodgers, fans and media made loud cries that the Packers were wasting him and maybe he should leave. The constant retort was that if the Packers were really good, they could win without Rodgers. Again, this has been yelling in a vacuum about a team without context. The bigger issue is, there is a much better argument that the Cowboys are wasting Elliott.
First, a running back’s career is just a lot shorter than a quarterback’s. This is especially true of the peak years. Secondly, the Cowboys got much worse. They went from being a top tier offense to being almost immobile against a bad Falcons defense. So for every call for Mike McCarthy‘s job or Ted Thompson‘s head, there should be an equal cry for Jason Garrett to go… or for Jerry Jones to actually hire a general manager.
Somehow, nobody is calling for Garrett’s job. Maybe it will take another big loss. Maybe, this is just the irrational anger over Thompson not doing what fans demand. That he has been wasting our time not listening to our Tweets about building a Super Bowl team.
Time to Settle Down
In the end, the problem is not that too few people are crying for blood in Dallas, but that too many are incensed in Wisconsin. It is just really hard for any team to lose a serious, elite talent and be the same team. Sure, the Patriots find a way to win regardless of who plays quarterback, but that is a whole different thing (and why the GOAT tag maybe should not be applied cavalierly). All the angry tweets, all the vindictive editorials, all the online petitions… it just needs to stop.
