The Green Bay Packers will play their second-to-last home game of the regular season when they take on the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field this Sunday.
Green Bay is 16-16 against the Dallas in the overall series, but has won four straight over the Cowboys, including the last matchup, 26-21, at home in the Divisional round of the playoffs last season.
Green Bay is 10-4 against Dallas at home during the regular and postseason.
Of the Cowboys’ 14 road games against the Packers, only two have taken place in December or January, the ‘Ice Bowl’ on Dec. 31, 1967, and last season’s playoff contest on Jan. 11.
The Packers have won five of the last six against the Cowboys at Lambeau Field, scoring over 40 points in three of the wins.
This is the third straight season that the teams have met (2013 regular season, 2014 postseason).
Green Bay is 4-2 at home this season, securing at least a .500 record at home for the ninth time in 10 regular seasons under Head Coach Mike McCarthy. A victory would mark the eighth winning season at home for the Packers since 2006.
Green Bay goes back on the road in Week 15, as it travels to Oakland to play the Raiders. The Packers have won six consecutive games against the Raiders, including two on the road. In those six games, Green Bay has outscored the Raiders, 210-70.
Green Bay In December
Dating back to 2014, Green Bay has won four of the five games it has played in December.
Under McCarthy, the Packers are 17-3 at home in December, including winning 13 of the last 14 games.
Of the 17 home wins in December, 11 have been decided by 10-plus points.
Since 2006, the Packers’ average point differential in December home games is plus-12.8.
QB Aaron Rodgers is 12-1 at home in the month of December, including winning each of the last 12. The Packers have scored 20-plus points in each of those 13 games and 30-plus points nine times, including in each of the last three (30, 43, 55).
Rodgers has thrown for 3,723 yards, 32 touchdowns, five interceptions and a passer rating of 117.3 in December home games.
Rodgers has played 27 total games in the month of December, recording a passer rating of 102.9, No. 2 among active quarterbacks (min. 335 pass att.) in the NFL (SEA Russell Wilson, 103.9).
WITH THE CALL
FOX Sports, now in its 22nd season as an NFL network television partner, will broadcast the game.
Play-by-play man Joe Buck joins color commentator Troy Aikman and sideline reporter Erin Andrews.
Milwaukee’s WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in five states. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color) call the action. McCarren first joined the team’s broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 21st season calling Packers’ games. McCarren has four times been voted Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 17th season of broadcasts together.
Westwood One Sports will air the game across the country. Kevin Lee (play-by-play) and Mark Malone (analyst) will call the action and Scott Graham will host pre-game and halftime shows.
The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (WTMJ feed).
DIRECTV subscribers can watch the game on channel 717.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
The Packers are looking to improve to 7-3 against NFC teams this season. It would mark the eighth regular season since 2006 that Green Bay finished with seven-plus win against NFC opponents.
Under Head Coach Mike McCarthy, the Packers are 79-37-1 against NFC opponents during the regular season. Green Bay’s 79 wins are nine more than any other team over that span (New Orleans, 70-47).
Green Bay has posted seven zero-turnover game this season. That is tied for No. 2 in franchise history (since 1933), matching the mark posted in 2014 and trailing only 2009 (eight).
Dating back to 1963, the Packers’ three six-plus sack games ties a single-season franchise record (1966, 1978, 1991).
Under McCarthy, Green Bay is 27-12 (.692) during the month of December. Green Bay’s .692 winning percentage is No. 1 in the NFC and No. 4 in the NFL over that span.
The Packers have won seven of the last nine games they have played in the month of December, including three in a row.
OFFENSE
If QB Aaron Rodgers throws for 300-plus yards, it will be the 44th 300-yard passing game of his career during the regular season.
Rodgers looks to throw for multiple touchdowns for the 10th time this season. It would mark the sixth time in his career he has recorded 10 or more games with multiple touchdowns in a single regular season (14 in 2011 / 11 in 2012 and 2014 / 10 in 2008 and 2009).
Rodgers is four touchdowns away from his fifth season with 30-plus passing touchdowns. He ranks second in team history behind Brett Favre's eight. Rodgers’ four 30-plus passing touchdown seasons since 2009 are the fourth most in the NFL over that time span (NE Tom Brady and IND/DEN Peyton Manning, five / NO Drew Brees, six)
Rodgers is tied for No. 2 in the NFL (CIN QB Andy Dalton) with six games this season with two-plus touchdown passes and zero INTs (New England QB Tom Brady, seven).
Dating back to 2014, Rodgers has not thrown an interception in 21 of the last 28 regular-season games, including 10 of the last 14. The Packers are 18-3 in those games.
Since the start of the 2014 season, Rodgers has thrown 64 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
In Week 13 at Detroit, TE Richard Rodgers set a franchise record for the most receiving yards by a tight end in a regular-season game, recording eight receptions for 146 yards (18.3 avg.) and one touchdown.
WR Randall Cobb needs one catch to extend his streak of consecutive regular-season games with a reception to 53, the fifth-longest streak in franchise history. He trails WR James Lofton (58, 1979-83) for fourth place in team history.
In Weeks 11-12, RB Eddie Lacy recorded back-to-back 100-yard rushing games for the first time in his career (100 and 105 yards).
RB James Starks has set new career bests in receptions (35), receiving yards (337) and receiving touchdowns (two) this season.
DEFENSE
Over the last four games, S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix has 38 tackles (34 solo), an interception and two sacks.
DB Micah Hyde recorded a sack at Detroit in Week 13, becoming the first Green Bay defensive back (since 1982) to register a sack in each of his first three seasons in the NFL.
LB Clay Matthews has 13 career games with two or more sacks. He is one shy of tying Tim Harris (14, 1986-90) for No. 3 in team history (Reggie White, 16; Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, 15).
LB Julius Peppers leads the team with 7.0 sacks this season. Dating back to last season (including playoffs), Peppers has 11.5 sacks in the last 16 games.
Peppers needs a half a sack to pass New York Giants LB Lawrence Taylor and San Diego/St. Louis/Kansas City DE Leslie O’Neal (132.5) for 12th most in NFL history (since 1982).
Last week LB Jake Ryan started the first game of his career and led the Packers in both total tackles (nine) and solo tackles (eight) while also registering the first fumble recovery of his career.
Special Teams
P Tim Masthay recorded a 62-yard punt last week, his franchise-record sixth straight season with at least one 60-yard punt.
K Mason Crosby is 15 points shy of 100 for the season, which would mark his ninth 100-point season and pass K Ryan Longwell for the franchise record.
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. Cowboys:
Regular season, all-time: 13-12
All-time, at home: 10-4
Streaks: The Packers have won the last four meetings.
Last meeting, regular season: Dec. 15, 2013, at AT&T Stadium; Packers won, 37-36
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 109-59-1, .645, (incl. 7-6 postseason); 10th NFL season
Jason Garrett: 46-40, .534, (incl. 1-1 postseason); 5th NFL season
Head to Head: McCarthy 2-0
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 4-2 vs. Cowboys; Garrett 0-2 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY…Is in his 10th year as the Packers’ 14th head coach.
Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
Led the Packers to their sixth consecutive playoff appearance last season, joining New England as the only two NFL teams to do so over that span. Has also led the team to seven playoff appearances in the last eight years (2007, 2009-14).
Has guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring each of the past eight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat; Packers finished first overall in scoring in 2014.
His .657 winning percentage during the regular season (102-53-1) is ranked third among active NFL coaches (min. 50 games).
Was named Packers head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, his first head-coaching job after 13 years as an NFL assistant.
JASON GARRETT…Is in his fifth full season as the Cowboys’ eighth head coach. Was the interim head coach for the final eight games in 2010.
Led the Cowboys to a 12-4 record and an NFC East title in 2014.
Garrett has helped guide the Cowboys to a top-10 offensive ranking five times (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014) in his tenure as offensive coordinator and then head coach.
Was named NFL Assistant Coach of the Year by Pro Football Weekly for the 2007 season.
Is the only former Cowboys player to be the team’s head coach.
Played quarterback for the Cowboys (1992-99), the N.Y. Giants (2000-03), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2004) and the Miami Dolphins (2004). Was a member of three Super Bowl teams with Dallas.
THE PACKERS-COWBOYS SERIES
These clubs squared off in one of the most famous games in league history, the 1967 NFL Championship, dubbed the ‘Ice Bowl.’ Kickoff temperature was recorded as minus-13 with a minus-46 wind chill, the coldest game in league annals. Bart Starr’s game-winning TD, a 1-yard dive with 13 seconds left, sealed Green Bay’s third straight championship en route to its second consecutive Super Bowl title.
Green Bay won 10 of the first 15 in the series, in which Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi - former assistants on the same N.Y. Giants staff in the 1950s - turned it into one of the NFL’s preeminent rivalries.
Both teams met in the NFC Divisional playoff last season, with Green Bay coming away victorious, 26-21. After a controversial fourth-down catch by Cowboys WR Dez Bryant was ruled incomplete late in the four quarter, the Packers drove to run out the last few minutes of the clock.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers GM Ted Thompson is a native of Atlanta, Texas, about 175 miles east of Dallas, and attended SMU...Packers S Chris Banjo attended Kempner High School in Sugar Land, Texas, and played at SMU...Packers G Lane Taylor is a native of Arlington, Texas, and attended Martin High School in the city...CB Demetri Goodson is from Spring, Texas, and played at Baylor University...Other native Texans on the Green Bay roster include K Mason Crosby (Georgetown), LS Brett Goode (Pampa), WR Ty Montgomery (Dallas) and FB Aaron Ripkowski (Dayton)...Packers TEs coach Jerry Fontenot was a three-time all-conference selection at Texas A&M...Packers senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith played for the Cowboys from 1990-91...From 2003-11, Packers area scout John Wojciechowski was the Northeast area scout for the Cowboys...Packers asst. OL coach Mike Solari served in the same role in addition to coaching special teams for the Cowboys from 1987-88...Cowboys QB Tony Romo is from Burlington, Wis. and T Doug Free is from Manitowoc, Wis. ...Cowboys C Travis Frederick (Sharon, Wis.) and DT Nick Hayden (Hartland, Wis.) both played at the University of Wisconsin...Cowboys safeties coach Joe Baker was Green Bay’s secondary/safeties coach in 2005 and also coached at the University of Wisconsin in 1999...Baker coached on the staff in New Orleans with Packers HC Mike McCarthy and assoc. HC/LBs Winston Moss...Packers RBs coach Sam Gash, secondary-safeties coach Darren Perry and Cowboys RBs coach Gary Brown were teammates at Penn State...Cowboys secondary coach Jerome Henderson played for the Eagles when Trgovac coached there...Packers DC Dom Capers coached on the staff in Miami with Cowboys HC Jason Garrett and WRs coach Derek Dooley in 2006...Gash coached in Detroit with Cowboys DC Rod Marinelli from 2007-08 and with OC Scott Linehan from 2009-12...Marinelli coached in Chicago while Packers LB Julius Peppers played for the Bears...Gash played for the Patriots while Cowboys TEs coach Michael Pope coached there...Solari coached Cowboys OL coach Frank Pollack while the two were in San Francisco...Former college teammates include Packers RB Eddie Lacy and Cowboys LB Rolando McClain (Alabama), Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Cowboys LS Louis-Philippe Ladouceur (California), Packers LBs Clay Matthews and Nick Perry and Cowboys Ts Tyron Smith and Charles Brown (Southern California), Packers WR Jeff Janis and Cowboys S Jeff Heath (Saginaw Valley State), Packers DB Micah Hyde and Cowboys LB Anthony Hitchens (Iowa), Packers C Corey Linsley and Cowboys RB Rod Smith (Ohio State), Banjo and Cowboys WR Cole Beasley (SMU), and Taylor and Cowboys WR Dez Bryant and K Dan Bailey (Oklahoma State).
LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON
Dec. 15, 2013, at AT&T Stadium; Packers won, 37-36.
QB Matt Flynn stepped in for the injured Aaron Rodgers and threw for
299 yards, four TDs and one INT on 26-of-39 passing (113.1 passer rating).
RB Eddie Lacy ran for 141 yards and one TD on 21 carries (6.7 avg.) and added 30 yards on four receptions (7.5 avg.).
QB Tony Romo completed 29 of 48 pass attempts for 358 yards, two TDs and two INTs (80.0 passer rating).
RB DeMarco Murray and WR Dez Bryant combined for 306 of the 466 total offensive yards for the Cowboys.
K Dan Bailey connected on all five of his field goals, with only one being from inside 40 yards.
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