I was having a terrific few days last weekend. I saw the Badger men's hockey team split with rival Minnesota, the football team squeak out a close win over Indiana, and I made the entire Badger women's hockey team crack up in laughter with my mockery of Gopher fans at a bar Saturday night. And then Sunday came, and my great weekend came crashing down.
But enough about last week. It's time to preview this week's game, which I will not be watching because I'll be arriving in DC for a conference. And frankly, with the frustration of the past few weeks and the repeated mistakes, I've decided that if I miss one game all season, I'm totally fine with it being this one. Now, on to previews for the Dallas game. Since I'm missing the game, here are things that I'll be looking for in the box score and live threads when I peruse them afterwards.
1. DeMarcus Ware's stats Ware is the key to that defense. When he is pressuring the quarterback, good things happen for the Cowboys. Ware's "only" on pace for ten sacks this year, which would give him his lowest total since his rookie year in 2005. Going up against the Packers' offensive line is a perfect opportunity for Ware to improve those sack totals. Personally, I think Ware is a more frightening pass-rusher than Jared Allen, and since he's an OLB in the Cowboys' 3-4, he'll be coming from all angles, challenging each of the Packers' weak links up front. If Ware can't be contained, Rodgers might not make it through this game in one piece.

2. Green Bay RBs' performance This is more a reflection of how I will judge Mike McCarthy's playcalling. If the backs carry the ball less than 20 times, something is wrong. Running the ball is an easy way to make sure that Aaron Rodgers doesn't get hit on a given play, and obviously sets up the play action. The other problem, though, will be if the backs get around 30 carries, but are obviously ineffective (i.e. averaging 3 yards per carry). Again, I'm not sure what's going to happen given the flow of the game, but I think those rushing stats will tell a lot of the story about the way McCarthy is handling the game.
3. Turnovers Read: Charles Woodson For Green Bay to win this game, the defense will need to force Tony Romo to have one of his implosions. Romo committed at least one turnover in 12 of his 13 starts last season, and two or more in six of those games. I'm confident that if the Packers' pass rush functions and can get to Romo, he'll cough up at least one fumble and make a few poor decisions with the football. I just pray that Woodson et al will be able to capitalize on them and give the offense good field position (or just put it in the end zone on their own, which would be even better).
That's all for this week. I hope to see highlights from a big Packers win on SportsCenter before I hit the hay Sunday night in our nation's capital.