[tags]Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers[/tags]

Here are this week’s ratings for the Cowboys’ 27-16 win over Green Bay on Sunday:

My votes:

Tony Romo – 4 Stars: Romo managed the game well and made the big plays when he had to. Two intentional grounding penalties and an interception in the end zone brings this down a star.

Marion Barber – 5 Stars: Barber ran tough and made the big runs in the second half when the offensive line was beginning to dominate the Packers’ defensive line.

Terrell Owens – 3 Stars: Owens did not have a productive night, but he was also drawing attention that allowed others to shine. He missed a couple of opportunities, so he gets three stars.

Patrick Crayton – 2 Stars: Romo attempted four passes to Crayton, who caught none. I am not sure Crayton did anything poorly, but he should have been more productive with the Packers giving Owens so much attention.

Jason Witten – 5 Stars: Once again, Witten made the plays that put the Cowboys in position to score. He currently ranks third in the NFL with 20 receptions.

Pass Blocking – 3 Stars: Romo felt pressure in the first half and was sacked three times. The line did a better job in the second half, though the Cowboys were running quite a bit.

Run Blocking – 5 Stars: The line did a great job with run blocking, especially in the second half. The game offered some reminders of the 1990s Cowboys, especially when Barber was picking up eight yards, eight yards, eight yards, and so forth.

Role Players and Backups – 5 Stars: Felix Jones is amazing. He has had several runs where he nearly broke it for a long gain, and on his 60-yard run, he finally did. Miles Austin showed his speed on the two long receptions and gave opponents more reasons to be nervous about the Dallas attack.

Penalties – Offense – 5 Stars: The only two offensive penalties were intentional grounding on Tony Romo. Since I marked Romo down, I’ll give the offense as a whole full credit (though, to be fair, Andre Gurode was called for holding on a play where Romo was called for grounding).

Run Support – 5 Stars: Ryan Grant was really never a factor. The Packers’ longest run was nine yards. Brandon Jackson seemed to give Dallas more trouble, but he was not in the game very often.

Pass Rush – 5 Stars: Dallas recorded five sacks, including two by Anthony Henry. The defensive line along with DeMarcus Ware often generated pressure without additional blitzing, which is a good sign.

Tackling – 3 Stars: This is more of an impression vote, but there were too many instances were Packer runners were able to spin out of Dallas tackles.

Coverage – 4 Stars: Aaron Rodgers completed 22 of 37, but many of those passes were underneath the coverage. The only play where the Dallas coverage was completely blown was the 50-yard pass to Donald Driver in the third quarter. Mickey Spagnola blamed Pacman Jones. Josh Ellis (also employed by the Cowboys…) said it was Ken Hamlin’s fault. The cost? One star on an obscure blog.

Penalties – Defense – 5 Stars: Two defensive penalties, neither of which were costly, means that this was a five-star effort.

Nick Folk – 5 Stars: Folk remain perfect on the season. He has yet to record a touchback on a kickoff, but that is okay for now.

Mat McBriar – 4 Stars: McBriar had a beauty of a 65-yard punt, but he also shanked one.

Coverage Units – 5 Stars: The Packers only managed 16.2 yards per kickoff return, along with 6.0 yards per punt return.

Return Game – 3 Stars: Nothing bad happened in the return game, but there was nothing noteworthy. The Cowboys only managed 11 yards per kickoff return.

Penalties – 3 Stars: Three special teams penalties were avoidable. Every team has trouble with the illegal block in the back, etc., but these penalties should be minimized.