If Cowboys can turn season around, can Packers?

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP)—Four games into the season, the Dallas Cowboys were sitting at .500 and facing intense scrutiny for failing to play up to expectations. They’ve turned it all around since, winning four straight.

Now they’ll face a Green Bay Packers team that’s stuck in a similar spot and looking for the same type of dramatic turnaround.

It’s probably not something the fans howling for change on Wisconsin’s barstools and sports talk radio stations want to hear heading into Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field: stay the course. But if the Packers are to replicate the Cowboys’ turnaround, wholesale changes might not be the way to go.

Dallas coach Wade Phillips said for the most part, from quarterback Tony Romo(notes) on down, the Cowboys (6-2) just got better at the things they’ve been trying to do the whole time.

“There’s no secrets to it,” Phillips said. “There’s no secret answer. It’s just keep plowing. If you’re good enough and work hard at it, things are going to work out for you.”

The Packers (4-4) certainly thought they were good enough, emerging from the preseason with a surge of momentum and high expectations. But it hasn’t worked out; the same problems keep popping up, they aren’t getting solved and the Packers are on the brink of a lost season.

Still, Romo knows a team with decent talent that hasn’t quite figured everything out can be dangerous.

“When you’re 4-4, as everybody goes through, you have to hear about all the other things that go along with not being where everyone hopes to be,” Romo said. “But to think that this isn’t a good football team is wrong. They have good players, they have a good scheme, they play hard, they play together. It’s going to be a very big challenge for us.”

Now riding a sharp turnaround from their rocky 2-2 start, Romo is proud the Cowboys didn’t panic.

“You’re either Super Bowl champs or the worst team ever, or you’re in the middle of the pack and then you’re back to Super Bowl champs,” Romo said. “And that’s just part of the process. That’s what makes the NFL so exciting is that each week there’s a whole ‘nother story being written. And I think you have to understand that as a player in (a) leadership role, and have a calming influence on everybody.”

In four straight victories, Romo has thrown nine touchdowns with only one interception with three games of 300-plus yards passing. And Romo, who was raised in Burlington, Wis., should feel comfortable at Lambeau on Sunday. As a starter, he’s 2-0 against the Packers, 17-6 on the road and 13-1 in games played in November.

Statistically, Packers starter Aaron Rodgers(notes) might be even better than Romo — except in terms of wins and losses. Rodgers says he’s trying to lead his teammates, both vocally and by example.

“Hopefully that means something to them and they see the urgency, they hear it in my voice and see it in my eyes,” Rodgers said. “As one of the leaders of the football team, you’ve got to first lead by example, but I think the stuff you say to the guys, the way you prepare, I think should speak to the situation as well.”

The Packers are coming off an emotionally charged loss to Brett Favre(notes) and the Minnesota Vikings, followed by a head-scratching loss at Tampa Bay. They would now need a remarkable collapse by the Vikings to get back in the NFC North race, so they’re likely looking at a wild-card berth as their best-case scenario. Rodgers and the players know the heat has been turned up on Packers coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson, but said major changes aren’t the answer.

“I think there’s been some comments made by various people about should there be a lot of changes,” Rodgers said. “The only changes, in my opinion, that need to be made are with the players. We’ve got to play better. We believe in the scheme on both sides of the ball, and we haven’t been playing as well as we’re capable of playing.”

To do that, they’ll have to solve familiar problems: Green Bay has allowed a league-worst 37 sacks and has committed too many penalties, often burying an otherwise-productive offense in down-and-distance holes it can’t dig out of. McCarthy joked this week that perhaps the Packers should adopt the ultimate max-protect tactic: keep even the wide receivers in to block.

“It just has to get corrected, period,” wide receiver Greg Jennings(notes) said. “There’s no waiting. We just need to fix it right now. Do we have the guys that can get it done? Yes, we do. We definitely do. They wouldn’t be here if they couldn’t.”

On defense, the Packers do a good job stopping the run but can’t get enough pass rush pressure and have had more than their share of penalties. Even the special teams are breaking down, allowing momentum-changing plays in the return game the past two weeks.

Facing a streaking Dallas team might not be the ideal time for the Packers to fix everything that ails them, but they don’t have a choice.

“Believe me, we know the importance of it,” defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins(notes) said. “We’re not at all trying to downplay the situation. We’re 4-4 right now. It’s not where we expected we would be or where we wanted to be, but it’s where we’re at. It’s still very possible to turn this thing around.”