Today, the bear got the Dallas Cowboys.

Injuries, penalties and sloppy play is going to leave a bad taste in a lot of mouths of Cowboys fans this week heading into Sunday’s showdown with the Washington Redskins.

But all is not lost. This was not a game that exposed the Cowboys as pretenders. Why? Check it out after the jump.

Everything that could have gone wrong in this game did. Plain and simple. I’m sure the Dallas Cowboys would simply like to have this game back, but it’s not like the Green Bay Packers are a bad team. On the contrary, they are a playoff-caliber team that desperately needed a win.

Am I excusing the way the Cowboys played today? Hell no. The Dallas Cowboys played like garbage today, especially on offense. (The defense, in all fairness, was quite good, but simply wore down after the Hamlin injury and a couple of short fields.)

If you go five series without getting a first down, that is inexcusable. I don’t care if you’re playing the 2000 Ravens or 1985 Bears defense. AT SOME POINT, you should at least stumble into a first down.

As far as the injuries are concerned, Marc Colombo reportedly has a broken fibula, which will keep him out indefinitely. Doug Free has been getting good buzz from practice, and it really didn’t seem like he was a big problem once Colombo was out. Most of the pressure came from the other side, and no one on the offensive line played worth a darn today.

Tony Romo didn’t have a good game and none of the running backs could get in a rhythm, but that pretty much all starts with the offensive line.

I loved to see Felix Jones going down the line and thanking each one of the members of the defense. I’m not sure if that happens last year.

I’m starting to get worried about Nick Folk. The guy doesn’t quite seem as automatic as he’s been in the past. I’m not saying that the first field goal would have definitely changed the game, but it certainly did not help.

The play that really summed up the day (and pardon me if you’re not reading this for the first time – I just try and find good opinions and base mine off those.) was the play on the third Green Bay drive of the game. Orlando Scandrick comes off the left side and clocks Rodgers, forcing a fumble which the Cowboys recovered.

Mike Jenkins gets called for illegal hands to the face (a questionable call at best, but I still put that on Mike. Don’t even risk that call.), first down Green Bay. Even when it looked like things were going right, things went wrong.

All in all, though, I’m not particularly worried about the overall state of this team. The injuries are worrisome, yes. Jenkins and Hamlin need to get healthy, and hopefully Free can at least plug the hole vacated by Colombo on the offensive line.

Green Bay needed this game more than the Dallas Cowboys did. With a loss, the Packers would have been 4-5 behind a lot of different teams in the hunt for the last couple of NFC playoff spots. The Cowboys are still in first place, and should still be there after their next two games.

I’m not going to blame the refs. Were there calls that looked like they should have gone the Cowboys’ way? Sure. But I’m sure the Packers can point to plenty of plays that went against them too.

As long as the Cowboys don’t let this loss simmer and drag them into next week, they will be just fine.

The sky is not falling. Yet.

Folk pic: http://www.chrissailerkicking.com/