Power Rankings: Shhh ... Packers have a big one coming up

Updated Nov. 27

Just once, wouldn't you love to hear an NFL player or coach say they have a big, maybe huge, game in front of them? Let's hear them talk about the importance of it instead of feeding us the tired old clichés about one game at a time.

Those of us in the Green Bay Packers' locker room following their Thanksgiving Day victory over the Detroit Lions tried to get the players to tell us about the importance of their meeting with the Dallas Cowboys this week. I tried a variety of ways to get somebody, anybody, to say it was big.

Brett Favre and Mike McCarthy are two big reasons for the Packers' success. (Getty Images)

"One game I don't think is going to define us one way or the other," Brett Favre said. "It may have some implications in the playoffs, but we can't worry about that right now. Now we can concentrate on Dallas."

Said defensive end Aaron Kampman: "It's one game. That's how we see it."

That's not how we see it. We see it as the NFC's version of a Regular Season Super Bowl. A few weeks back we had the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC, and that one lived up to the hype.

This one will as well.

It's a special Thursday night at Texas Stadium between the 10-1 Cowboys and the 10-1 Packers. It is in no way or form just another game.

The Packers have lost eight consecutive games at Texas Stadium and haven't won there since 1989. But this is a different group from those teams, except for Favre. It shouldn't matter to the youngest team in the NFL. Most of these players were still in grade school when most of those games were played.

Both teams can score, which is why it will be a treat. The Cowboys are the second-highest scoring team in the league at 32.5 points per game, while the Packers are fifth at 26.5. Green Bay has averaged 33.5 the past four games.

For now, the Packers remain in the No. 2 spot in our CBSSports.com Power Rankings. That's mainly because when they are healthy they are better than the Cowboys on defense. The Packers give up 16.5 points per game, while the Cowboys give up 20.1

So the Packers stay ahead of the Cowboys. I'm not saying they will win Thursday -- you have to wait until Thursday for that pick -- but on an even field I would take Green Bay.

If the Packers don't have Charles Woodson, that will sting. Woodson, the best corner in the league this season, is iffy with a toe injury. That could change the way the Packers play since they rely so much on man coverage with Woodson and Al Harris when he is on the field.

A few weeks back, the Packers went to Denver and Kansas City and won games in tough environments in a six-day span. Now they are faced with back-to-back road trips on consecutive Thursdays. Last week, they dominated the Lions. This week, it's the NFC's Regular Season Super Bowl. The winner will likely have home-field advantage in the playoffs and probably the inside track to the real Super Bowl.

So is it just a game? Even if the players try to insist that it is, we know better.

This is big.

Too bad it's on The NFL Network, and much of the country won't be able to see it since it's not on some cable systems. As one Packers front office official said, "I bet the rush to get DirecTV this week in our state will be unreal."

It should be. We have a special game coming Thursday -- even if the Packers won't say it.

The Power Rankings through Week 12: