Cowboys win sight unseen

On a night when millions of frustrated NFL fans couldn’t see two of the league’s elite teams square off for supremacy in the NFC, something else went unseen Thursday by Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre.

A Dallas Cowboys defender coming from his blind side.

As a result, Favre was knocked out of the game in the second quarter by Cowboys cornerback Nate Jones because of a nerve injury in his right elbow and a separated left shoulder.

“There aren’t too many times in my career I can say a guy came free and I didn’t see him,” said Favre, whose night was made worse by Dallas winning, 37-27. “Unfortunately, that was one of those times.”

The game was broadcast on the NFL Network, meaning it was available to fewer than 40% of TV homes. So much of the country missed the first matchup between 10-1 teams since the New York Giants played at San Francisco in 1990.

Whereas Favre probably couldn’t bend his arm, the Cowboys certainly flexed theirs. Despite some gusty play by Packers backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Dallas showed it’s the team to beat in the conference. The Cowboys also took a big step toward home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

If the Giants lose at Chicago on Sunday, Dallas will clinch the NFC East and become the conference’s first team to secure a postseason berth.

The question for Green Bay: Will Favre, the NFL record holder for consecutive starts, be able to make his 270th?

“Knowing Brett Favre, I think there’s a great chance he’ll be ready,” said Packers Coach Mike McCarthy, whose team plays host to Oakland on Dec. 9.

Asked if he can envision himself ever sitting out a game, Favre said he could.

“I hope this is not one of those times,” he said. “But I couldn’t go back in the game, and believe me I wanted to. But we have four days until we start back into a normal week, and I anticipate being fine. I hope I am.

“But there’s been numerous times when that’s been an issue, when it came down to the day before a game. I don’t envision this being one of them. . . . I’m not getting any younger. It takes a little longer to recover. But I think I’ll be OK.”

After getting X-rayed and examined in the locker room late in the second quarter, Favre returned to the sideline just in case. The Packers have only two quarterbacks, after all. He said he could grip a ball fine but wouldn’t trust his ability to hang onto it while throwing or have the precision to hit his targets.

Hours after the collision, he still felt tingling in his fingers. He said it felt as if he hit his funny bone, but “imagine hitting it 10 times harder with a hammer.”

His Cowboys counterpart had a spectacular night. Tony Romo completed 19 of 30 passes for 309 yards with four touchdown passes and no interceptions. Romo has a Cowboys single-season record 33 touchdown passes -- more than Hall of Fame quarterbacks Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman ever threw.

Romo, who grew up in Wisconsin as a Favre fan, joked after the game he doesn’t expect to get a warm reception when he goes back to Burlington, Wis.

“A lot of negativity,” he said with a smile. “I don’t think there were more than four people that rooted for me in my hometown. So I don’t think they’ll be too happy with me right now. But you never know. Maybe a little later they will be.”

Terrell Owens, who caught seven passes for a game-high 156 yards, including one covering 48 yards, said the key to his on-field relationship with Romo is communication.

“It’s us having the faith in one another,” Owens said. “Him knowing where I’m going to be, me paying attention to detail and reading what the corners are giving me.”

Dallas isn’t giving much ground. The Cowboys have won six in a row and are averaging 32.9 points, second only to New England’s 40.1.

In fact, the Patriots are the only team to have defeated the Cowboys this season, doing so convincingly with a 48-27 victory at Texas Stadium in Week 6.

The Cowboys have had far more success on their home field when the Packers come to town. Favre is 0-9 at Texas Stadium and made some questionable decisions in the one-plus quarters he played. He completed five of 14 passes for 56 yards with two interceptions.

Rodgers played surprisingly well in his stead, completing 18 of 26 for 201 yards and throwing the first touchdown pass of his career. He also directed a 12-play scoring drive in the third quarter that pulled the Packers close, 27-24.

The Cowboys inched away in the fourth quarter, though, getting some critical clock-burning carries from running back Marion Barber. They left the field smiling, hugging and knowing they’re half a step away from a spot in the playoffs.

Take it from a very knowledgeable observer -- one, to his dismay, who watched from a prime vantage -- the Cowboys are the conference’s team to beat.

“They are the best team in the NFC,” Favre said. “They proved that today.”

sam.farmer@latimes.com