Fifty-two days. That’s how much time is in between Green Bay’s 37-27 loss in Dallas in the NFC game of the year on Thursday night and a very possible rematch in the NFC championship.

Translation for football fans everywhere anticipating that there is no doubt the championship game will be Green Bay at Dallas part II: stop getting ahead of yourselves for the love of God. A lot can happen between now and then.

True, with the victory, Dallas advances to 11-1 while the Packers drop to 10-2. Dallas now obviously owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, so in effect Green Bay has to make up two games in the standings to earn home-field advantage.

The Packers will need to win their final four games and hope the Cowboys drop two of their last four. Green Bay faces a remaining schedule of Oakland (3-8), a dangerous trip at St. Louis (2-9), at Chicago (5-6), and Detroit (6-5). Meanwhile, Dallas has meetings at Detroit, vs. Philadelphia (5-6), at Carolina (4-7), and at Washington (5-6).

Making up one game on Dallas is a legitimate possibility, but two games will be very difficult.

However, still poised with a 2.5 game lead on both Seattle and Tampa Bay for a first-round bye, the Packers are in good shape on that front. As long as Green Bay wins three of the final four games, they will finish with that all-important week off when the postseason begins.

While home-field advantage is critical, especially in frigid Green Bay, getting a bye becomes priority number one once the Packers officially wrap up the division (Green Bay currently leads Detroit by 3 ½ games). You get a week off to get healthy, and you have to win just one game, a home game at that, to advance to the conference championship.

But as we head into December, a month the Packers are traditionally spectacular in, the Packers’ biggest priority is to get healthy after the bye is secured.

Quarterback Brett Favre is likely to play against Oakland after being knocked out of the Dallas game with a right elbow and a left separated shoulder injury, respectively. While Aaron Rodgers filled in admirably in his absence, the Packers definitely need a healthy Favre, and you try telling the legend he is going to sit out.

Pro Bowl candidate cornerback Charles Woodson’s value to the team cannot be understated after he missed the Cowboys game with a toe injury and was replaced by Jarrett Bush, who was torched time and time again before being benched at halftime.

Without Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, the Packers struggled to mount a pass rush on Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Furthermore, with safety Aaron Rouse out with a knee injury, head coach Mike McCarthy lacked depth at that position. Otherwise, either starter there, Atari Bigby or Nick Collins, would have been pulled. Bigby would have been out before blinking an eye.

McCarthy talked all week leading up to the Cowboys that the game was just one of 16. His actions matched his rhetoric, especially when he noted that Woodson would have played had it been a playoff game.

There seems to be a quiet confidence in the Green Bay organization that the Packers will beat the Cowboys when it matters the most, in January. A ton of things went against the Packers the other night.

Injuries and a couple questionable calls (a possible interception by Al Harris and a 42-yard pass interference penalty on Tramon Williams when it was possibly coincidental contact) all contributed to a Dallas victory.

But now the Packers must move on. Getting healthy in December and reestablishing momentum is paramount.

If Green Bay gets that bye, they’re in great shape. And what if the Packers win their divisional round game and Dallas falls that same week? That’s right; the NFC championship would be at Lambeau.

You just never know in the NFL. So much can happen in 52 days.

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