by Sports Xchange

Six of the nine 'backers on their roster -- excluding Spencer Havner, who's emerged as Mr. Touchdown in a full-time conversion to tight end this season -- are on the injury report this week for the game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

No problem for a position group that is deep, talented and seems to be hitting its stride as the impactful showpiece of the 3-4 defense molded by coordinator Dom Capers.

"They have a good scheme," quarterback Tony Romo attested after his Dallas Cowboys were drummed 17-7 by Green Bay last Sunday in a game its players felt they had to win to ease the sting of a 4-4 start to the season.

"They throw a lot of guys around, and they have good players who know how to dog and blitz, and it just made for confusion," Romo added.

An ever-changing and steadily improving linebacker corps inflicted most of the damage.

Nick Barnett (two) and Clay Matthews (one) had three of the Packers' five sacks of Romo. Matthews nabbed two of Green Bay's three takeaways, both on recoveries of fumbles caused by cornerback Charles Woodson.

"I think I should just start following Charles Woodson around the field, and good things are bound to happen," a smiling Matthews said.

While Woodson deservedly received a lot of the accolades for his singular performance Sunday, which included a goal-line interception, the high rate of play by the linebackers enabled Capers to turn up the heat with his pressure calls like no other game previously.

"This is the way this defense is supposed to look," Barnett said. "We had some great cross blitzing in the middle (from Barnett and A.J. Hawk) and some guys (rushing from the) outside."

What made the collective performance all the more remarkable, and comforting for Capers and head coach Mike McCarthy, is the Packers were without two cogs at linebacker: starter Aaron Kampman and situational contributor Brandon Chillar.

Having Kampman standing in sweats on the sideline a week after suffering a concussion was no big deal. Brad Jones, a seventh-round draft pick this year, took advantage of his first start. He made eight tackles (second on the team) and also functioned well in pass coverage, which is an upgrade over Kampman.

"I think he's warranted an opportunity to play," McCarthy said of Jones in the aftermath of the game.

Although Kampman is back practicing this week and should play Sunday, his hold on a full-time role at left outside linebacker could be tenuous.

Jones is a natural fit in the 3-4 and along with first-round draftee Matthews would give the Packers two rookie bookends oozing with playmaking potential. Matthews already leads the defense with four sacks and three fumble recoveries.

"We don't have 11 starters on offense or defense, so we try to utilize these guys the best we can," McCarthy said. "And, it's tough. You've got to make certain decisions based on packages and so forth."

The same holds true at inside linebacker, where Chillar's return this week from a two-game absence because of a broken hand likely will mean split playing time between him and starter Hawk.

Barnett is entrenched in a full-time role after he needed the first few weeks of the season to get his feet under him less than a year after suffering a major knee injury. Barnett, who leads the team with 67 tackles (55 solo), has come on in the past month with five pass breakups and the two sacks Sunday.

SERIES HISTORY: 55th regular-season meeting. Packers lead series, 28-25-1. Including a postseason matchup in the 2001 season, Green Bay has won the last six games dating to 1999. Four of those six meetings had point spreads of at least 10 points, including 30-19 in the teams' most recent meeting in 2006 at San Francisco. The Packers' last loss in the series was 30-27 on the road Jan. 3, 1999, in the controversial NFC wild-card matchup decided on a last-second touchdown pass from Steve Young to Terrell Owens. Green Bay is 11-1 against the 49ers since the 1995 season, including a 6-0 record at Lambeau Field.