The Green Bay Packers made history on Sunday, becoming the first 7 seed team to ever win a playoff game. The Packers defeated the Cowboys 48-32 in dominating fashion. With this win, the Packers advance to the NFC Divisional round where they will meet a familiar foe- the San Francisco 49ers. Let’s look back on the Packers’ thrilling victory against Dallas that set the stage for next weekend’s matchup.
Prior to yesterday, the Cowboys had won 16-straight games at home and averaged nearly 30 points a game. From the start, Green Bay was in complete control of this football game. They opened the game with an 8-minute touchdown drive. The entire first half was complementary football at its finest. All three phases worked together very well. While the offense was efficient, Daniel Whelan and the punt coverage team pinned Dallas inside their own 10-yard line. That was then followed up by a Jaire Alexander interception that led to another touchdown by the offense-giving Green Bay a quick 14-0 lead. By halftime the Packers lead jumped to 27-7.
Leading the way for Green Bay was Jordan Love. What we are witnessing right now is a quarterback in complete command of the offense, regardless of the situation. He is playing as well as any quarterback in the NFL. You could even argue he is currently playing better football than all of his peers. Love finished the game with 272 yards on only 21 pass attempts, along with 3 TD’s. His passer rating was near perfect at 157.2.
For the third straight game, the Packers had a receiver eclipse 100 receiving yards, and this time, it was Romeo Doubs’ turn to get in on the action. Doubs finished with six receptions for 151 yards and a TD. The Packers’ offense dropped 41 on the Cowboys and 48 in total with Darnell Savage’s pick-six. Another phenomenal performance by Aaron Jones paved the way for Green Bay’s victory. The El Paso native made sure to put on a show in his home state, totaling 118 rushing yards at 5.6 yards per attempt with 3 TD’s.
The defense had given up just 16 points at the 6 minute mark in the 4th quarter. This included coming away with 2 turnovers, one of which that went for a touchdown(Darnell Savage’s pick-6), and making things difficult for most of the game for a Cowboys passing attack that had been one of the best in football in 2023. The Packers were able to often take away Dak Prescott’s initial reads and they didn’t let CeeDee Lamb get going until the game was out of reach. Overall, it was a very disjointed, uncharacteristic performance by the Cowboys’ offense.
Green Bay will travel to Santa Clara next week to play the 1 seed 49ers. The Packers have lost 4 consecutive postseason games to San Francisco, most recently a 13-10 loss at Lambeau Field during the 2021 playoffs. They will open as 10-point underdogs. This team has been more than willing to embrace that underdog role that has been given to them by the outside world all season long. Here’s to hoping the young Packers can get their revenge and punch their ticket to Conference Championship weekend.
