Green Bay’s Aaron Jones has had tremendous success against the Dallas Cowboys. The Packers will be … [+]
The Ice Bowl.
Tom Brown’s heroics in the 1966 NFL title game.
Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith dominating the 1990s.
The Dez Bryant ‘Catch’ — Or ‘No Catch’ — game, and Mason Crosby’s 2016 heroics.
The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys have produced some of the most remarkable playoff games in NFL history. Fittingly, the series between two of the league’s most storied franchises is knotted, 4-4, with the Packers winning the last two meetings.
That will change Sunday, when Green Bay heads to Dallas for a wildcard matchup at 3:30 p.m. The Cowboys are currently 7.5-point favorite.
Here’s who has the edge at each position.
QUARTERBACKS
Dallas’ Dak Prescott, a fourth round draft pick in 2016, has already had a brilliant career with 202 touchdown passes, 74 interceptions and a 99.0 quarterback rating. The 2023 season has been arguably Prescott’s best as he led the league with 36 touchdown passes, threw just nine interceptions and posted a career-best 105.9 passer rating.
Prescott is just 2-4 all-time in the postseason, though, and has never led the Cowboys past the divisional playoffs.
“Just his consistency, his personality and work ethic, and how he handles all that, and navigates all that, and he goes out and performs every week,” Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said of Prescott. “I think it’s special what he has to endure. I think the intensity of the microscope on Dak, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Green Bay’s Jordan Love, in his first year as the Packers’ starter, had a brilliant season himself. Love ranked second in the NFL in touchdown passes (32), threw just 11 interceptions and had a 96.1 passer rating.
In the last eight games, Love has thrown 18 touchdown passes, just one interception, completed 70.3% of his passes and has a 112.7 passer rating. Love will be making his first playoff start this week
“I’ll be the same,” Love said of starting his first playoff game. “Every game I go through a checklist of what I tell myself, things to try to tell myself to relax, calm down, see the game, let it come to me and just focus on all the little details that I can focus on, control what I can control.
“So I don’t think it will be any different than any other game. Obviously it will be an away game, it will be a loud environment. So just trying to get my feet and get settled into the game will be huge.”
ADVANTAGE: Even
RUNNING BACKS
Green Bay’s Aaron Jones has 358 rushing yards in the last three games and is averaging 5.7 yards per carry. The Packers are 3-0 in those contests.
Jones has enjoyed remarkable success against Dallas during his career.
… (remaining content retained as it is) …
ADVANTAGE: Dallas
COACHING
Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur has guided the Packers to the postseason in four of his five years. LaFleur is 56-27 in that time…
LaFleur is just 2-3 in the postseason, though, with forgettable coaching performances in all three losses — especially the 2020 NFC title game when he elected to kick a late field…
Dallas’ Mike McCarthy, who coached in Green Bay from 2006-2018, was the second-longest tenured coach in team history behind only Earl “Curly” Lambeau…
McCarthy’s.618 winning percentage ranks fifth in team history behind Vince Lombardi (.754), LaFleur (.675), Mike Holmgren (.670) and Lambeau (…
McCarthy is just 1-2 in the postseason with Dallas, though, and if he can’t beat his former team Sunday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones might make a coaching…
ADVANTAGE: Dallas
PREDICTION: Green Bay 31, Dallas 27