The yellow-green zebra strolled through Dallas’ At&t Stadium, and the Dallas Cowboys’ paean to the Green Bay Packers continues. The highest-scoring team of the regular season, undefeated at home and a strong candidate for the Super Bowl, was overrun by the seventh-placed team in the National Conference (NFC), 48 to 32, at At&t Stadium this Sunday.
It’s the third time in a row that the Packers have eliminated their archrivals when the two teams meet in the playoffs, but this was the most traumatic. The 48 points were the worst score conceded by the Cowboys in a postseason game in history. Do you think the Packers are poised to collect more wins? Check out ninewin reviews for more insights.
Dallas Cowboys 32 x 48 Green Bay Packers – highlights – NFL 2023/ 2024
In 2014 and 2016, Green Bay had legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers leading a group of veterans. This time, the yellow-green team had a young quarterback, Jordan Love, in his first year as a starter and in his first playoff game, and a squad full of rookies and sophomores, who started the season with five losses in seven games and recovered to seek the last spot in the playoffs.
On the other side, Dallas, the team with the second best record in the NFC, scoring 37 points per game and unbeaten in eight games at its stadium. On the field, quarterback Dak Prescott was the leader in touchdown passes in the championship and stars like CeeDee Lamb, Tony Pollard, Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland had great seasons.
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But the team that trailed at home for a total of 44 minutes throughout the championship quickly found themselves at a disadvantage this Sunday and only started playing their American football when the score read 27-0 for the visitors. Running back Aaron Jones punctured the Cowboys’ defense with 118 rushing yards and three touchdowns and opened up space for Love to distribute the ball. The quarterback scored three touchdowns and completed 16 of 21 passes for 272 yards in his postseason debut, 151 of them to wide receiver Romeo Doubs.
On the other side, a zone defense focused on stopping the Cowboys’ explosive plays confused Prescott, who was intercepted twice in the first half, one of which was returned for a touchdown. He finished with 41 completed passes in 60 attempts, eliminated before the conference finals for the sixth time in his career. The Dallas board now has to make decisions: whether to extend the quarterback’s contract after one of his most productive seasons, and whether to renew Coach Mike McCarthy, who in four seasons failed to take the Cowboys to the Super Bowl.
The Packers move on and face the San Francisco 49ers, first place in the NFC, in Santa Clara (USA) in the second round of the playoffs.
Thirty Catastrophic Minutes From Dallas
The first half was a nightmare for the Cowboys. The defense was unable to stop the Packers’ attack, which opened the scoring in the first campaign, with a strategy that worked perfectly: they spent almost eight minutes on 12 plays, most of them runs with Aaron Jones. It was in one of these that the running back entered the endzone to score the first touchdown of the game.
And in the Dallas attack, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb were not on the same page, with passes not so accurate from the former, but still catchable that the latter dropped. And with each mistake, the duo exchanged glances and unusual charges between them. Prescott ended the first quarter without any air yards gained for the first time this year, and to make matters worse, he was intercepted by Jaire Alexander on his second possession of the game.
Green Bay recovered the ball 19 yards from the endzone; four plays later, Jones scored the second touchdown in the opening seconds of the second quarter. And it got even worse: after Jordan Love connected with Dontayvion Wicks for the third touchdown of the game, Prescott suffered his second interception, this time returned 64 yards for a touchdown by safety Darnell Savage. Green Bay 27-0 before halftime, and the home crowd was silent and stunned.
Jordan Love Breaks Down the Cowboys’ Defense
The Cowboys finally showed signs of life and put together an efficient campaign in the final two minutes of the first half. Prescott passed to tight end Jake Ferguson to score Dallas’ first touchdown as time expired and close the gap to 20 points. The home team also had the first possession of the third quarter and, on the first play, Prescott connected with Lamb. There were four connections between the two in a 12-play campaign that ended in a 34-yard field goal converted by Brandon Aubrey.
The Cowboys’ defense, however, still had no answers for Love and company. The Packers went 75 yards in five plays, highlighted by a 46-yard pass to Romeo Doubs, and Aaron Jones scored his third touchdown of the game on a nine-yard run. Dallas pulled one back with a rushing touchdown from Pollard, but failed on two-point conversion and extra-point kick attempts, and Green Bay again responded with a quick touchdown on a 38-yard pass to Luke Musgrave.
There was still one more touchdown pass from Love to Doubs in the fourth quarter. Dallas scored on two more passes from Prescott to Ferguson plus two-point conversions, reducing the final margin to 14 points. But the disadvantage was too great to seek a turnaround in such a short time. The Cowboys almost came within a third straight touchdown, but the Packers’ defense stopped them and secured the victory – and qualification to the second round.