ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREEN BAY (9-8) at DALLAS (12-5)
DAY / TIME / TV: Sunday, 4:30 p.m. EST, FOX
SERIES RECORD: Packers lead 21-17.
LAST MEETING: Packers beat Cowboys 31-28 on Nov. 13, 2022, at Green Bay.
LAST WEEK: Packers beat Bears 17-9; Cowboys beat Commanders 38-10.
PACKERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (11), RUSH (15), PASS (12), SCORING (12).
PACKERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (17), RUSH (28), PASS (9), SCORING (10).
COWBOYS OFFENSE: OVERALL (5), RUSH (14), PASS (3), SCORING (1).
COWBOYS DEFENSE: OVERALL (5), RUSH (16), PASS (5), SCORING (5).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Packers even; Cowboys plus-10.
Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t have asked for things to go any better than they did the last two weeks of the regular season.
Their rise to the No. 2 seed in the NFC means they won’t have to leave home in the postseason unless they get where they’ve wanted to be for 28 years without making it — the conference championship game.
The possibility of at least two playoff games at AT&T Stadium comes with the Cowboys (12-5) riding a 16-game winning streak under their retractable roof.
All fine and good, Prescott says, but first things first.
The NFC East champs will see the playoff debut of Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love, future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers’ successor, when the Packers (9-8) visit in a wild-card game Sunday.
“On our end, it starts off with us taking care of this one,” Prescott said. “We can talk about the opportunity, this and that, but the opportunity is right now with this game. I’d be getting ahead of myself if I didn’t say it’s today and the rest of these meetings and our approach.”
Dallas is in the playoffs for the third consecutive season, which the franchise hasn’t done since a run of six straight from 1991-96 that included three of its five Super Bowl titles.
The Cowboys were knocked out by San Francisco each of the past two postseasons, first in a wild-card game at home, then the divisional round on the road.
“Experience is everything,” said Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb, who set club records with an NFL-best 135 catches for 1,749 yards. “I feel like we have a lot of guys that have also been on the team for quite some time and we all went through the same scars and we’re not trying to feel that again.”
This time, Dallas wouldn’t see the top-seeded Niners until the NFC title game. The Cowboys chased defending division champion Philadelphia for two months before overtaking the Eagles in the final two weeks.
Instead of a postseason likely filled with road games like a year ago, when Dallas dominated Tampa Bay before the loss in the Bay Area, the Cowboys are in line for multiple home playoff games for the first time since they were the NFC’s top seed in Prescott’s rookie year in 2016.
Prescott lost his playoff debut to Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy’s Packers. McCarthy is now in his fourth season in charge of the Cowboys.
“It’s all about an excellent opportunity that we prepared ourselves and we put ourselves in this position,” said McCarthy, who led Green Bay to a Super Bowl title 13 years ago and spent 12-plus seasons there. “We earned it, deserved it and more importantly, we’re going to take advantage of it.”
Love threw 18 touchdown passes with just one interception in the final eight games, when the Packers went 6-2 to surge into the final playoff spot in the NFC.
“We’ve had to win every game going forward to be able to put ourselves in this position,” Love said. “Obviously now the stakes are a little bit higher in the playoffs, but I think we’ve been here, we have the right mindset going forward.”
SIZZLING QBs
Prescott threw an NFL-leading 36 touchdown passes during the regular season, while Love was second with 32.
It’s the second wild-card meeting of league leaders from the regular season. The other matched a pair of Hall of Famers when Dan Fouts and San Diego topped Terry Bradshaw and Pittsburgh 31-28 in 1982.
Love will try to continue the mastery Rodgers had over the Cowboys. The Packers have won nine of the past 10 meetings, including divisional playoff games during the 2014 and 2016 seasons.
KEEPING UP WITH JONES
Green Bay running back Aaron Jones missed six games this season due to hamstring and knee issues, and his 656 yards rushing represent his lowest total since his rookie season of 2017.
But he’s healthy and playing well just in time for the postseason. Jones rushed for at least 111 yards in each of the Packers’ last three games, all wins.
Jones has a history of playing well against the Cowboys. He has rushed for 370 yards and six touchdowns in three previous matchups with Dallas. His six TD runs are the most by any player against Dallas since 2017.
“When he’s on the field, you better know where he is,” McCarthy said.
SHOWDOWN SHORT-CIRCUITED?
This matchup looked to be a showcase with Lamb being covered by Green Bay cornerback Jaire Alexander, who has had an up-and-down year with injuries and a one-game suspension issued by the team for crashing the coin toss at Carolina and almost botching Green Bay’s plan for possession.
Now Alexander’s status is up in the air after he sprained an ankle in practice Thursday. He had back and shoulder issues earlier this season.
WHITHER WATSON?
Green Bay receiver Christian Watson had three touchdown catches against Dallas to spoil McCarthy’s Green Bay homecoming last season when the Packers overcame a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter of a 31-28 overtime win.
Watson’s availability is uncertain after he missed the final five games of the season with a hamstring injury. The 2022 second-round pick from North Dakota State was limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday.
“I’m doing everything I possibly can to be able to go on Sunday,” said Watson, who played nine games this season.
PACKERS PLAYER TO WATCH
QB Jordan Love is one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league as the fourth-year pro prepares for his playoff debut. Love has thrown 18 touchdown passes with one interception over his past eight games, and the Packers have gone 6-2 during that stretch.
COWBOYS PLAYER TO WATCH
LB Micah Parsons has made the playoffs all three of his seasons with Dallas. He's looking for his first dominant showing in his fourth game. Parsons' only sack so far came against Tom Brady in Parsons' only playoff victory, at Tampa Bay last season.
KEY MATCHUP
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb vs. Packers CB Jaire Alexander, although Alexander's status is iffy after spraining an ankle in practice Thursday. Lamb had a breakout season, setting Dallas records for catches (NFL-best 135) and yards receiving (1,749, second to Miami's Tyreek Hill). Lamb had 13 catches in each of the past two regular-season games and could become the first player in NFL history with at least that many in three consecutive games. Alexander had a mostly lost season coming off a career-best five interceptions that followed signing an $84 million contract extension in May 2022. After back and shoulder injuries sidelined him roughly half the season, Alexander was suspended a game for crashing the coin toss in his hometown of Charlotte and almost costing the Packers possession to start both halves.
KEY INJURIES
Packers WR Christian Watson (hamstring) has missed five straight games… RB AJ Dillon (thumb/neck) and LB Isaiah McDuffie (concussion/neck) also didn’t play in the regular-season finale… WR Romeo Doubs (chest) left the Bears game and was taken to the hospital, though he was released later that night… Cowboys CB Stephon Gilmore expects to play after getting knocked out of the Washington game with a shoulder injury… LG Tyler Smith sat against the Commanders with a plantar fascia injury but is hopeful he will play… RG Zack Martin is expected to return after being a late scratch in Washington with an illness.
SERIES NOTES
The Packers have beaten the Cowboys four straight times and have won nine of the past 10 matchups. All of those came during QB Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay tenure. That includes divisional playoff victories during the 2014 and 2016 seasons. This is the first time the Cowboys and Packers have faced off in the wild-card round. Packers WR Christian Watson had three touchdowns and Lamb scored twice when the Packers rallied from a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Cowboys in overtime last season. That was Dallas coach Mike McCarthy's return to Green Bay, where he coached for 12-plus seasons and won a Super Bowl.
STATS AND STUFF
The Cowboys have won 16 consecutive regular-season games at AT&T Stadium. It's the club's longest home winning streak since an 18-game run in the regular season at Texas Stadium from 1979-81. The Cowboys went 2-1 at Texas Stadium in the playoffs during those three seasons. This is the first home playoff game since Dallas started its AT&T Stadium streak… McCarthy has a chance to become the first coach to win a playoff game against a team he led to a Super Bowl title… Dallas’ Dak Prescott had an NFL-leading 36 touchdown passes this season. Love ranked second with 32… The Packers reached the playoffs despite not having any players selected to the Pro Bowl. Six were selected as alternates. Dallas has seven Pro Bowlers… The Packers have the NFL’s youngest roster this season. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Packers have the youngest weighted age of any playoff team since the 1974 Buffalo Bills… Packers RB Aaron Jones has rushed for 370 yards and six TDs in three previous games against the Cowboys. He has run for at least 100 yards in all of them… The Packers earned a wild-card berth by winning their last three games… The Packers, Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers have 36 playoff wins each, putting them in a tie for second place. New England has 37… The Packers’ .590 postseason winning percentage ranks third in the league, behind New England (.627) and San Francisco (.610)… Love threw for 4,159 yards in the regular season. He joined Kurt Warner (1999) and Patrick Mahomes (2018) as the only NFL players to have 4,000-plus passing yards and 32-plus TD passes in their first season with multiple starts… This is the first time in Packers history that four rookies have caught at least 30 passes. They were Jayden Reed (64), Dontayvion Wicks (39), Luke Musgrave (34) and Tucker Kraft (31)… Lamb has seven games with at least 10 catches this season. An eighth would put him one behind New Orleans' Michael Thomas (nine in 2019) for the most games with at least 10 catches in a season, playoffs included… CB DaRon Bland had an NFL-leading nine interceptions. The second-year player set a record with five interception returns for touchdowns. All of those came in the first 11 games… CB Stephon Gilmore has 11 pass breakups in his postseason career. That's second to San Francisco's Charvarius Ward (12) among active players… K Brandon Aubrey led the NFL with 36 field goals. The 28-year-old rookie set at NFL record by going 35 of 35 to start his career. Aubrey is the first Dallas kicker to lead the league in field goals since Richie Cunningham in 1997.
