Sunday’s win at AT&T Stadium was just an absolutely dominant performance by the Green Bay Packers against the NFC’s No. 2 seeded Dallas Cowboys, who had won 16 straight games at home.
As always, there is a lot to cover, so let’s dive into my instant takeaways from the Packers’ impressive performance in the NFC Wild Card Round:
— Jordan Love is playing at such a high level. This is a quarterback in complete control. A perfect example of this was the touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks. Pre-snap, a hard count from Love gets the Cowboys to show blitz. He then makes the protection adjustments, then post snap pump fakes, remains calm and in the pocket as a defender closes in and delivers a dime.
— Aaron Jones and the run game figured to be a big factor in this one. For one, Jones and the offensive line are playing very well, but a good rushing attack has been a proven recipe for success this season against Dallas. Jones was consistently picking up positive runs at four or five yards a pop, and sprinkled in some explosive runs as well.
— Right now, there isn’t a defense out there that would be excited to play this Packers offense. Credit to Matt LaFleur for getting the unit to this point, but he also called a really, really good game in Dallas. Green Bay was able to generate a number of explosive pass plays against a defense that hasn’t given up many this season.
— Another very good performance by the Packers offensive line, especially in pass protection. It was a quiet game for Micah Parsons, who did draw two penalties, but wasn’t able to get to Love consistently.
— Romeo Doubs became the third straight Packers receiver to eclipse 100 yards, after Green Bay went 16 weeks without one. Doubs has been overshadowed by Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, but he has provided stability throughout the season at receiver, especially in key situations like third downs and in the red zone.
— Love and the offense found a lot of success in the passing game over the middle. There was a lot more zone from the Cowboys, perhaps concerned with the Packers speed, when ally they play a lot of man.
— It didn’t seem like the Packers didn’t generate a ton of pressure on Dak Prescott, but the secondary threw a lot of different looks at him, which made him uncomfortable. A good game plan by the Packers and well executed.
— For whatever reason, it didn’t look like Prescott and CeeDee Lamb were on the same page, especially early on. It also felt like Prescott was really trying to force the ball to Lamb and the Packers were prepared for that. With that said, this offense is too good to keep down for four quarters. Dallas really started clicking in the second half, but the Packers offense kept this game out of reach.
— It wasn’t perfect by the Packers special teams, but I thought they were much better than what they had been overall this season.
— Since returning from his suspension, Jaire Alexander has played some really good football the last two games. That interception was excellent.
— It’s been a month now of pretty solid run defense from the Packers and that continued against Dallas, with Tony Pollard averaging a modest 4.0 yards per attempt.
— Matt LaFleur says that the goal every week is to win the turnover battle 2-0 and the Packers did that. They also scored two touchdowns off those turnovers. The Packers were also very efficient on third downs as well as in the red zone. All of that is always going to be a formula for winning football.
— The first half was complementary football at its finest. All three phases working together very well. A great example of this was Daniel Whelan and the punt coverage team pinning Dallas inside their own 10-yard line. That was followed by Alexander’s interception and then a touchdown by the offense.
