Photo: Dave Anderson / Unsplash
By Charles Collier
On January 19, 2024, The Packers dominated The Cowboys in every facet of the game in a convincing 48-32 victory. With the win, The Packers snapped Dallas’ 16 game winning streak at home. The Packers shocked Cowboy fans and NFL fans alike and a star was born right before our very eyes. Jordan Love left no doubt that he is one of the elite Quarterbacks in the NFL. He played his best game of the season; he tossed three touchdowns for 267 yards and no interceptions and had a passer rating of 157.2. Love tied rookie sensation C. J. Stroud (who finished with a 157.2 passer rating on Saturday) for the fourth highest single game passer rating in NFL playoff history. Jordan was superb, however; it was a total team effort. Romeo Dobbs had a career high 151 yards and one 1 touchdown. Aaron Jones rushed for 118 yards on 21 carries for 3 Touchdowns.
A deflated Dak Prescott addressed the media after the game and was asked what his reaction was to the lopsided loss. “Just shocked, honestly,” Prescott said. “From the beginning of the game, we got beat. There’s no way around it. There’s no way to sugar coat it. Shock.”
After the game a jubilant Jordan Love was interviewed, “We came in here with the mindset of we’re going to dominate,” Love said. “A lot of people counted us out and we didn’t care about that.”
Many Cowboy fans and NFL experts thought the loss would signal the end of the Mike McCarthy’s tenure as coach the Dallas. To the shock of many Jerry Jones decided to bring McCarthy back next year. On Wednesday January 17, 2024, Jerry Jones issued a statement. McCarthy will return for his fifth and final season of his current deal. “I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach.”
In other NFL Wildcard games, rookie sensation C.J Stroud became the youngest QB in NFL history to win a playoff game as The Texans cruised by The Browns 45-14. Pat Mahomes led Kansas-City to an easy win over Miami 26-7. Detroit defeated The Rams 24-23 The Bucs shocked Philadelphia 32-9 and The Bills won convincingly over The Steelers 31-17.
The Packers have come a long way during the 2023-2024 season. They have their work cut out for them and will face the number #1 seed San Francisco 49ers Saturday. The Packers are 9.5 underdogs against San Francisco. The Packers have listed star cornerback Jaire Alexander, AJ Dillion and punter Daniel Whelan as questionable for the game. Despite the injuries, they still have a chance to win. If they play hard, execute the game plan and believe in themselves, they can beat the mighty 49ers.