NFL Playoffs: Packers run riot and embarrass the Cowboys in 48-32 win
America’s Team. A historic franchise and a brilliant season. The Dallas Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wildcard Game and they got run off their own field. Aaron Jones and Jordan Love dominated the Cowboys defence and a huge deficit was too much to overcome for Dallas as they fell to a 48-32 defeat.
Jones scored three touchdowns, Love threw three touchdowns and a pick six for Darnell Savage ensured the Packers ran riot. A late fourth quarter rally from the Cowboys made the scoreline look a closer game. In the end, it was an utter embarrassment for Dallas.
The Packers are the youngest team to make the playoffs since 1977 and they got off to a dream start. A 12-play drive saw them push the Cowboys defence back by leaning on Jones and the run game. The running back capped off the drive by forcing his way in from three yards out to put the visitors up 7-0.
Dallas had a chance to respond but the Green Bay defence held strong and forced a punt. The Packers continued to run the clock down in the first quarter and things would only get better. Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offence took over and on the third play of their second drive he was picked off by Jaire Alexander, giving the Packers the ball in the redzone and ending the first quarter up by seven.
The second quarter was much of the same. Love found Romeo Doubs for 15 yards and then Jones went in for his second touchdown of the day to put the underdogs up by 14.
It was all Green Bay in the first half and dreams continued to turn into reality. Packers and Cowboys fans were both in disbelief. With just three minutes left in the half, the Packers got the ball back and Love dissected the Cowboys defence. A 10-play drive for 93 yards led to Love finding Dontayvion Wicks in the endzone for the Packers third touchdown. The extra point rebounded off the uprights, but the Packers were still up by 20.
Prescott and the offence were really struggling for Dallas and well, it got worse. Having fought their way into the Packers half, Prescott was picked off by Darnell Savage and he took the ball back 64 yards for the pick-six. Packers up 27-0 and the half still wasn’t done.
The Cowboys did narrow the deficit in the dying seconds of the first half. Prescott drove his team down the field and with the help of a couple of defensive penalties, he found Jake Ferguson wide open on a play action to take the score to 27-7 as they headed into the break.
It was a much better start to the second half for Dallas. Prescott and star receiver CeeDee Lamb started to connect and push up the field. They stumbled in the redzone and settled for a Brandon Aubrey field goal to cut the deficit to 17.
Their defence however couldn’t follow up. It took Green Bay just five plays to march down the field to score their fourth touchdown of the day. A 46-yard pass from Love to Doubs pushed them into the opposition half and Jones was there again in the redzone to find his way in for his hat-trick of touchdowns. 34-10.
Dallas did manage to respond with a touchdown of their own. They started to speed the game up and again the Packers defence were giving up soft penalties and it led to a Tony Pollard touchdown from the goal line. The 2-point attempt was pulled back due to offensive flags and they then opted to go for the extra point from the boot of Aubrey, but he hit the post.
Despite the fight back, Love, Jones and the Packers offense could not be stopped. Jones rushed for 37 yards on the following drive and then Luke Musgrave was completely wide open with half the field to himself. Love found him and he took it for 38 yards and the Packers extended their lead to 41-16 heading into the final quarter.
Dallas turned the ball over on downs and with the game more or less out of reach, Green Bay kept their foot down and continued to power on. Emmanuel Wilson came in for Jones and his great powerful runs pushed them into the redzone yet again. The offence ended up on 4th & 2 and they went for it, intending to just run down the clock and keep Dallas near their endzone. Well, Love found Doubs for another touchdown and it was becoming a mockery of the Cowboys.
The scoring didn’t stop there with many of the Packers backups now in the game. Dallas continued to push to close the deficit. Prescott spread the ball around his receivers and started to find some joy. The drive ended with a Ferguson touchdown and a successful two-point conversion by Rico Dowdle.
Dallas held the Packers offense again and then almost repeated their previous offensive drive. Prescott took advantage of another Packers penalty and he found Ferguson once again for his third touchdown on the day, and then the quarterback ran in for the two-point conversion and make it 48-32 with just over three minutes left to play.
Despite a little push from the Cowboys in the final few minutes, the Packers held on for the huge upset and dominant win. They will now face the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round next weekend. Again, they will be huge underdogs, but this result suggests they shouldn’t be taken lightly.
