With the 2023/2024 NFL regular season coming to an end the playoffs are set. Super Wild Card weekend will start this Saturday the thirteenth and go through Sunday the fourteenth. One key matchup that I am interested in this weekend is the Dallas Cowboys Vs. The Green Bay Packers. “The Packers and Cowboys have had some bad blood so I am pretty excited for this game” said Jack De Simas (11).
The Cowboys captured the second seed with an impressive 12-5 record. Dak Prescott had one of the best seasons of his career throwing for more than 4,500 yards, 36 touchdowns, and only 9 interceptions. A major factor in this great season from Dak was the ever improving Ceedee Lamb who had the second most yards in the league with 1,749. In addition to their stellar offense the Cowboys have also been great on defense. Rookie corner Daron Bland broke the NFL pick-six record, Micah Parsons had 14 sacks, and the defense as a whole ranked fifth in the league. “The Cowboys are a scary team heading into the playoffs, I wouldn’t want my team to play them,” said Davis Dansie (11).
While the Cowboys may have slightly exceeded expectations, their opponents the Packers greatly exceeded their’s. With Jordan Love in his first season as the starter, an unproven wide receiver core, and a questionable defense the Packers were not predicted to be good, much less make the playoffs. They were able to make this push for the playoffs on the back of Jordan Love who proved himself this season as a franchise quarterback throwing for more than 4,000 yards and 32 touchdowns. “I think Jordan Love will come up big in this game and could get the Packers this win,” said Quade Wyatt (12). I think the winner of this game depends on a few important factors. Firstly the Packers defense, who have exceeded expectations all season, will have to continue playing well. If Dak and Ceedee get into a rhythm along with the Dallas run game I don’t see a world where the Packers can win this game.
On the offensive side of the ball the Packers will need to be great. Jordan Love has been red hot putting together three straight great games leading up to the playoffs. While has been playing well the combination of Dallas’s great defense and this being Jordan Love’s first playoff game I could see a subpar performance from him. If this happens I don’t see a world where the Packers defense can go win them the game against the Dallas offense. One thing I will give the Packers is that they have a much more diverse offense. The Dallas run game has been subpar all year while with the return of Aaron Jones I could see the Packers rushing attack excel in this game. If the Packers could build an early lead I could see them control the time of possession and win this game. Overall though I think the Cowboys should be able to get this done. They have much more playoff experience, a better qb, a true factor at WR, and a better defense. Generally they just outmatch the Packers on both offense and defense and should be able to win this game.
