Love Dominates in Packers Win Over Cowboys – The Green Bay Packers came out like their lives depended on this victory and they did not let their foot off the gas on Sunday.
The Packers raced out to a four-touchdown lead, 27-0, in the first half and took the Dallas Cowboys to school in all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams, winning their wild-card matchup in blowout fashion 48-32. The final score does not even do it justice.
The Cowboys came into the contest with high hopes as the No. 2 seed playing at AT&T Stadium, aka ‘Jerry’s World’, where they went 8-0 this season, thanks in large part to a break-neck offense led by quarterback Dak Prescott.
It was a completely different story this time around. Jordan Love was the lead actor on Sunday finishing 16-for-21 for 272 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Plus, the Packer quarterback recorded a passer rating of 157.2.
“Man, Jordan Love, wow,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “That’s about all I can say is ‘wow.’ What he did and the poise he shows, the command he shows … It just shows the growth that he’s had from his first start vs. K.C. [in 2021] to now. Just so proud and happy for him. He’s a dude. He is a real dude.”
When it seemed that Love could get comfortable on the sideline after his third touchdown pass, a sweet Patrick Mahomes-like 3-yard sidearm fling to Romeo Doubs that put the Packers ahead by 32, 48-16 with 10:23 left in the fourth quarter, he had the highest passer rating you could hope for, 158.3. That dropped to 157.2 after a pair of incomplete passes when he came back in after the Cowboys had pulled within 16 points.
With a Total QBR of 99.3, he became the first player to post a 99 QBR in a playoff game since ESPN began tracking the metric 18 years ago in 2006, surpassing the Buffalo Bills Josh Allen’s 98.8 in a 2021 wild-card game.
The Cowboys never found their rhythm on either side of the football, offense or defense. Meanwhile, the Packers looked like the team that expected to win.
Love was spectacular from the opening drive. He set the tone right away, standing in against the rush and delivering a big pass to Doubs as he got hit. That engineered the opening scoring drive.
“We believed in him from the beginning,” said running back Aaron Jones, whose three touchdowns Sunday gave him nine in four career games against his hometown team, the Cowboys. “We know it’s a process. That’s not all on him.”
Love kept throwing the ball down the field making plays while Dak Prescott made mistakes. Prescott had an unacceptable 0.0 passer rating at the end of the first quarter. He threw an interception to Jaire Alexander deep in Dallas territory that led to a Packers score. Then Prescott threw an all intents and purposes game ending pick 6 late in the second quarter, when he did not seem to see Packers safety Darnell Savage over the middle. Savage had an easy, 64-yard return to the house and a 27-0 lead.
Love was in his first playoff start on the road against a top five defense, and he played like a superstar. He completed 13 of 16 pass attempts for 185 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He made a number of crucial throws while staring down the Cowboys’ rush. Prescott was mentioned in the MVP conversation but played more like a backup when it mattered most, and Love completely outplayed him when it mattered most on Sunday.
Love’s next task is Brock Purdy and the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. The Packers opened as 9-point underdogs in the divisional round, per ESPN BET.
But before focusing on next week, Love took a moment to reflect and soak it all in.
“Oh, yeah, it feels great,” he said. “I’m trying to hide some smiles. There’s a party in the locker room right now. It feels great. That’s really all I can say.”
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Goff Leads Lions in Win Over Rams – Get ready for another home playoff game at Ford Field sound.
After the Green Bay Packers trounced the No. 2 seed Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon and the Detroit Lions taking care of their business with a victory by the slimmest of margins, 24-23, over the Los Angeles Rams, Detroit will host next week’s Divisional round matchup between the winner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday at 3 p.m. at Ford Field.
The Lions offense, led by quarterback Jared Goff, who spent the first five years of his career with the Rams, taking them to a Super Bowl, began the game on a heater and iced it at the end. It was the main catalyst is why the Lions are advancing on to the Divisional round of the playoffs for the first time since 1991.
“It means a whole lot to this city,” Goff said. “We knew what it meant when this season started to get into the playoffs and then to get this win. And, you know, it’s just the beginning for us. We’ve got some run left.”
Detroit found the end zone on their first three possessions of the game, all on methodical 75-yard drives, to establish a 21-10 advantage in the second quarter. Goff was very efficient, connecting on 14-of-15 passes for 161 yards with a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sam LaPorta, who came into the contest with an injured knee and was questionable. David Montgomery (1 yard) and Jahmyr Gibbs (10) also found the end zone for the Lions.
Los Angeles’ quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense were also on fire to start, scoring on their first three possessions of the game as well on two Stafford touchdowns (50 & 38) and a Brett ‘The Fret’ Maher 24-yard field goal.
The Lions acquired Goff and a pair of first-round picks for Stafford three years ago.
“Jared was really efficient. You could see the command that he has,” said Rams coach Sean McVay, whose relationship with Goff was on thin ice prior to the trade. “There’s a lot made of it, but I’m really happy for him. We wanted to come away with a win, but he’s done a great job.”
Detroit led by four, 21-17, at the half.
After the Lions’ defense forced the first Rams punt of the evening on their first possession of the second half, Lions kicker Michael Badgley booted on a 54-yard field goal to extend the Lions’ lead to 24-17. Maher responded with a chip shot 27-yarder to make it 24-20.
The Rams sliced the lead to 24-23 halfway through the final frame on another Maher field goal, but the Lions defense came through when it mattered most, forcing the Rams to punt it away with four minutes remaining. Detroit’s offense was able to milk the final four minutes and seven seconds to secure the win. A first-down pass from Goff to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown put the icing on the cake for Detroit.
Goff finished the game 22-of-27 passing for 277 yards with a touchdown, no interceptions and a 121.8 passer rating.
Stafford, who played most of the game with a bandaged and bloody hand after he slammed it into a defender’s helmet, came back to where it all began in 2009 and completed 25 of his 36 passes for 367 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 120.9 rating.
“I wouldn’t want anyone else as our quarterback other than Matthew Stafford,” McVay said. “He was outstanding. He was gritty. He was gutsy and made tough throw after tough throw. The rush was barreling down on him, and he stood in there and was dropping dimes all day.”
