The Packers clinched a spot in the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 7 seed. With that, they’ll head to Dallas to take on the No. 2 seed Dallas Cowboys. Per the dope sheet, the Packers and Cowboys are tied for the most postseason appearances all-time with 36 apiece. Here are six things to keep in mind going into Sunday’s playoff game. 

1. A Historic Matchup

There’s a ton of history going into this game. For starters, this will be the ninth postseason contest between the two franchises, with the series tied at 4-4. Per the dope sheet, this ties the most postseason meetings in NFL history with the Cowboys-49ers series, Rams-Cowboys series, and Packers-49ers series. And somehow, despite all of this history, this is the first time the Packers and Cowboys will play in the Wild Card Round. 

Dallas has played in the most playoff games in NFL history with 66, and the Packers aren’t far behind with 61. The last two times these teams have met in the playoffs, the Packers won in thrilling fashion, beating the Cowboys 26-21 in the Divisional Round in 2014 at Lambeau Field, and winning on a walk-off field goal at Dallas 34-31 in the 2016 Divisional Round. 

Historically, most of these matchups take place in Dallas, with Sunday’s game being the seventh time the Packers will play at Dallas in the playoffs. That said, Green Bay has performed well at AT&T Stadium. The Packers are the only team in the league to have four-plus wins and no losses against the Cowboys at AT&T. And, including the postseason, the Packers have scored 34-plus points in all four of their games at AT&T Stadium. 

2. Dueling Gunslingers 

This matchup on Sunday will also feature some exceptional quarterback play. Per the dope sheet and the Elias Sports Bureau, this will be the first time in NFL history that the top two touchdown passing leaders will face off in a playoff opener, with Jordan Love throwing 32 touchdowns and Dak Prescott throwing 36 in the regular season. 

Love ended his first season as a starter going 372-of-579 and throwing for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions with a completion percentage of 64.2% for a rating of 96.1. He averaged 244.6 yards per game. 

In Dallas, Prescott is coming off one of his best seasons in his eight-year career. He went 410-of-590 for 4,516 yards with 36 touchdowns and nine picks, giving him a completion percentage of 69.5% which was a new career high. He averaged 265.6 yards per game and posted the best quarterback rating of his career at 105.9. 

While Love will be making his first postseason start, Prescott has some experience in the playoffs. He’s 2-4 in the postseason and has thrown 11 touchdowns to five interceptions with a completion percentage of 63.4% and a rating of 92.3. 

Both quarterbacks are peaking at the right time. Love threw for over 300 yards for the first time in his career against Chicago, and the Packers are coming off back-to-back 430-plus yard performances on offense. Love has posted a passer rating over 100 in seven of his last eight games and has thrown 18 touchdowns with only one interception in that span. 

Notably, both quarterbacks are also coming off season-best completion percentages. In Week 18, Jordan Love went 27-of-32 for an 84.4% completion percentage throwing two touchdowns and no picks. Prescott was 31-of-36 for a completion percentage of 86.1% and threw four touchdowns (something he’s done four times this season) with one pick. Both QBs also posted ratings over 120. 

Love has been protected well this season and has only taken 30 sacks thanks to ascending offensive line play. But he’ll have playmakers at all levels to account for in Dallas. Micah Parsons set a career-high with 14 sacks this season, including 18 tackles for loss and 33 quarterback hits. In the secondary, DaRon Bland has nine interceptions and has returned five of those for touchdowns. He’s got 209 return yards and 15 passes defensed this season. Pro Football Focus grades both Parsons and Bland as the second-best at their respective positions, with Parsons earning a 92.7 grade and Bland at 90.4. 

3. Pride of El Paso

One Green Bay Packer and Texas native that does have playoff experience on such a young roster is Aaron Jones. His return has been game-changing for the offense. He’s rushed over 20 times in each of his last three games and has eclipsed 110 yards in all three contests, averaging at least 5.0 yards per carry each game. 

Per the dope sheet, Jones has played against Dallas three times and has totaled 370 rushing yards on 62 attempts, giving him an average of 6.0 yards per carry. He also has six rushing touchdowns while adding another 10 receptions for 102 yards to his total. He’s rushed for 100-plus yards and has averaged over 5.5 yards per attempt in all three matchups, making him the only player in the league with three 100-plus yard rushing games against Dallas since he came into the league in 2017. 

The Cowboys defense ranks 5th in the NFL in points against, allowing only 18.5 points per game. That said, Dan Quinn’s unit is 16th in the league in rushing yards, allowing an average of 112.4 yards per game on the ground. 

4. Everything’s Bigger in Texas

Dallas boasts the league’s best offense averaging 29.9 points per game. The Cowboys are also undefeated at home this season, going 8-0 at AT&T Stadium and averaging 37.4 points per game in home contests. The offense is fifth in yards (371.6 yards per game), first in first downs (385), first in passing touchdowns (36), and third in passing yards (4,397). They’ve scored 40-plus points in five games this season and 30-plus points 10 times. 

We looked at Prescott’s performance already, but he’s got an excellent supporting cast around him. CeeDee Lamb has 1,749 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on the season. His 135 catches led the NFL and he’s second in receiving yards behind only Tyreek Hill. Lamb is PFF’s third-highest graded receiver with an elite 91.1, and Prescott is the second-highest graded QB at 90.8. 

Tight end Jake Ferguson is second on the team with 761 yards (almost 1,000 behind Lamb!) and five touchdowns. Together, Lamb and Ferguson have combined for 120 first downs for Dallas. That’s almost one third of the Cowboys’ first downs on the season. 

In the backfield, the Cowboys have a 1,000-yard rusher in Tony Pollard. He’s got 1,316 scrimmage yards this season with six rushing touchdowns, and he’s averaging 4.0 yards per attempt. 

This is the biggest test of the season for Green Bay’s defense. It’s a unit allowing an opposing quarterback rating of 94.7 (25th in the league). The Packers also only have seven picks all season, good for 31st in the NFL. However, the defense cracked the top 10 in points against and is allowing an average of 20.6 points per game. The team is ninth in defensive passing yards, 10th in passing touchdowns, and 10th in red zone defense, allowing scores 50.9% of the time. What’s more, the Packers have held opposing offenses under 100 yards rushing for four straight weeks, averaging only 84.3 rushing yards per game in that span. 

5. A Leg Of Their Own

We’ve talked at length about these dynamic offenses, but the Cowboys have another weapon in kicker Brandon Aubrey. He’s already a Pro Bowl kicker in his first season and has made 36-of-38 field goals on the year with his only two misses coming in Week 18 on field goals between 30-39 yards. 

Aubrey is 10-of-10 on kicks over 50 yards and is perfect on anything 40-plus with a long of 60 on the season. It’s easy to see how the Cowboys have the league’s highest scoring offense when they have a kicker they can trust from almost anywhere inside of midfield. 

Things are a little bit different for Green Bay’s rookie kicker Anders Carlson. He was perfect through the first five weeks of the season but has been inconsistent since, either missing a field goal or extra point in nine of his last 12 games. That said, he’s got a field goal completion percentage of 81.8%. For comparison’s sake, there were 1,060 field goals attempted in 2023 and 911 made kicks for a success rating of 85.9%. 

Rookies are allowed their share of growing pains, and it took five seasons for Mason Crosby to eclipse an 80% success rate on field goals.. However, in what’s expected to be a high-scoring shootout, missing even an extra point could go a long way on Sunday. 

6. Big Mike, Big Aspirations 

Mike McCarthy is entering his fourth season with the Dallas Cowboys as head coach, a role he held with the Packers from 2006-2018. In his 17th season as a head coach, he has the fifth-most wins among active NFL coaches. Per the dope sheet, McCarthy became the only head coach in Cowboys history to go three straight seasons with 12-plus wins after Dallas finished 12-5 this year. 

McCarthy has a lot of playoff experience, though most of it comes from his time with the Packers. Still, McCarthy-led teams have gone to the playoffs 11 times, have won eight division titles, made the NFC championship game four times, and of course, won Super Bowl XLV. The Cowboys have played in three playoff games under McCarthy and have a 1-2 record. 

On the Packers sideline, Head Coach Matt LaFleur is in his fifth year of coaching and has led his team to the playoffs four times. The Packers have a postseason record of 2-3 during LaFleur’s tenure. 

Head-to-head, LaFleur and McCarthy have only met once, though LaFleur is 2-0 against Dallas. In the first meeting, the Packers won an overtime matchup at Lambeau Field 31-28 during the 2022 season. Green Bay is on a four-game win streak and has won nine of the last games against the Cowboys. 

What I’ll be drinking for the game: 

How appropriate is it that I have a beer called Flipside in my fridge for a playoff game against Mike McCarthy? Flipside Red is an IPA from Sierra Nevada, and I’m looking forward to cracking one (or more) on Sunday. The Packers are making playoff history with this young roster. This postseason is sweet regardless of the outcome (although a win would obviously be even sweeter). What a ride it’s been through Jordan Love’s first season, and how fitting that the Packers are heading to Dallas. Cheers, and Go Pack Go!