Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys couldn't have asked for things to go any better than they did the last two weeks of the regular season. The possibility of at least two playoff games at AT&T Stadium comes with the Cowboys (12-5) riding a 16-game winning streak under their retractable roof. All fine and good, Prescott says, but first things first.
This hasn’t been a typical season for Green Bay’s Aaron Jones, but the veteran running back has regained his peak form just in time to help the Packers reach the playoffs. Jones, 29, bounced back from hamstring and knee injuries to rush for at least 112 yards in each of the Packers’ last three games. The Packers won all three to earn the NFC’s final wild-card berth.
Lamb had 13 catches in each of the past two regular-season games and could become the first player in NFL history with at least that many in three consecutive games. Alexander had a mostly lost season coming off a career-best five interceptions that followed signing an $84 million contract extension in May 2022. After back and shoulder injuries sidelined him roughly half the season, Alexander was suspended a game for crashing the coin toss in his hometown of Charlotte and almost costing the Packers possession to start both halves.
Dallas coach Mike McCarthy thought he talked too much about his return to Green Bay last season when the Cowboys lost to the Packers. With the stakes much higher for another reunion in a wild-card game at the home of the Cowboys on Sunday, McCarthy can use the benefit of hindsight. “I regretted it,” said McCarthy, who coached up north for 12-plus seasons and won a Super Bowl on Dallas' home field to cap the 2010 season.
Green Bay's beleaguered defense stepped up just in the nick of time to help the Packers make a surprising push into the postseason. A defense that allowed Tommy DeVito, Baker Mayfield and Bryce Young to move the ball at will in December has allowed just one touchdown over its past two games. It’s a stunning transformation for a unit that had struggled so much that coach Matt LaFleur was fielding questions last month about the possibility of firing defensive coordinator Joe Barry before the end of the season.