The Dallas Cowboys were supposed to be the better team against the Green Bay Packers in the Wildcard Round. They were -7.5 favorites. They had the homefield advantage, finishing with an 8-0 record at the AT&T Stadium.
Coach Mike McCarthy's squad is also playing the youngest playoff team since 1974 so they have them beat in the experience department.
However, none of those advantages came to fruition. The Packers' offense shut them right from the first quarter to seal the victory, 48-32.
From there, a comeback became more and more impossible. They became the first top-two seed to not reach the divisional round ever since seeding was implemented in 1975.
There are a lot of things that went wrong for the Cowboys in this game. Here are the Top 3.
1. Started the game slow
There was no sense of urgency from them at all, especially on the defensive end.
The Packers converted three touchdowns on their first four drives to put the game away early on.
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This was initiated by a long drive to take a 7-0 lead. They traded punts but then Prescott threw an interception.
The scoreline may have ended close but that does not tell the real story of the game as some of Cowboys' scores were from garbage time.
2. Aliens stole Dak Prescott's talents
Dak Prescott, an MVP candidate, is supposed to be the best player in the AT&T Stadium on Sunday afternoon. However, what showed up someone one can barely recognized based on how he performed in the regular season.
He only had one multi-interception in the elimination round. He led the league with 36 touchdown passes.
Against the Packers, a different Prescott showed up. The Packers defense made him uncomfortable right from the kick off. In the first quarter, he only completed 1-of-4, 0 yards, 1 INT, 0.0 passer rating.
He finished the game with a career-high 60 pass attempts, completing only 41 of those.
Prescott can only say "I sucked tonight" when asked to talk about the loss.
I sucked tonight," Prescott told reporters.
"And that's it. ... It's about winning, and winning in the playoffs."
"Obviously I didn't play well. I wish I had that answer for you."
3. Was Jordan Love even part of their defensive game plan?
Was the Cowboys' defense or was Jordan Love just too good?
After struggling in the first few weeks, the 25-year-old quarterback immensely improved to lead his team to their first post-season without Aaron Rodgers.
Packers finished with 48 points which is tied for their most ever in a playoff game since 2010 against the Atlanta Falcons.
He played a near-perfect game and dismantled the Cowboys defense, finishing with a 16-of-21 passing completion for 272 yards and three touchdowns with a 157.2 passer rating.
The last statistic is the fourth-highest in NFL playoffs history (tied with CJ Stroud of Houston Texans earlier in the day). The only ones who have higher passer rating are Terry Bradshaw (158.3 in 1976), Peyton Manning (158.3 in 2003) and Josh Allen (157.6 in 2021).
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