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Cotton

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Three things to know: Packers (4) at Cowboys (1) divisional playoff preview
Nate Davis , USA TODAY Sports

A preview of the NFC divisional playoff matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys

When: Sunday, 4:40 p.m. ET (FOX)

Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Line: TBA

Three things to know: Seahawks (3) at Falcons (2) divisional playoff preview
THREE THINGS TO KNOW

1. A different kind of wild-card weekend: The Cowboys cruised — relatively easily — to the best record in the NFC. However they enter the playoffs with some unknowns. Rookies Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott became the faces of the franchise overnight, but the postseason crucible will provide a significant hurdle, especially against a playoff-savvy and red-hot team like Green Bay. The defense has again been stripped of suspended DE Randy Gregory, a blow to Dallas' 26th-ranked pass defense. CB Morris Claiborne's anticipated return from a groin injury should be a welcome addition. But he's bound to be rusty and perhaps tentative against a high-powered Packers passing game orchestrated by QB Aaron Rodgers, who will exploit any weakness.

2. X-factor: Obstructing NFL rushing champion Elliott will almost surely be the focus of Green Bay's defense. That should mean more opportunities for WR Dez Bryant. Though he's battled injuries while adjusting to life without Tony Romo over two substandard seasons (by Bryant's standards), he remains an elite playmaker who can easily exploit man-to-man coverage. In the Cowboys' playoff dress rehearsal in Week 16, it appeared Bryant and Prescott were finally developing chemistry, hooking up for a pair of scores. And expect Bryant to carry extra motivation following his infamous non-catch at Lambeau Field two years ago, a "drop" that basically ended Dallas' season.

3. No dodging Rodgers: Immersed in a zone similar to the one he parlayed into a championship run six years ago — one that successfully concluded in Dallas' building in Super Bowl XLV — Rodgers has been virtually unstoppable. After throwing for 362 yards and four TDs in Sunday's beatdown of the New York Giants, he's compiled this gaudy stat line during the Pack's seven-game winning streak: 2,029 passing yards, 19 TDs, 69.6% completion percentage, 121.7 passer rating. He hasn't been intercepted since Nov. 13. However he was merely mortal (294 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) in Green Bay's Week 6 loss to the Cowboys at Lambeau. Though Rodgers has been torching all comers lately, it will certainly help if he can keep the offense from falling into a 14-point second-half deficit and being rendered one-dimensional, which is what happened in the October matchup. That could be a challenging task if WR Jordy Nelson (ribs) can't play and/or if an erratic Packers defense can't do its part.
 

Cotton

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Like I said last night, I am not scared of the Packers, at all. If our defense can just maintain, and we run the ball with any consistency, we cruise into the NFCC.
 

Cotton

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D

Deuce

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Like I said last night, I am not scared of the Packers, at all. If our defense can just maintain, and we run the ball with any consistency, we cruise into the NFCC.
For all the shit we give our D for their bed but don't break mentality and 3 man rushes, I was surprised to see last night that we finished 5th in the league in PPG.
 

Cotton

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Cotton

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For all the shit we give our D for their bed but don't break mentality and 3 man rushes, I was surprised to see last night that we finished 5th in the league in PPG.
They will score some points, but if we hold them under 24, we win.
 

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Much has changed since Cowboys last saw Packers
8:03 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

FRISCO, Texas -- As the Dallas Cowboys prepared to enjoy their first-round bye, they had no preference in opponents, be it the New York Giants, who beat them twice, or the Green Bay Packers, who closed the regular season with a six-game winning streak.

“We really don’t care who we see,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said last week. “There’s not a certain team we want to play. We don’t really worry about things we can’t control.”

Now the Cowboys know they will face Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, who dismissed the Giants in scary fashion Sunday.

The last time Rodgers played at AT&T Stadium, he was MVP of Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last time he played the Cowboys in the playoffs, he delivered a 26-21 win at Lambeau Field in the 2014 divisional round of the playoffs.

The Rodgers who's coming to town this week is playing even better. He had four touchdown passes against the Giants and has 19 during Green Bay’s seven-game winning streak.

Three months ago at Lambeau Field, Rodgers and the Packers were playing very differently when they faced the Cowboys. They were 3-2 at the time, and Rodgers was just off. He completed 31 of 42 passes against the Cowboys for 294 yards with a touchdown, but he had a costly interception and a fumble near the goal line in a 30-16 Dallas win.

Prescott had his first interception of the season but finished with the first three-touchdown passing game of his career. He twice found Cole Beasley and directed a 97-yard drive in 33 seconds to close the first half with a 20-yard touchdown to Brice Butler.

The postgame interviews marked the first time Jerry Jones did not say Romo was the No. 1 quarterback.

"I wouldn't say unequivocally anything other than we just beat the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay," Jones said. "That's great."

We all know how the rest of the season has turned out.

But just as the Cowboys dominated the Packers at Lambeau Field -- where Rodgers was booed in the second half -- Green Bay won the last playoff meeting, even if controversially with Dez Bryant's overturned fourth-quarter catch.

Bryant did not play in the October meeting because of a tibial plateau fracture in his knee, but he did hear plenty of fans say before the game, “It was a catch.”

Quick review: Fourth-and-2, Green Bay 32, Romo completes a 31-yard pass down the sideline to Bryant, who is covered by Sam Shields. The Packers challenge the ruling, saying Bryant didn’t maintain possession going to the ground. Referee Gene Steratore overturns the call. The Cowboys never get the ball back.

The definition of what is or isn’t a catch is still up for debate today.

That playoff loss is ancient history. The October win is more recent, but you can bet the Cowboys will downplay its significance as well.

So will the Packers. After all, that Packers team is not this Packers team.

"They're obviously the No. 1 seed for a reason,” Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews said Sunday. “They have a tremendous team. I mean, I could go down the list of what they excel at on offense, but obviously it starts with stopping the run; great running back, great offensive line, really. So we'll have our work cut out for us, but we're up for the challenge.

"Thinking about where we're at with seven [wins] in a row now, hopefully we can take this momentum down to Dallas and steal us a win. So, we'll see."
 

Texas Ace

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Yikes.

I thought for sure he had broken ribs after seeing his body language when he was being taken into the locker room, but all that other stuff? That's dangerous.

It really is amazing how football is a game of inches even when it comes to stuff like this. If he catches the ball cleanly and doesn't have to try and snatch it out of the air after the initial bobble, then his ribs aren't completely exposed like that and his arm would've taken most of that blow. Instead, the guy has to double clutch at the ball and the few inches he had to raise his arms leaves him open to the helmet shot in the rib cage.

Sucks for him, but it works out for us.
 

Cotton

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Was perusing a Packers msg board and ran across a post with this in it...

Dak cannot continue to be flawless.


:towel
 

BipolarFuk

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Running game or no running game, Rodgers is going to brutalize this defense.

So called elite OL has to live up to its billing to win this one.
 

Cotton

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And this...

We just beat a better D in New York and now we gonna beat the Cowboys asses to high heaven. Zekey boy aint gonna do nothing in this game and we gonna hang up 40 plus on these Cowboy clowns.
 

BipolarFuk

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And this...

We just beat a better D in New York and now we gonna beat the Cowboys asses to high heaven. Zekey boy aint gonna do nothing in this game and we gonna hang up 40 plus on these Cowboy clowns.
Guy probably has a point.
 

Cotton

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I keep seeing people talk about how Rodgers is on a different level than the first time we played them. Shit, he went 31 of 42 for almost 300 yards and a TD. It's not like he had some bad game.
 

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mcnuttz

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I keep seeing people talk about how Rodgers is on a different level than the first time we played them. Shit, he went 31 of 42 for almost 300 yards and a TD. It's not like he had some bad game.


He wasn't playing that great early in the year, even though he was decent against us.

I'm still pissed that his supposedly hobbled ass was able to escape the passrush in the playoff game in 14.

Hopefully Irving can lay him on his ass a few times.
 

2233boys

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Get tough cupcake, Romo Finished a game with a punctured lung, and Witten played the following weak after a ruptured spleen :unsure
 

Cotton

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By SportsDayDFW.com Contact SportsDayDFW.com on Twitter:mad:SportsDayDFW

Postgame comments from Green Bay Packers players and coaches following their 38-13 wild card victory over the New York Giants...

Aaron Rodgers, QB

"We've got to start faster. Dallas is a great football team. Dak and Zeke have been playing great all season. They are tremendous players. They aren't playing like rookies. They're both in the MVP conversation. We can't let them run behind that big offensive line, and we've got to start fast and make them as one dimensional as possible."

Clay Matthews, LB

"They're obviously the No. 1 seed for a reason. They have a tremendous team. I mean, I could go down the list of what they excel at on offense, but obviously it starts with stopping the run. Great running back, great offensive line, really - so, we'll have our work cut out for us, but we're up for the challenge. Thinking about where we're at with seven [wins] in a row now, hopefully we can take this momentum down to Dallas and steal us a win. So, we'll see."

Ladarius Gunter, CB

Pretty cool getting another shot at the Dallas Cowboys? "Most definitely. Most definitely."
Looking forward to it? "Yeah...Yeah."

Corey Linsey, C

[On Ezekiel Elliott who he played with at Ohio State] "We knew he was going to be special ... He's an effort guy. He truly is. We knew he could be a great one."

Bryan Bulaga, T

"It's going to be a hell of a game. No doubt."

Letroy Guion, DE

"Ezekiel Elliott had a pretty good game the last time. But this time it's not going to be like that. Hopefully this time we come out fighting, get them off the field, get the ball to Aaron Rodgers and let him do his thing ... I'm not a fortune teller. I can't tell you what's going to happen, but I can tell you it's going to be a rumble in the jungle, baby."

Aaron Ripkowski, FB

"We had a slow start, and we've got to get that fixed for next week. Because you know Dallas has a great offense, and an even tougher defense. So, we got to get in there and make sure we start fast and get it rolling that way we don't have to rely on certain parts of our game to keep us in it for a long time. We've got to really buckle down and start fast next week."

Mike McCarthy, head coach

Ready for a rematch with those Dallas Cowboys? "Oh, absolutely. Yeah, we'll start on them in the morning. But we're all going to get some rest, and we'll start on those Cowboys in the morning."
 

Cotton

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And, to those that are saying Aaron Rodgers wasn't playing like himself.... our defense since week 6 have gotten 100 times better. If we can get some pressure on Rodgers, our chances get even better.
 
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