Report Card: Grades from Packers’ Playoff Rout of Cowboys
Aaron Rodgers used to say he owned the Chicago Bears.
In addition to ownership of the Bears, the Green Bay Packers have a stake in the Dallas Cowboys.
The Packers have never lost at AT&T Stadium, improving to 6-0 with Sunday's 48-32 playoff victory.
Whether it's Rodgers, Matt Flynn or Love at quarterback, the Packers have been dominant in Dallas.
Sunday was no exception. Jordan Love finished the day with a near-perfect passer rating. In our weekly report card, the passing offense gets an A but the defense earns high marks for slowing down Dallas' high-powered offense, as well.
Pass Offense
Jordan Love's first playoff start likely went better than even he could have imagined.
"Man. Jordan Love. Wow. That's all I can say," coach Matt Matt LaFleur said.
That's a good way to describe what Love did throughout the game. Love completed 13 passes to seven different receivers in the first half. Each of his touchdown passes went to a different receiver, as well.
Critically, the offensive line kept Love clean. Love was pressured a couple times, but Dallas' vaunted pass rush led by Micah Parsons did not sack Love once.
Romeo Doubs was the leading receiver, with more than 100 yards in the first 24 minutes of game action. He finished the day with 151 receiving yards and a touchdown on the team's final possession of consequence.
Luke Musgrave added a big play for a touchdown, and Dontayvion Wicks ran a great route to haul in Love's first playoff touchdown pass.
The offense did whatever it wanted. There's no other grade to give.
Grade: A
Rush Offense
The Internet might tell you running backs don't matter, but Aaron Jones certainly does.
Since Jones returned for a full workload on Christmas Eve against the Carolina Panthers, the Packers have punted only eight times.
Jones was the team's first 100-yard rusher against Carolina, and has run for more than 100 yards in every game since.
In an era in which running backs have a shorter shelf life than ever, Jones seems to only get better as he ages.
He ran for 118 yards on 21 carries and scored three touchdowns. That is the most productive performance of Jones' postseason career.
The Packers' run game was going to be a big part of their success against Dallas' powerful offense.
Jones helped set the tone for the Packers on the first series of the game. Green Bay's offense went 75 yards on 12 plays and chewed up 7:52 of the clock before taking a 7-0 lead.
Jones finished Green Bay's first possession of each half with touchdowns, and really took the will away from Dallas’ defense.
"I think that was huge even though the first two run plays they stopped them," Jones said. "I'm glad we stuck with it. When you're able to run the ball, it opens up everything. I think you saw that on Luke (Musgrave's) touchdown."
Jones is going to play a big part of their success if they're going to pull off another upset against the 49ers on Saturday.
Grade: A
Pass Defense
To paraphrase Jimmy Johnson: How ’bout Joe Barry's defense?
The final score might have a 32 on the scoreboard, but that does not indicate how well Barry's unit, under siege for most of the season, played against one of the best offenses in football.
Dallas did not score until the final play of the first half. By then, the Packers had built a 27-0 lead.
Part of that lead was built by the defense making two big plays.
Jaire Alexander, who was questionable before the game, picked off Dak Prescott on their second possession of the game. Green Bay cashed in on the short field with the second of Aaron Jones’ touchdowns.
Late in the first half, Darnell Savage had what might have been the biggest play of the game. With the Cowboys trailing 20-0, they were trying to score with hopes of getting the score to 20-14 with a double-dip opportunity coming out of the half.
Savage would hear nothing of it. He picked off Prescott and ran it back for a touchdown to give Green Bay a 27-0 lead.
Yes, Prescott threw for more than 400 yards, but most of those came after the Packers had built a 48-16 lead.
With two takeaways and a near shutout of the first half, they'll get high marks for the first half alone.
It doesn't hurt their grade that Preston Smith added the exclamation point with a sack of Prescott late in the game, their fourth sack of the day.
Grade: A
Rush Defense
Tony Pollard is one of the more explosive backs in football and found some traction when the Cowboys were able to give him the ball.
Fortunately for Green Bay, their offense started fast, which essentially eliminated the Dallas run game. From the 14:15 mark of the second quarter until the end of the game, the Packers led by at least two scores.
Overall, Dallas finished with 123 yards on 25 carries. That's good for 4.9 yards per carry.
It's aided by Dak Prescott gaining 45 yards on six carries, but considering the impact this phase of the game could have had, the Packers could not have asked for much more.
Grade: B
Special Teams
If there were a blemish on this game, the sequence late in the first half for the Packers' special teams would be it.
Anders Carlson missed a PAT after Jordan Love found Dontayvion Wicks in the end zone to put the Packers up three scores.
The point that Carlson cost the Packers did not end up mattering, but he has missed at least one kick every week since they played Tampa Bay on Dec. 17 and entered the game with a league-worst 11 misses.
The Packers' margin for error is smaller than ever next week against San Francisco.
The other issue on special teams came in kick coverage after Darnell Savage's pick-six.
Rich Bisaccia's kickoff coverage unit allowed a 47-yard return to KaVontae Turpin that put Dallas in business, and it took advantage with a 12-play touchdown drive.
The 49ers were the No. 1 seed in the NFC for a reason. The Packers can’t afford to miss kicks or give up long returns.
Grade: C
Coaching
Packers coach Matt LaFleur decided to solve his problems with aggression.
The Packers were a 7.5-point underdog, and LaFleur coached like he had nothing to lose.
LaFleur has taken the ball to start the game after the opening coin toss at different points this season, most famously on Thanksgiving in Detroit, where the Packers’ season turned around for the better.
He did that again against the Cowboys, and the Packers rewarded his aggression by stuffing the opening possession into the end zone.
LaFleur kept his foot on the gas until the score was 48-16.
He gets a demerit here for pulling his starters early in a playoff game, something he lamented postgame. He gets another mark for a weird challenge on a clear catch by Jake Ferguson late in the game.
One thing was clear by the end of the game, was the Packers had a decided advantage in the coaching battle. LaFleur is a big part of that.
Grade: B+
