GREEN BAY — After starting out the season 2-5 with a new quarterback at the helm, many wouldn't have anticipated the Green Bay Packers (9-8) would still be playing football in mid-January.
Despite all odds, the Packers earned the final seed in the NFC Playoffs with a 17-9 win over the Chicago Bears in Week 18. They head to Dallas for Super Wild Weekend this Sunday to take on an old, familiar postseason foe in the Cowboys (12-5).
While the Cowboys are favored to win by seven points according to Bet MGM, the Packers have thrived as underdogs this season as the youngest team in the NFL.
"I mean, did you look at our season?" running back Aaron Jones asked reporters on Wednesday. "A lot of ups and downs. People counted us out before this season even started. We're resilient. We don't back down from anybody. We're not going to stop fighting, and we have a bunch of dogs in this locker room."
Here’s the #Packers injury report for Friday ahead of #GBvsDAL:
— Ashley Washburn (@ashleyjwashburn) January 12, 2024
🏈 RB AJ Dillon (thumb/neck) is listed as DOUBTFUL
🏈CB Jaire Alexander (ankle) & WR Christian Waston (hamstring) are QUESTIONABLE pic.twitter.com/I99KfVkfar
The Cowboys ride into Sunday's game with a 16-game home win streak and are the only team in the NFL that is still undefeated at home (8-0) this season.
Quarterback Dak Prescott is playing the best the ball of his career for Dallas this season leading the league with 36 touchdown passes while amassing 4,516 yards. His favorite target this season has been CeeDee Lamb who is in the midst of a record-setting year for the Cowboys with 1,749 receiving yards to pass Micheal Irvin's prior record (1,603).
"[Lamb's] acceleration - he's a good route runner - but everyone just has to play as a team and just do your job," safety Jonathan Owens said. "We'll be able to handle what they give us."
However, along with having one the NFL's most high-powered offenses ranking fifth for total yards (371.6), the Cowboys also tout a top-five defense, allowing just 299.7 yards per game.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love has been nothing but short of sensational in his first year as a starter throwing for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns. He closed out the regular season averaging 244.6 passing yards per game but will face a tall task in the Cowboys this Sunday who rank fifth in the league for pass defense allowing just 187.4 yards.
"They're a really good team, really good defense," Love expressed. "They're definitely one of the best defenses we've seen all year... The room for errors shrinks. We have to be able to take advantage of every play, execute every play, and be able to play at a high level going against them."
Kickoff in Dallas is set for 3:30 p.m. CT.
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