Now that the Packers know they’re headed to Dallas for the first round of the NFL playoffs, here are a few things to know about the Cowboys, a team the Packers did not face in 2023.
- Record: 12-5
- Outcome: Won NFC East
- Best wins: 33-13 over Philadelphia in Week 13, 20-19 over Detroit in Week 17
- Puzzling loss: 28-16 to Arizona in Week 3
You’ve heard of their head coach, obviously
Mike McCarthy, fired late in the 2018 season as head coach of the Green Bay Packers, was back in the business in 2020 with another high-profile job. After a 6-10 season (mostly without injured quarterback Dak Prescott), the Cowboys have gone 12-5 in three straight seasons.
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Last year, the Cowboys won their first playoff game under McCarthy, prompting some eye-opening dance moves from the head coach. Obviously, McCarthy matching up with his former team is the biggest story line here. The Packers defeated Dallas in overtime in 2022 at Lambeau Field, marking the only time McCarthy has faced off with the Packers since his departure.
The Packers had considerable success under McCarthy playing at AT&T Stadium, winning over the top-seeded Cowboys in a memorable 2016 postseason game and winning Super Bowl XLV after the 2010 season.
The Cowboys résumé is about as good as any in the league
Sure, there was the fluky loss to Arziona in Week 3, and it took confusion over a Lions player reporting as eligible to survive against Detroit in Week 17, but the Cowboys are a bona fide Super Bowl threat on paper.
The team hasn’t lost at home this year (8-0), and the Lions game in Week 17 counts as one of the only challenge in Arlington, with another against Seattle on Thursday Night Football in Week 13, when Dallas scored to take a lead with 4:37 left, then added on in a 41-35 win. Dallas is outscoring opponents at AT&T Stadium by an average of 37-16.
Aside from Arizona, the losses have been to San Francisco, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Miami, all teams that entered the final week of the season in contention for at least the No. 2 seed in their division.
CeeDee Lamb just had the best single-season receiving in Cowboys history
Hall of Famer Michael Irvin is perhaps the first person anyone thinks of when asked to picture a great Cowboys receiver, but CeeDee Lamb just had the best receiving season in Cowboys history.
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The 24-year-old racked up 1,749 yards along with 12 touchdowns, surpassing the 1,603 by Irvin in 1995 for the previous record and the 1,523 Irvin amassed in 1991 for the next mark on the list.
Lamb’s 122 catches through 16 games far outpaced the 111 by Irvin in 1995 and the 110 by Jason Witten in 2012, but he added another 13 in the season finale for good measure. Lamb had 107 catches and 1,359 receiving yards last year.
Lamb is a big reason why 49.7% of the Cowboys’ drives this year (entering Week 18) ended in a score. That’s the best in football.
They also lead the league in time-per-drive, allowing them to control games and the clock even without an elite running game.
The Dallas Cowboys kicker is one of the best stories in the NFL
Pro Bowl kicker Brandon Aubrey is one of the better stories in the league this year. Drafted in the first round of the 2017 Major League Soccer Draft, Aubrey turned to football kicking when his career in the other football flamed out. He started in the USFL and was signed by Dallas last July. Then the 28-year-old went out and made every single field goal through 16 games of the 2023 season, making all 35 (including one from 60 yards and nine north of 50 yards). He’s 44 of 47 on extra-point attempts.
Mike Vanderjagt was 37 of 37 in 2002 for Indianapolis, the record for most field goals made in a season without a miss.
Of course, a funny thing happened in Week 18. Aubrey missed two field goals, both inside 40 years, with one blocked and one off the upright. He still made another to finish 36 of 38 and 49 of 52 on extra-points.
Punter Bryan Anger also made the Pro Bowl team. They were part of seven selections, along with second-year cornerback DaRon Bland, outside linebacker Micah Parsons, guard Zack Martin, Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott.
Is Micah Parsons the Defensive Player of the Year?
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Though Cleveland’s Myles Garrett remains the odds-on favorite to win the award (and Wisconsin alumnus T.J. Watt of Pittsburgh deserves some mention as well), Parsons has been a force yet again, on the cusp of a third first-team All Pro selection in as many NFL seasons.
He’s 24 years old and already twice finished as DPOY runner-up. This year, he racked up 14 sacks and 18 total tackles for losses, anchoring a defense that entered the final week of the season fifth in points allowed (19.1 per game) before allowing another 10 in the finale. This is what a Hall of Fame player looks like before he’s even reached his prime.
Oh look, it’s Barry Alvarez’s grandson
Tight end Jake Ferguson saw a massive increase in targets as a second-year player this year, catching 71 passes on 102 targets for 761 yards (10.7 per catch) and five touchdowns. He’s become a full-fledged reliable option in the Dallas offense, which entered the final week of the season tied for third in the league at 29.4 points per game.
The Madison Memorial High School product — and yes, the grandson of former Badgers football coach and athletics director Barry Alvarez — isn’t the only former UW player in a key role. Center Tyler Biadasz, a native of Amherst, is in his fourth year as the Cowboys’ center. He made the Pro Bowl last year and started another 16 games this year.
Dak Prescott was in the MVP conversation most of the year
Though Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson appears to be headed for the league MVP award, Dak Prescott certainly threw his hat in the ring.
Prescott’s 36 touchdown passes finish as the league’s best, making him the first Cowboys quarterback to lead the league in that category.. Despite a dramatic uptick in attempts from his 12 games last year, he’s thrown half as many interceptions, from 15 last year in just 394 attempts to nine this season in 590. Entering Week 18, he was completing 68.4% of his passes, behind only Tua Tagovailoa and Brock Purdy among quarterbacks with at least 400 attempts. He’s second in quarterback rating behind Purdy.
Not only that, but Prescott’s rushing attempts are as high as they’ve been since the 2018 season; he ran it 55 times this year, good for 242 yards and 4.4 yards per attempt.
Prescott seems to have thrived under new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who replaced Kellen Moore this offseason. A win over Washington would give him his most wins at quarterback in a given season.
If you want one area of vulnerability, the Cowboys are only middle of the pack in red-zone efficiency, scoring a touchdown 54.7% of the time (16th in the league), though many of those misfires were earlier in the season.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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