Wild Card Takeaways: Lions’ Goff gets his revenge, Cowboys can’t stop Love

It wasn’t supposed to end like this for the Dallas Cowboys.

Thanks to an epic collapse by the Philadelphia Eagles combined with a controversial win over the Detroit Lions in Week 17, “America’s Team” secured the NFC East division title and the conference’s No. 2 seed in the final week of the season.

The road was set up perfectly for the Cowboys to, at the very least, make their first NFC Championship appearance since 1995.

However, someone clearly forgot to tell the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay, the youngest team in the league, absolutely dominated the Cowboys under the lights of AT&T Stadium from start to finish.

If the Packers’ victory wasn’t enough, the night was capped off with the Detroit Lions winning their first playoff game in 32 years.

Regardless of where your football fandom resides, it’s hard not to feel good for a Lions fanbase which has been waiting for a day like this for over three decades.

Especially when it came at the hands of their former quarterback who abandoned them for greener pastures just two years ago.

It was a terrific day of football, as long as you aren’t a Cowboys fan.

Here our some of out top takeaways from Sunday’s wild-card action:

PACKERS 48, COWBOYS 32

Love at first sight

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but it seems the Packers have another star in the making at the quarterback position.

After being handed the starter’s reins for the first time this season and leading the Packers to the playoffs, the brighter lights of the post-season didn’t seem to bother 25-year-old Jordan Love.

Exactly 24 hours after Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud dazzled in his playoff debut, Love put up a performance to match.

Love finished 16-of-21 for 274 yards, three touchdowns and had nearly a perfect passer rating against what was supposed to be a stout Cowboys defence.

He completely outshined Dak Prescott, even with the Cowboys quarterback riding high after being named to the NFL’s All-Pro second team earlier this week.

In a league where teams are constantly searching for just one franchise quarterback, the Packers have now gone from Brett Favre, to Aaron Rodgers, and now to Love.

We know it’s just one playoff game, but still, it seems a little unfair, doesn’t it?

There’s no place like home … or not

One of the big reasons the Cowboys were such heavy favourites heading into Sunday was their dominance at Jerry World.

Dating back to last season, Dallas came into the wild-card matchup with a 16-game win streak at home.

The only issue: Since its inception, AT&T Stadium has also been very friendly to one other team — the Packers.

With Sunday’s win, the Packers are now 6-0 all-time at the new Dallas stadium.

It was the Cowboys, not the Packers, who made the glaring mistakes that led to the blowout. Whether it was a costly Prescott pick-six, or the biggest blown coverage of the season on a long Packers touchdown, the Cowboys looked out of sorts.

Not exactly what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanted to watch from his box.

“This is one of my most surprises since I’ve been involved in sport, period,” Jones said after the game.

McCarthy’s seat is steaming

It didn’t take long after the loss for Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy’s job to come into question.

Jones said he wouldn’t comment on any personnel decisions, but with a man by the name of Bill Belichick lurking, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Cowboys make a change.

LIONS 24, RAMS 23

Goff gets his revenge

Jared Goff said all the right things coming into Sunday’s game against his former team.

But make no mistake, even if he tried to downplay it, this one meant a little extra to him.

The Los Angeles Rams essentially gave up on Goff, mortgaging their future to get rid of him and bring in long-time Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Now that decision paid off for the Rams, as they brought home a Lombardi Trophy in Stafford’s first season. But that doesn’t mean Goff didn’t have a right to be bitter.

Two seasons later, he sent his former team packing and gave Lions fans their first taste of playoff victory since 1992. Talk about some sweet revenge.

Goff led the Lions to touchdowns on their opening three drives of the game, and finished the game 22-of-27 for 277 yards and a touchdown while not turning the ball over once.

The Lions’ offence slowed down a little in the second half, but Goff made a big-time throw to Amon-Ra St. Brown late in the fourth quarter to seal the win and send the Detroit home crowd into a frenzy.

He can say this was just another playoff game all he wants, but it’s hard not to feel good for Goff and his redemption arc.

The Puka Express

If you thought Puka Nacua was done setting NFL records, think again.

Fresh off setting the NFL rookie record for both yards and receptions, the Rams rookie receiver proved he can do it in the post-season too.

The fifth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft set the record for most yards by a rookie in a playoff game with 181 yards on nine catches, including a 50-yard TD in the second quarter.

The BYU product was especially terrific after the catch, consistently breaking tackles to gain extra yards and put pressure on a shaky Detroit secondary.

Even in the sting of defeat, softening the blow for the Rams is they at least know they have a star in Nacua for years to come.

Red-zone woes doom Rams

A key difference in the game was how the teams executed in the red zone.

The Rams went zero-for-three in the most important part of the field, settling for three field goals once they crossed the Lions’ 20-yard line.

On the other hand, the Lions finished three-for-three, punctuating their long drives with trips to the end zone.

In what turned out to be a one-point game, the Rams will be losing some sleep over their missed opportunities.

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