How five Packers players to watch performed vs Cowboys

The Green Bay Packers have never lost in Jerry's World. The streak is alive after a 48-32 win, as are alive the Packers in the playoffs. They travel to face the powerhouse San Francisco 49ers next week. And well, it's true that this is not the ideal matchup, but it's also true that nobody would […]

Wendell Ferreira NFL News Writer
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Jordan Love
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Green Bay Packers have never lost in Jerry's World. The streak is alive after a 48-32 win, as are alive the Packers in the playoffs. They travel to face the powerhouse San Francisco 49ers next week. And well, it's true that this is not the ideal matchup, but it's also true that nobody would love to face the Packers at this point.

Jordan Love led the offense to their first 40-point playoff game since 2010, the season where the Packers won the Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers.

Jordan Love

He is just special. In his first postseason game, Love showed why the Packers trusted him. He's a different type of quarterback, with impressive natural talents, but also ability to read defenses and to lead his team. He completed 16 of 21 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns — a 157.2 passer rating.

The best example of what Jordan Love has been able to do was his first playoff touchdown. He hard counted, making the Cowboys defense show what they were going to do. So Love adjusted, and threw a laser to rookie wide receiver Dontavyion Wicks.

Even when things are not going great, Love has the composure to execute. In the third quarter, for instance, there was a miscommunication, causing Love and Aaron Jones to bump into each other. The quarterback recovered and found a big throw to Romeo Doubs, setting up a touchdown drive.

He's a first-year starter, but he's mature and calm. He has a rare ability, but mentally he also has what it takes to be a top-tier quarterback in the league.

Aaron Jones

Jones has an amazing track record against the Dallas Cowboys, and he did it again on Sunday. The star running back scored a hat-trick, and now he has nine touchdowns against the Cowboys. It wasn't exactly an efficient first half, because Dallas has a strong defense and used their resources to stop the run.

But even so, Jones had two first-half touchdowns, a big difference-maker. And in the second half, with the Packers needing to run the ball to kill the clock, Jones shined again.

The difference between Jones and the other running backs is always big, and it was even more pronounced on Sunday, because AJ Dillon wasn't available and rookie Emanuel Wilson was the rotational back.

Jones finished the game with 21 rushes for 118 yards and three touchdowns, an average of 5.6 yards per carry.

Jayden Reed

This is the thing about this Packers young wide receiver group: you never know who will have a big game. And even though the offense had a great performance, it was a quiet game from the second-round rookie.

Christian Watson was back, but had a limited role. There was no need to force him after all. But it was Romeo Doubs' time to shine. The second-year receiver had five receptions for 148 yards, showing how solid and trustworthy he is as a weapon.

Next week, it might be Reed's time. And that's the beauty of this offense. There's not a dominant, Davante Adams-type of receiver anymore. While it's good to have such a great player, it's also good to be great beyond your first option, and the Packers have taken advantage of that to create versatile and creative gameplans.

Kenny Clark

The Cowboys don't have a strong run game, and the Packers took advantage of that. Clark was a part of that process to limit what Dallas wanted to do on the ground. Except for an unnecessary facemask penalty on Dak Prescott, transforming a potential fourth down into an automatic first down, the defensive tackle had a strong game in run support.

The Cowboys offensive line held relatively well, so the Packers weren't able to pressure through the middle as they did in previous games, but Clark still was solid and an important piece of the defensive structure.

Quay Walker

The Cowboys tried to exploit Quay Walker in coverage, and in the first half he did a decent job. Some CeeDee Lamb drops helped, but the off-ball linebacker did a better job compared to what he had done during the regular season.

He was also highly effective stopping the run and being active around the ball, finishing the game with seven tackles — nobody on the Packers had more on Sunday.

Walker will have a much harder task next week, as Kyle Shanahan loves to exploit linebackers in coverage. But Sunday's performance gives the Packers more hope.