I get what you're thinking: Why are we still talking about the Dallas Cowboys' disastrous playoff loss versus the Green Bay Packers more than one week after the fact?

Well, as famous Stoic philosopher Seneca would say, "It is better to conquer our grief than to deceive it." That implies not ignoring what hurts and let me tell you, watching the divisional round of the NFL playoffs certainly added insult to injury in many ways.

But perhaps the most notable of all happened during the Packers' loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Let's start with the obvious: The game was played between two teams that have earned undeniable bragging rights over the Cowboys. Five of the franchise's last six playoff exits have happened at the hands of the Niners or the Packers. Between the 2014 and 2023 seasons, the Cowboys have been sent packing almost exclusively by those two.

After all these years and wounds, the Cowboys had to watch from their couch two teams that have kicked them off the big boy table with Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock Purdy, Aaron Rodgers and now Jordan Love at quarterback. We're not talking about rivalry here, guys, we're talking about fatherhood. 

During Saturday's game, the Cowboys also got to see two imperfect teams that made mistakes, driving home the point that had been made much before the 2023 season even started: The NFC was wide open and Dallas was always going to have an opportunity to make a run within the conference. They did nothing with it. Next year, it will be a much more competitive group.

Cowboys' gameplan flaw was made even more evident

Part of the Cowboys' falling short versus Green Bay had to do with bad coaching and the 49ers inadvertently reminded Cowboys Nation of that by making a gameplan decision that rattled Love in his second career playoff start: They rushed with four and avoided blitzing, one of the Packers' QB biggest strengths. 

You see, Love finished the regular season with third-highest passing grade in the NFL versus the blitz, per PFF.  If you're not into subjective grades, he also led the NFL in big-time throws against such looks and picked up the most first downs against pressure looks. He threw 10 touchdowns and one pick versuus the blitz. When not blitzed, the Packers QB was graded 15th in the league.

Lesson? Don't blitz Love because Love loves him some blitzes. We knew this before the wild card round. The problem? Dan Quinn also loves blitzes.

That's why the Cowboys blitzed Jordan in eight of his 21 dropbacks, good for a 38% blitz rate. In those eight dropbacks, Love scored two touchdowns, picked up five first downs, and scored an almost-perfect 156.3 passer rating. 

Now let's look at the 49ers approach: 35 dropbacks, two blitzes. That comes out at a 5.7% blitz rate. 

Ouch, huh? San Francisco seemed to actually put some effort in terms of scouting and came up with a much better plan to deal with the talented Packers quarterback. And by the way, it worked: Love was held to a 72.4 passer rating as he struggled versus 4-man rushes and versus seven men in coverage.

We could go over many of the other mistakes the Cowboys made on that game, but that's the one that truly stung when watching the Niners advance to another NFC Championship Game while all Dallas was able to do is inch a little bit closer toward 30 years of not making it. 

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