Cowboys who gave their all on the field were game changers.
Texas’s Arlington It is one thing to have a few tales leading up to an NFL playoff game, but the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers’ Super Wild Card Weekend battle had enough backstories to choke any keyboard on the globe.
It was at AT&T Stadium that Mike McCarthy’s Packers team once won a Super Bowl. Additionally, he has guided the Packers to multiple postseason victories, including one at AT&T Stadium, where they inflicted sorrow on the Cowboys. McCarthy was on the other side of the coin this time, though, with a quarterback who was a prime candidate for MVP, a wide receiver who would make history, and a defense that could pressure the passer and take away the ball. Sadly, none of those things happened on Sunday.
Against the Packers, numerous Cowboys made a valiant effort to avoid elimination in one of their poorest performances of the year.
If it weren’t for Ferguson being a bright light in the dark of what was mostly Dallas’ offensive production, the Cowboys would have had almost nothing to write home to mom about in the first half of this game. He made a spectacular catch in triple coverage to move the sticks, and a one-yard touchdown grab to make it a 27-7 game later on was the Cowboys’ only point of the half. Ferguson was battling valiantly to avoid being eliminated.
For whatever reason, at least in the first half, the connection between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb was likely the poorest it has been all season, reminding fans of what happened against the 49ers in Week 5. When given the chance, Gallup battled to keep the chains going, and on the fourth drive alone, he had two key catches. Gallup didn’t have the most spectacular performance, but he proved he could be counted on when his time was called with a 42-yard catch-and-run late in the third quarter.
Pollard seemed to have a fairly good day on the field, but he had to give it up fast (most of the time) as the Packers increased their advantage to 27-0 before Ferguson’s touchdown allowed the Cowboys to close out the first half. Pollard was averaging about 4.5 yards per carry at one point, and when he found the running lanes that were being made available to him, his vision appeared clear. Ultimately, Pollard cannot be held accountable for anything related to the Cowboys’ opening play of the game.
