Probably the most-hyped game heading into the NFL Divisional Playoffs, the streaking Green Bay Packers will head into Dallas to take on the No. 1 seed Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
It’s a game that pits a former MVP and Super Bowl winner against an inexperienced quarterback that’s coming off a historical regular season.
Winners of seven consecutive games, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers will look to hand Dak Prescott’s Cowboys a loss in his first NFL Playoff start.
In talking about the dynamics of this matchup, Rodgers had some interesting things to say about what he sees heading in.
“There’s a lot of things that go into it, but you’re a top-seed and you’ve been off for a week,” Rodgers said, via the Star-Telegram. “There’s added pressure of trying to hold serve at home and there’s the potential rust factor of haven’t played in a few weeks. A lot of starters didn’t play in that last game against Philly. We’re coming off a stretch where we had to win every game for the last seven to keep this thing rolling.”
Once boasting a 4-6 record on the season, Green Bay had to win out in order to earn the NFC North title and a playoff spot. For his part, Rodgers has been absolutely dominant over the past two months. In the eight games during that span, he’s thrown 22 touchdowns compared to zero interceptions. That’s just absurd.
On the other hand, the Cowboys pretty much coasted to the NFC East title and the No. 1 seed in the conference. Following a season-opening loss, Dallas won 11 consecutive games to pretty much entrench itself into the top spot in the NFC.
More than the minor detail of one team practically playing playoff football for the past two months, Rodgers also seems to think that experience matters here.
“There’s a lot to be said about momentum and about playoff experience I think,” Rodgers said.
Surely, the more experienced you are in playoff conditions, the better you are prepared to avoid mistakes and play a clean game. But what we’ve seen from Prescott thus far this season, it sure looks like no stage is too big for him.
We’ll have an answer as to whether that’s the case when Dallas hosts Green Bay Sunday afternoon for a spot in the NFC Championship game at stake.