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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Jordan Love threw three touchdowns, Aaron Jones threw for three more. Darnell Savage returned an interception. 64 yards for the score and the Green Bay Packers handed the Dallas Cowboys their first home loss since the 2022 opener in Sunday’s 48-32 wild-card stunner.
Romeo Dobbs rushed for a career-high 151 yards a week after being hospitalized with a chest injury as the Packers finished the regular season 6-2 to clinch the NFC’s final playoff spot. Won in postseason debut.
“We came here with the mentality that we were going to dominate,” Love said. “A lot of people were counting us out and we didn’t care.”
Green Bay (10-8) will visit top-seeded San Francisco in the divisional round next weekend.
Dak Prescott threw two interceptions before throwing three mostly empty touchdown passes in another playoff flop for him and the No. 2 seed Cowboys (12-6).
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Dallas had won their previous 16 regular season home games, but now have allowed the most points in a game in the club’s postseason history. The previous high was 38.
The Cowboys, who have not reached the NFC championship since the most recent of their five Super Bowl titles 28 years ago, led by more than eight points at AT&T Stadium this season before trailing 27–0 in the first half. Not left behind.
The loss will raise questions about the future of Dallas coach Mike McCarthy as the Cowboys lost their playoff opener at home for the second time in three postseasons under the former Green Bay coach.
Dallas is the first team to win at least 12 games in three consecutive playoff seasons without making the conference title game.
The Packers have never lost in six trips to AT&T Stadium – including a Super Bowl win over Pittsburgh during the 2010 season. They now have two playoff wins over the Cowboys, with Aaron Rodgers leading the way to a 34-31 divisional win when Dallas was the NFC’s top seed in 2016, Prescott’s rookie year.
Those Packers let a 21-3 lead slip away. The Packers, the four-time MVP heir apparent, left no doubt in the fourth quarter with a 48-16 lead before two late Dallas TDs.
Facing the NFL’s fifth-best defense, Green Bay equaled its 2010 Super Bowl-winning team in most points scored in a playoff game. That was also on the road, a 48–21 win over top-seeded Atlanta in the divisional round.
Dobbs, who returned to the Green Bay sideline after his hospital visit before the end of last week’s 17-9 home win over Chicago that clinched a playoff berth, had 102 yards at halftime. This was seven more than the second-year player’s previous best performance.
Catches of 22, 26 and 39 yards in the first half helped Love lead the way, and the fourth-year QB went 16 of 21 for 272 yards as the Packers had their highest-scoring game since 2014. Scored touchdowns on six of the first seven offensive possessions. ,
One of those was set up by Prescott’s first interception at the Dallas 19-yard line from Jair Alexander, who was questionable after suffering a sprained ankle during the week.
A 46-yard catch by Dobbs early in the second half helped the Cowboys finish after scoring 10 points on either side of the break. Dobbs, Luke Musgraves and Dontavian Wicks had TD catches.
Jones rushed for 118 yards, passing the century mark, and nine touchdowns in all four career games against the Cowboys.
The crowd under the retractable roof on a cool day in the Dallas area was already quiet when Prescott tried to throw a slant to top receiver CeeDee Lamb.
The Savages, who had gone without an interception in the regular season for the first time in their five-year career, went ahead and remained untouched for a 27–0 lead with 1:50 remaining before halftime.
Prescott completed 41 of 60 passes for 403 yards, with all three of his touchdowns coming to tight end Jake Ferguson.
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