The Dallas Cowboys are NFC East Champions and postseason bound. Their reward for making the postseason as the number two seed in the NFC? Facing the Green Bay Packers (9-8), who have eliminated the Cowboys (12-5) from the playoffs in two of their last five trips. Luckily, Dallas will take the field at AT&T Stadium, where they finished the regular season undefeated for just the third time in franchise history. With everything on the line, here are the 10 most notable 'big facts' to remember ahead of Sunday's 3:30 CT kickoff on FOX.
Packing in the History – Sunday will mark the ninth time that Dallas and Green Bay have met in the postseason, with the previous eight meetings being split down the middle at 4-4. The two teams met pre-merger with a trip to Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II on the line, both were won by Green Bay. Including the 1967 conference title game known as the "Ice Bowl." Since then, Dallas won four straight playoff meetings before dropping two games in three years in 2014 and 2016.
Back Against the Pack – Mike McCarthy will become just the second head coach to ever face his former organization, whom he won a Super Bowl with, in the playoffs. He joins Seattle's Mike Holmgren, who went 0-2 against the Green Bay Packers, the organization he won Super Bowl XXXI with.
More with Four All-Pros – The Dallas Cowboys have never lost in the Wild Card round of a season where the team has four or more AP All-Pro first teamers. Dallas was honored with four first team members this season, the 11th time in franchise history with four or more, the previous 10 seasons either ended in the divisional round, conference title game, or Super Bowl.
Zack Martin in Rare Company – Cowboys guard Zack Martin was named an AP First Team All-Pro for the seventh time in his career. Tying the franchise record with Hall of Famers Bob Lilly and Randy White. He is just one of 25 players all-time to receive the honor seven times in their career.
Battle of League Leaders – This will be the second Wild Card game in NFL history where the top two leaders in passing touchdowns square off. When Dak Prescott (36) takes the field against Jordan Love (32), they'll join Hall of Famers Dan Fouts and Terry Bradshaw who battled in 1982, as the only pairs to do it.
Another Aaron to Worry About – Aaron Jones tops the list of rushing yards per game against the Cowboys all-time. Out of players who have played at least three games against Dallas, Jones leads all rushers with 123.3 yards per game. Second and third on that list is Barry Sanders and third is Walter Payton. Jones' last game against the Cowboys, he rushed for 138 yards and a TD in Week 10 of 2022.
10-11-12-13 for Turpin – If you want consistency, just look at KaVontae Turpin's total touches for the 2023 regular season. The Cowboys were able to get the ball into his hands more on offense this year, and rather evenly. Turpin had 10 kickoff returns, 11 rushing attempts, 12 receptions and 13 punt returns. Of his 46 touches, Turpin averaged 13.2 yards and had four total touchdowns.
Watch out for the third – The Cowboys had a sizeable scoring advantage over their opponents in the regular season, outscoring them 509-315. In the first, second and fourth quarters, the Cowboys outscored teams but at least 50 points in every quarter. But in the third, they were actually outscored 76-69.
The Best of the Best– The Cowboys had a successful season as a team, but also individually, evident by 13 different stat categories that saw the Cowboys leading the entire NFL. From Dak leading the NFL in TD passes, to CeeDee's receptions to Brandon Aubrey with the most touchbacks, there were 13 different categories that saw Dallas rank No. 1.
Dak got "Wild" in Tampa – While the Cowboys' 2022 season ended in San Francisco with a disappointing finish, it was just a week earlier in Tampa Bay where Dak Prescott had one of the best playoff games by a QB in NFL history. In fact, Dak is the only player with this stat line in the playoffs – 300+ passing yards, 4 touchdowns passing, one TD rush and a completion percentage over 75 percent on the road.
