The battle of past and present.
The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys will face off next Sunday at 3:30 p.m. CT at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
This game has more significance than just being a playoff game. It’s a battle of two teams and two coaches who have gone through dramatic transformations.
Dubbed an offensive genius when he was hired by Green Bay in 2006, Mike McCarthy was at the helm of Green Bay’s potent offensive attack and helped Aaron Rodgers win two MVPs during his time there. But after he was fired by Green Bay in 2018, McCarthy found himself in a similar situation now being the conductor that drives Dallas’ offensive engine.
Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur was known as a genius but in a different sense. After the Los Angeles Rams hired Sean McVay in 2017, teams were looking for that next innovative offensive mind, and that’s why coaches who worked with McVay, such as LaFleur, Bengals coach Zac Taylor, Vikings Coach Kevin O’Connell, and on a smaller scale Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel who worked with McVay in Washington from 2011-2013 got head coaching jobs.
But what LaFleur has done for Jordan Love this season is remarkable. Love finished the regular season with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Love also had 7.2 yards gained per pass attempt and 11.2 yards after pass completion. The criticism for LaFleur early in the season was that he was trying to harness Jordan Love’s passing ability by calling a lot of dink-and-dunk passes. But after the Detroit game on Thanksgiving, LaFleur opened up the offense, and we saw a different Jordan Love.
Former Green Bay Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy on why he’s treating the matchup against Green Bay as just another game
It’s safe to say Mike McCarthy won’t get caught up in the pageantry of going up against his former team. (Via Ed Werder ESPN)
“I haven’t watched them a whole lot, but yeah, the drama I’m sure you guys will love it, and I won’t participate this year. It doesn’t matter who we play.”
Mike McCarthy on drawing the #Packers, his former team, in the playoffs.:
“I haven't watched them a whole lot, but yeah, the drama, I'm sure you guys will love it, and I won’t participate this year. It's playoff time. It doesn't matter who we play.” pic.twitter.com/QiLTAM2ZSV— Ed Werder (@WerderEdNFL) January 8, 2024
As he should. This is a massive game for both teams, but this shouldn’t be looked at as McCarthy facing off his former team this should be looked at as Packers vs Cowboys. The Green Bay Packers roster has been remade, as only four players have remained since McCarthy was fired in 2018 (Aaron Jones, David Bakhtiari, Kenny Clark, and Jaire Alexander.
As for Jordan Love, nobody saw them making the postseason as little as three weeks ago, and now look where they are at. This is a chance for Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers to continue their hot streak by going to Dallas and knocking off the Dallas Cowboys. It’ll be interesting to see if the Green Bay Packers pull it off.
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