Cowboys vs. Packers: 3 things we learned

The Green Bay Packers went into Dallas and beat the Cowboys on Sunday to punch their ticket to the NFC Championship Game.

Sitting a week did not help the Dallas Cowboys, who saw their No. 1 seed in the NFC Playoff go out the window in the Divisional Round. The Green Bay Packers came into the game as winners of seven straight and ran their streak to eight games on Sunday. With the win, the Packers will head to Atlanta to take on the Falcons in the NFC Championship Game, as they try to topple the No. 1 and No. 2 overall seeds in consecutive weeks.

In an incredible seesaw contest, the Packers Mason Crosby blasted a 51-yard field goal with no time remaining to give Green Bay a 34-31 victory. The kick came on the heels of a 52-yard bomb by Dallas Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey, who helped the Cowboys complete their comeback of a 21-3 Packers lead. His kick came with 0:37 seconds left in the game, which proved to be too much time to give Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

As the Packers head to the NFC Championship Game, we take a look at the three things we learned from this game. While Dallas lost, the experience gained by rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott cannot be understated, as the Cowboys head to the offseason with the future of the franchise looking bright. Here are the three things we learned from Sunday’s Divisional Round game.

1. Kicking wins championships

When it comes time for the playoffs, it is always the kicking game that looms large. On Sunday, the could not have been more clear, as both kickers did everything they could to send their respective teams to the next round. There were four field goals of 50 or more yards in the game, including the game-tying, and game-winning kicks in the fourth quarter.

Throughout the history of the NFL, championships have always come down to a big kick. As the Packers move forward, they have to be feeling pretty comfortable with Mason Crosby kicking for them. Crosby made huge kicks on multiple occasions against the Cowboys and will have the luxury of kicking inside a dome once again next week against the Atlanta Falcons.

Both of these teams deserved to win on Sunday, but giving Aaron Rodgers the ball with more than a few second left in the game proved to be a dagger for the Cowboys. Rodgers was able to connect with Jared Cook for a 35-yard completion to pull the Packers into Crosby’s field goal range, which might have been good from 60 in this one. He is going to have at least a few more chances at big field goals in the next two rounds, which he proved on Sunday should be no problem.

2. Aaron Rodgers cannot be stopped

When the Packers sat at 4-6, nearly everybody in America had written them off. They looked lost on offense, couldn’t stop anybody on defense, and it looked like head coach Mike McCarthy was headed out the door. Then Aaron Rodgers told everybody that they would the table and win the NFC North, which the team incredibly accomplished on the final weekend of the regular season.

Fast forward two weeks and the Packers are headed to the NFC Championship Game. Rodgers is playing at an elite level, and despite the fact that they were without Jordy Nelson in this one, he was still able to throw for over 300 yards. His throw to Jared Cook late in the fourth quarter was one that only he could make, and set the Packers up for a shot in Super Bowl 51 with a win next weekend.

Rodgers has been on fire since he made his prediction, and put up video game numbers in the second half of the season. He is in the running for an MVP this season, and aside from New England, the Packers have to be thinking they have the advantage at the quarterback position no matter who they play. He is going to have a big game next week against a weak Atlanta secondary, and the odds are he will be back in the Super Bowl come February.

3. Dallas should be good for a long time

Watching this Cowboys team on Sunday, there was one thing that kept registering in my mind and that’s the Cowboys are going to very good, for a very long time. Playing in his first playoff game, rookie quarterback Dak Prescott did not look overwhelmed by the moment at all, leading his team on some incredible second-half drives. He and fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott were both Pro Bowl players in 2016, and they should remain so for the foreseeable future.

Prescott can make all the throws, and he has the kind of football I.Q. that you do not see in a young player. The fact that the Cowboys were able to get him in the fourth round is incredible, and their 2016 NFL Draft resembles the 2014 NFL Draft that brought the Oakland Raiders franchise out of the cellar in the AFC West. The Raiders got an elite player on both sides of the ball, but the Cowboys grabbed two offensive players that should keep them in the playoffs for the next five years at least.

Next: NFL Power Rankings: 30 Best QB of All-Time

The NFC East is loaded with talent, but the Cowboys are not only young, but their young players have shown that they can play big in big time games. This loss will resonate with them for a while, but every player on that roster is going to get better because of it. They will be back in the playoffs next year, and if they continue to get better as a unit, another Cowboys dynasty could be in the makings.