The Dallas Cowboys suffered an embarrassing 48-32 home defeat to the Green Bay Packers to again exit the NFL playoffs in disappointing fashion.
The Cowboys were much fancied to progress through to the Divisional Round ahead of the matchup, having won their last 16 consecutive home games, but Green Bay blew them away early, building a 27-0 advantage inside the final two minutes of the first half.
Dallas briefly threatened to rally, with quarterback Dak Prescott finding tight end Jake Ferguson for their first score with the final play before the interval, before then adding a Brandon Aubrey field goal on their opening possession of the second half to cut their deficit to 17.
But, crucially, the Dallas defense simply had no answer for the Green Bay offense, the Packers scoring touchdowns on five-straight series' until pulling their starters out of the game in the fourth quarter.
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Jordan Love went 16-of-21 passing on his playoff debut, racking up 272 passing yards and three TDs. Running back Aaron Jones too found the end zone on three occasions for the Packers as he had a 118-yard day on 21 carries.
Ferguson also had a hat-trick of TDs for the Cowboys, but two of those came in garbage time in the fourth quarter as Dallas made the scoreline somewhat more respectable after having fallen behind 48-16 at one stage with the last of Love's scoring strikes to Romeo Doubs.
Prescott finished 41-of-60 passing, for 403 yards and three TDs, but he also tossed two interceptions, the second of which was returned 64 yards for a pick-six by Darnell Savage Jr, earning Green Bay their 27-0 lead late in the first half.
Prescott and the Cowboys found more joy in the second half but it was too little, too late, and it means that the five-time Super Bowl winners not only fail to progress to the Divisional Round but that their NFC Championship Game drought now stretches into a 29th season.
Stats leaders:
Green Bay Packers
- Passing: Jordan Love, 16/21, 272 yards, 3 TDs
- Rushing: Aaron Jones, 21 carries, 118 yards, 3 TDs
- Receiving: Romeo Doubs, 6 catches, 151 yards, 1 TD
Dallas Cowboys
- Passing: Dak Prescott, 41/60, 403 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs
- Rushing: Tony Pollard, 15 carries, 56 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving: CeeDee Lamb, 9 catches, 110 yards
- Jake Ferguson, 10 catches, 93 yards, 3 TDs
Score summary
What's next?
With their emphatic victory in Dallas, Green Bay will travel to San Francisco to take on NFC top seeds the 49ers in next weekend's Divisional Round.
Watch the Buffalo Bills host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday at 9.30pm, live on Sky Sports NFL; the Philadelphia Eagles then travel to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out Super Wild Card Weekend, from 1.15am, Tuesday morning.