Photo by Evan Siegle - packers.com
Romeo Doubs - Packers-Cowboys Jan. 14, 2024
Romeo Doubs vs the Cowboys on January 14, 2024
The Cowboys’ defense allowed the second-fewest points in the NFC this season behind a cavalcade of star players like Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and DaRon Bland. Dallas has consistently run an elite defense for years and combined with an MVP-level season from quarterback Dak Prescott and one of the league’s best receivers in CeeDee Lamb, this was supposed to be their year. Jordan Love and the Packer offense went through the Dallas defense like a flaming sword through butter.
Love came within one dropped pass by Tucker Kraft of having the first perfect passer rating in playoff history. The advanced statistic DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value over Average) goes back to 1981, and this performance by Love (190% DVOA) wasn’t just the greatest game in Packer playoff history to that date, it was the best performance by a Packer quarterback in any game. Better than Lynn Dickey (who held the previous single game record), better than Rodgers and better than Favre. Love’s QBR of 99.3 is the highest playoff ranking of any quarterback since QBR was invented.
Love was, by any measure, absolutely phenomenal. He continues to develop every single week, and while Matt LaFleur’s play-calling created some easy throws for Love, especially to a comically open Luke Musgrave in the third quarter, he also zipped several tight-window dimes to Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks.
Passing Game
This version of the Packer offense is an absolute nightmare for NFL defenses. The Cowboys, and the Bears last week possessed two of the best run defenses in football. Aaron Jones was unimpressed, putting 111 yards on the Bears, and following it up with 118-yard three score performance against Dallas. Jones was rarely stuffed and was a beast when called on to chip Parsons, briefly knocking him from the game. While the rushing game was dominant, the passing game was out of this world.
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The Packers have the rare problem of having too many good players on offense. The Cowboys are forced to run most of their offense through Lamb and to a lesser extent, tight end Jake Ferguson, who had three garbage time touchdowns on Sunday. Both players are outstanding, but if you can limit them, the Cowboys can’t do very much. The Packers have no alphas on offense, but almost any skill position player can beat you. The past few weeks, Bo Melton has been able to exploit the opposing fourth corner to great effect.
This time, it was Romeo Doubs, who owned the middle of the field, where Jayden Reed normally roams. Reed was shut out on three targets, but Doubs used the space created by Reed and Christian Watson for four catches in the middle of the field including two first downs, a score, and a huge gain on a first-and-fifteen. Overall, he became just the third Packer ever to gain 150 or more yards receiving in a playoff game on six total catches, joining Jermichael Finley and Davante Adams.
Biggest Play
The Packer defense struggled a bit in the second half when the game was basically in hand, but early on they were almost as good as the offense. Jaire Alexander helped stretch a seven-point lead into 14 with the games’ first interception, jumping a ball intended for Brandin Cooks deep in Dallas territory. Aaron Jones would punch it in a few plays later.
The biggest play of the game came just before the two-minute warning. Dallas was trailing twenty to nothing, but they were receiving the second half kick-off, and knew that if they could score before halftime, they could get cut the deficit to six. The Packers looked like they might oblige, starting the drive in Joe Barry’s standard soft zone, however on a second and two, they shifted to a more aggressive strategy, catching Dak Prescott by surprise. He fired a short pass to Lamb at the sticks, but safety Darnell Savage left his man to step in front of Lamb, resulting in a pick-6 and a 27-0 lead. The rout was on, and the celebrations began.
Green Bay moves on to face the 49ers in San Francisco next Saturday night. The 49ers were the class of the NFC and run a similar system to what the Packers use. This will serve as a rematch for the last time the Packers made the playoffs, losing at Lambeau 13-10. It’s hard to see any defense holding this offense to 13 points.
