Wild Card Week Concludes, Cowboys will face Green Bay

Get ready for an old-school matchup between two marquee NFL franchises. The Dallas Cowboys will attempt to settle some unfinished business next Sunday.

In some goofy, cosmic happenstance, it probably had to come to this. For all the pearl clutching over the Dallas Cowboys‘ next opponent, is anyone really all that surprised? The line of succession is disjointed, though. In a perfect world, Tony Romo would be back to avenge the indignities of the 2015 divisional playoff round. It was a catch, by the way.

But as we all know, in today’s NFL, continuity is an illusion. Ask the Broncos and Panthers. What is apparent, however, is that a meeting of teams steeped in the pageantry of playoff rivalries past and present are set to duel once more. The circumstances are delicious. The Cowboys annihilated the Packers in an early season tilt in Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers looked pedestrian in comparison to rookie wunderkind Dak Prescott.

Furthermore, as Dallas steamrolled to an 11-1 start, Green Bay languished to a 4-6 mark. Rodgers appeared to be a shell of his former self. The league power structure favored a Cowboy squad in the embryonic stages of whatever passes for a dynasty these days. The Packers would surely fade into obscurity, right?

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to this point. The Packers got their act together. Aaron Rodgers suggested they could run the table and did exactly that. 4-6 blossomed to 10-6 and an NFC North division championship. On a frigid day in Wisconsin, the story reached a tidy denouement when they dispatched the New York Giants on the strength of a dominating second half.

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So here we stand. For weeks, we have listened to the national pundits explain why anyone but the Cowboys will win the big game. And that’s fine. Any Cowboys’ fan worth their salt has experienced a virtual lifetime listening to national blowhards rain on our silver and blue parade. We’re used to it. In fact, a lot of us forgot how fun it is to be so hated, so reviled, that the mere mention of our glorious and storied football team causes apoplectic fits of rage. Truth be told, it’s quite humorous. As the saying goes: “They hate us ’cause they ain’t us.”

Granted, nothing is determined. Can the Cowboys lose next Sunday? Of course. There will be a rookie quarterback manning the controls after all. The possibility of a flame out looms., but that is the nature of NFL playoff football no matter the circumstance. Right now, living in the moment is what is important. The Cowboys are here because they earned it. This bunch exudes a cool confidence that has not been seen around these parts in a long time.

All things considered, the offensive game plan has shown to be repeatable, week in and week out. The defense is as healthy as they have been all year, and they have shown steady signs of improvement as the season wore on. Finally, the foreboding notion of playing the Giants again is nonexistent .

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In summation, it is natural to be nervous. It is completely normal to fret over next Sunday. We have been sitting around all weekend watching teams kill themselves for the privilege to come here and try the Cowboys on. Enjoy it. One more win, and “we” are in the NFC Championship game, a mere step away from the final prize. Just remember that Green Bay will have one more game on their odometer, and all the associated dings and battle scars therein. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys will be rested and ready. What more could you ask for?

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