2) Who means more for Green Bay: Jordan Love or Aaron Jones? The obvious and easy answer is, of course, Love, who capped a first season that ended up pretty brilliant, even with some speed bumps along the way in his initial year starting. Notice how he finished, though: 18 TDs and one INT in his final eight games. And he’s done it during a stretch when several of his pass catchers, including Jones, have been in and out of the lineup. Love has adjusted to the rotating personnel — while the team had its back against the wall — and somehow thrived. Led by Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland, Dallas’ defense has been good this season, no doubt, even if it’s not sacking quarterbacks or taking the ball away at quite the same level as last season. Offensive tackles Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom surely will have their hands full with Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence. But a few bigger-bodied receivers, such as DK Metcalf and A.J. Brown, have given Dallas some trouble, too, which is good news for Green Bay’s long, athletic group of pass catchers. But the most exploitable area might be the Cowboys’ run defense. In their 11 victories, the Cowboys haven’t allowed more than 125 rushing yards. In five losses, though, they allowed an average of 171.6 yards rushing. That’s why Jones’ reemergence following injury, which helped Green Bay make the playoffs, could be a massive factor Sunday. We’ve never seen Love’s poise tested in a raucous playoff atmosphere before, and six of his 11 INTs came in the fourth quarter. But Jones, who leads the NFL in rushing yards (411) since Week 15, can help keep Dallas’ defense honest. He also caught five passes last week, his busiest receiving game this season. Love is squarely in the Cowboys’ crosshairs Sunday, but they’d better keep close tabs on Jones, who lifted the Packers tremendously in the three straight victories down the stretch.
3) Kicking game could decide the winner. If you were picking this game strictly off special teams, the Cowboys might be favored to win going away. Their units have been mostly very good, with kicker Brandon Aubrey turning in a stunningly good first season (36 of 38 on field goal tries, including 10 of 10 from 50-plus yards), punter Bryan Anger leading the NFL in net punting (45.3-yard average) and KaVontae Turpin a threat on returns. Dallas’ punt and kickoff coverage groups have been below-average, but neither has been glaringly bad. Green Bay, on the other hand, has struggled roundly across those units. Rookie kicker Anders Carlson missed six kicks — including some big ones this season — and five extra-point tries and has one of the lower touchback percentages in the NFL (43.0%). In a big game against the Bears last week, Carlson missed a 41-yarder and the Packers botched their final possession of the first half, perhaps because head coach Matt LaFleur couldn’t trust his kicker and felt they had to go for six. On the opposite end of the spectrum from Anger is Packers punter Daniel Whelan, whose 39.4-yard net ranked 31st best in the league. He didn’t have any blocked punts as a rookie this season, but the Cowboys had two of the NFL’s six blocked punts this season. Does this change Green Bay’s calculus on fourth downs? Perhaps. But either way, if Green Bay wants to pull the road upset it must be a lot sharper in these areas than it has been this season, and especially in recent games.