Guys, they did it! What an awesome late-season run resulting in both a butt-kicking of The Team That Sucks down south and a playoff berth by the youngest time in football and subsequent trip to the other Team That Sucks further down south. I feel quite confident in saying that Jordan Love is the dude, should be extended and given the security to go along with the keys to the future of the Green Bay Packers. I've been critical of Matt LaFleur and his coaching style and the team, really, as a whole for seemingly lacking some toughness early on. I still don't think I was patient enough despite some flat out bad football, and their growth is proof of that. They're truly peaking at the right time, but have a very challenging foe waiting in the wings.

Speaking of that foe, story lines galore we'll touch on. So let's raise up the Periscope and look at the past, present and future of the Packers and Dallas Cowboys.

The Past

The Packers lead the all-time series 21-17, thanks to some recent dominance by the good guys. Green Bay has won 9 of the last 10 to overtake the series lead, including last season's dramatic 31-28 overtime win, which, coincidentally came as the team strung some wins together late in the season to make a playoff push. But after Dallas owned the Packers in the 90s, including 8 in a row on their own, more recent history has been owned by the Packers. Now, much of that was thanks to Aaron Rodgers playing very well against them, especially in Jerry World, but Matt LaFleur as head coach has done just fine on his own.

Speaking of Matt LaFleur and the Dallas Cowboys, this week's game I'd like to focus on took place on October 26, 2019 down in Dallas (er, Arlington, wherever it is). After impressive early-season starts by each time, both coming in at 3-1, Green Bay absolutely uncorked one on their Texas rivals. It was the Aaron Jones show, returning to his home state of Texas since his college days at UTEP. Scoring twice in the first half en route to a 17-0 lead at the break, he popped in two more as the team built an insurmountable 31-3 lead late in the third. A rush by the Cowboys in the fourth made the score seem a bit closer, but this was an unadulterated rout by Green Bay. In fact, Aaron Jones' four touchdowns has never been done against Dallas and OH YEAH, he's coming off three straight 100-yard games. But more on that in a moment.

Now, together, let's wave goodbye to Dallas in the form of reliving Jones' huge day back in 2019.

The Present

We know the Packers present has been an impressive late-season surge to ultimately nab the NFC's final playoff spot. But Dallas has put together a nice season themselves, however some late-season stumbles nearly cost them the NFC East. In fact, if not for the Philadelphia Eagles completely face-planting themselves, the Packers would be traveling there instead. Regardless, Dallas's 2-2 finish leaves more questions than answers nationally about how good they really are. Dak has been fantastic overall, especially at home. He, along with the rest of the team, has struggled mightily on the road including a 31-10 thumping in Buffalo and 22-20 clunker in  Miami. Coming back home in their penultimate regular season game, Dallas was seemingly set up for success against the Lions, but Detroit's maligned defense looked quite serviceable against Dak and the Cowboys despite a dominating effort by CeeDee Lamb. And, as we can all recall, a total biff by the officiating team cost Detroit a likely win and the story late this season is different.

What I know is that Dallas is, by just about every metric, an explosive offense at home with a more than capable defense. Green Bay is going to have to bring their A-game, and even probably better than that, to slow down Dallas and all their weapons. They are susceptible to sacks and turnovers, and area Green Bay's defense has improved on late in the season. Offensively for the Packers, Dallas's ball-hawking defense has slipped a touch, but is still a unit that can wreak havoc thanks to all-world destroyer Micah Parsons. He absolutely needs to be game-planned for and requires the full attention of the offense.

The Future

Sunday, January 14, AT&T Stadium, Arlington Texas, 3:30 Lambeau time. The spread has hovered around 7/7.5 for this, which, frankly, feels a bit steep for me but I'm pretty optimistic this week. I do expect the 50.5 over/under to explode given these two surging offenses. I'd be pretty surprised is this is a lower-scoring slug-fest. I think both of these offenses are designed to cook defenses like these, although I do like what Green Bay did against Justin Fields and pressuring him so much. I think the pass rush for the Packers and disrupting Dak Prescott is integral, and for Dallas, stopping Aaron Jones and the run game would be their focus.

Look, we've seen this Packers team is capable of anything, both good and bad. What I know is that the pressure is ALL ON Dallas and their coach, Mike McCarthy. I love Big Mike always and forever, but you can feel that he's in some trouble if Dallas loses. Legacies are on the line in this game, mainly in Dallas. But I think the world is starting to learn the Packers have another one in Jordan Love, and another impressive effort would only further that thought. I expect Matt LaFleur to have this offense ready, and healthy. As of Wednesday's practice, only AJ Dillon didn't suit up. So, with a full arsenal of young, fast offensive players, there are no excuses for this offense.

It's time to take that house money down to Dallas. Drop it right on that star at the 50 and walk out three hours later with a f*ckin' fortune.