The 2023 regular season set up perfectly for the Dallas Cowboys. They tied for the best record in the NFC at 12-5. They had nine All-Pro players, including their MVP-caliber quarterback Dak Prescott. Their playoff matchup seemed an ideal outcome, with the inexperienced Green Bay Packers coming to AT&T Stadium, where Dallas hadn’t been defeated all season.
Things didn’t go as planned. The Packers shocked Dallas by beating them down so bad it wasn’t a competitive second half where a 48-32 final score was hardly indicative of the true nature of the game. The score was 27-0 before the Cowboys ever showed a pulse. Dallas was the only home city to have their lights turned off for them in the wild-card round.
Now that the season has ended, the team can look back at what went right, what went wrong, and what it means for the future. Dan Quinn, Mike McCarthy, and even Prescott have question marks for their futures in Dallas. The major takeaways from this game include looking at the defense, the offense, and the championship window of the Cowboys going into next season.