The Green Bay Packers became the first seven-seed to win a playoff game, yet they look like anything but their ranking.
Green Bay, in Jordan Love's first full season as a starter, went to Dallas to face the Cowboys, who had won 16 consecutive games at AT&T Stadium.
And the game was over practically before it started.
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The Packers led 27-0 at one point, and left the stadium with a 48-32 victory.
They face an even bigger challenge in the Bay Area on Saturday night when they face the San Francisco 49ers, the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the Super Bowl favorites.
San Francisco went 12-5 this season and are maybe the best oiled machine in the league with playmakers all over. But, as Howie Long said with the Cowboys, all it takes is one bad game at the wrong time.
"They’re playing with house money," Long said of the Packers in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, comparing them to the 2007 New York Giants. That team was a No. 5 seed who went on a magic carpet right and eventually upset the 18-0 Patriots in the Super Bowl.
"You know what? One game. It’s not best-of-three, best-of-five, best-of-seven. You gotta be hot that day. If you’re healthy, and you’re hot, you've got a shot."
Long gave kudos to the youngest roster in the NFL, saying they "grew up together" amid injuries and Love's early-season struggles when the doubters were out. In his first five games, Love completed just 55.6% of his passes with six interceptions, but in his last 13, Love has thrown for 3,348 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just five picks on 68.0% passing.
"Love is in his fourth year, he sat for three, and the player that he was the first five games this season looked nothing like the player we've seen the last few weeks . . . ," Long said.
"[Aaron] Jones missed six, seven games. [David] Bakhtiari goes down Week 1, now you’re playing mix-and-match with the offensive line throughout the course of the year. Three rookie tight ends, six first- and second-year wide receivers, and throughout the course of this season, they kind of grew up together."
The Packers have not made the Super Bowl since the 2010 season, which was Aaron Rodgers' first (and still only) title. They've made the conference championship four times since then, losing each of them.
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