Getty Jordan Love of the Packers, who will face the Cowboys in the NFL playoffs
Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy would like to keep his thoughts to himself when it comes to playing against the Packers in the Dallas Cowboys’ NFL playoffs opener on Sunday. That’s understandable, considering the stakes. But he did have some thoughts on quarterback Jordan Love, the player the Packers picked in the first round a year after McCarthy was fired in Green Bay.
Count McCarthy, like many around the NFL, as impressed by what Love has done in his short time since replacing Aaron Rodgers this season.
“Had seen Jordan Love a few times in the breakdowns,” McCarthy said at his press conference on Monday. “Obviously, he has great command of the offense, you can see he is comfortable. He has made some excellent time-clock-plus throws, so I have noticed that. But, I mean, it is early. We are early in the preparation right now.”
It is, essentially, a new preparation altogether. Nine of the 22 starters for Green Bay in last year’s game against the Cowboys are gone, 10 if you count injured tackle David Bakhtiari.
“They’ve got some new faces, particularly they played a lot of guys in their secondary throughout the year. Obviously, they’ve gotten healthy of late. But last night and this morning was just getting tied into their personnel,” McCarthy said.
Mike McCarthy Downplays Seeing Packers in NFL Playoffs
McCarthy confessed that, before last year’s matchup against the Packers at Lambeau Field, he made the game a bit too much about himself. McCarthy had coached the Packers for 12 seasons, leading the team to a Super Bowl championship in 2010, but was fired midway through his 13th year, in 2018. The 2022 game had extra meaning for him. He tried to explain that his Cowboys.
After blowing a 28-14 lead to lose, 31-28, McCarthy said he quickly wished he had not done so.
“Last year, I thought it was important for me to talk about Green Bay at the beginning of the week. I did with the team. I regretted it,” McCarthy told reporters on Monday. “I don’t think that, that doesn’t even need to come into our energy base. So, you live and learn.”
Now, with the Packers set to travel to Dallas to face the Cowboys in the opening week of the NFL playoffs, McCarthy said he is shutting down all talk of his history with the Green Bay organization. He wants to keep the focus on Sunday’s game, and no more.
“This game’s about our commitment. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, and it really doesn’t,” McCarthy said, indicating he was not rooting for or against the Packers. “I had no stake, I didn’t watch one game prior to yesterday’s contest in preparation. I started last night on the plane. That’s where I am.”
Jordan Love vs. Dak Prescott: Closer Than You Think
Of course, there will be plenty of intrigue around the matchup, mostly focused on the quarterback position, where the Cowboys have 30-year-old veteran Dak Prescott, who has ascended to the top of his profession, arguably the best quarterback in the NFL.
The Packers have Jordan Love, a 25-year-old who could, eventually, be among the best in the league. After a 2-5 start, things seemed to click for Love in the final 10 games of the year. He threw for 2,667 yards in those games, completing 68.7% of his passes. He had 21 touchdowns and, amazingly, only three interceptions. His QB rating was 108.2 over that span.
That compares well with Prescott, who closed over the final 10 games with 2,879 yards, 26 touchdowns, four interceptions, a 68.6% completion rate and a 110.7 rating. And Love has been throwing to a young and injury-depleted receiving corps—he does not have CeeDee Lamb on his side.
Prescott’s experience level compared with Love is, obviously, a big advantage. But his talent level might be another story.
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Jordan Love Shouted Out by Ex-Packers Coach Mike McCarthy