NFL report: Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott seek playoff history against Packers
Aaron Rodgers has been unbeatable on a seven-game run that carried Green Bay to the divisional round.
So was Dallas rookie Dak Prescott for 11 straight in the regular season, a surge that ultimately benched 10-year starter Tony Romo and led to the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the quarterback’s playoff debut Sunday against the Packers (11-6).
Prescott and NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott will try to become the first rookie QB-RB tandem to win a playoff game in the Super Bowl era.
Rodgers plays at the home of the Cowboys (13-3) for the first time since winning his only Super Bowl following the 2010 season. And perhaps he’ll flash back to his first playoff game a year before that while watching his counterpart try to lead Dallas to its first NFC championship game in more than 20 years.
“There’s a lot of nerves in your first playoff game, you know there was for me,” Rodgers said of a 51-45 wild-card loss to Arizona seven years ago. “I think I threw a pick on my first play. So yeah, you’ve got to find a way to settle in.”
The two-time MVP has a good memory. He was right about that shootout loss, when he settled in and threw four touchdown passes after his only interception.
And Prescott, who had the lowest interception rate for a rookie in NFL history in the regular season, knows it’s about having a short memory now.
“We’re not putting too much pressure on ourselves, on this team or this situation,” Prescott said. “We’re continuing to be the same guys we’ve been all year. When it’s time to lock in, trust me we’ll be ready.”
Twice before rookie QB-RB tandems had their chance at playoff win — both times after the 2012 season: Andrew Luck and Vick Ballard with Indianapolis and Robert Griffin III and current Dallas running back Alfred Morris with Washington.
“I don’t view these guys as rookies,” said 14th-year tight end Jason Witten, set for his sixth trip to the postseason. “They’ve had a lot of at-bats at the plate. They’ve shown it over the course of 16 games who they are and how they play. I think they understand they just have to be themselves.”
Injury updates
The Packers have added cornerback Damarious Randall to the injury report because of a foot issue, a potential setback for a secondary that has battled injuries most of the season. Randall was listed as questionable Saturday, joining cornerback Quinten Rollins, who is recovering from a neck injury and is in the NFL’s concussion protocol after getting hurt in the regular-season finale in Detroit.
Rollins missed the first meeting with the Cowboys in Week 6, when star Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant also was out with a knee injury. LaDarius Gunter, a second-year player, is likely to match up with Bryant after holding Odell Beckham Jr. to four catches for 28 yards last week. The Packers have been without cornerback Sam Shields since the opener because of a season-ending concussion.
Coaching moves
The Oakland Raiders officially announced that quarterbacks coach Todd Downing has been promoted to offensive coordinator and Jake Peetz will be the new quarterback coach. Oakland allowed the contracts of offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson to expire. Musgrave is now quarterbacks coach in Denver. Downing closely with quarterback Derek Carr as his position coach the previous two years, helping him grow from an up-and-down rookie season to a stellar campaign in 2016 with 3,937 yards passing and 28 touchdowns before a broken leg in the second-to-last game of the regular season derailed Oakland. … Jeff Davidson has been hired as offensive line coach by the Denver Broncos, following former Chargers coach Mike McCoy, the team’s new offensive coodinator. …
The Jacksonville Jaguars retained Todd Wash as defensive coordinator, hired Perry Fewell as secondary coach and Pat Flaherty as offensive line coach. They join Joe DeCamillis, who was hired Friday as special teams coordinator. Keeping Wash creates some continuity on the defensive side of the ball, and that should be a good thing. In hiss first season as Jacksonville’s coordinator, the Jaguars moved into the league’s top 10 in a number of categories, including sixth in total yards, fifth in passing yards and eighth in third-down percentage. But they also tied for 19th in sacks (33) and were next to last in takeaways (13). … The Buffalo Bills have agreed in principle with Mike Waufle to coach the defensive line. Waufle joins the Bills after five seasons coaching the Rams’ defensive line.
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