I like my new son-in-law, Tyler.
I still call him “new” because he and my daughter Bryson wed on Oct. 21, 2023. We’ve competed against one another, Bryson too, in a fantasy football league for two seasons. Tyler topped me by a half-point in a game this year, and then ousted me from the playoffs.
Yes, I still like my new son-in-law.
I became a Dallas Cowboys fan on Dec. 31, 1967. The Ice Bowl. The Green Bay Packers beat the Cowboys in the NFL Championship game on a Bart Starr quarterback sneak. I was 7 and liked the team in white with the star on the helmet.
I have no idea when Tyler became a Packers fan, but that’s his team – and Jordan Love is his beloved quarterback.
As Love riddled the Cowboys defense in the first half, I knew Tyler was giddy. In fact, the decision was made to not watch the game together. He thought the Cowboys would be kicking tail, as did I.
When Darnell Savage returned a Dak Prescott interception for a touchdown to run the score to 27-0 in the Packers’ favor, I received a text from my daughter with a video attached.
Tyler was doing a happy dance. It was a cross between the ‘Dougie’ and Harlem shuffle, but I got the point. It made me smile, one of few on a day that saw the Packers trounce the Cowboys 48-32 in an NFL wild-card playoff game.
Unbelievably, I still like my son-in-law.
I’m now a bigger fan of Love. In his first postseason game, Love threw three touchdown passes, and completed 16 of 21 passes for 272 yards with no interceptions. His 157.2 quarterback rating is one of the highest four in NFL playoff history.
Not bad for a guy whose future was being questioned after the Packers opened the season 2-5.
Green Bay closed the regular season 6-2, including a final-game triumph over the Chicago Bears, to grab the NFC’s final playoff spot.
“We came in here with a mindset of we’re going to dominate,” Love said.
“A lot of people were counting us out, and we didn’t care about that.”
As his team celebrated, Love was still as cool as he was while dissecting Dallas’ defense.
“Oh, yeah, it feels great,” he told reporters.
“I’m trying to hide some smiles. There’s a party in the locker room right now. It feels great. That’s really all I can say.”
There isn’t much more to say.
I didn’t count Green Bay or Love out – I didn’t think they would win. I for darn sure didn’t think they would dominate.
Tyler’s happy dance – like so many other Cowboys playoff defeats over the past three decades – is now seared into my brain. You name the playoff disappointment; I can tell you where I was when it happened.
I’ll get my chance for fantasy league revenge next season over “Jordan Love Me Tender,” Tyler’s team.
The Cowboys will find a way back to the playoffs again in early 2025, and we can get even with the Packers.
For now, Tyler has the right to dance. I hope he’s still dancing after next week’s game at the San Francisco 49ers.
The Reid Roundup
As amazing as Jordan Love was in the Green Bay Packers upset of the Dallas Cowboys, C.J. Stroud was just as good in guiding the Houston Texans to a wild-card victory over the Cleveland Browns. Stroud and Love tied with a 157.2 passer rating for the fourth-highest single-game passer rating in NFL playoff history. Only Terry Bradshaw (158.3 in 1976), Peyton Manning (158.3 in 2003) and Josh Allen (157.6 in 2021) have a higher mark…When asked about his coaching future next year, Mike Tomlin abruptly ended a postgame press conference after his Pittsburgh Steelers went down to the Buffalo Bills. He said on Tuesday that he plans to coach the Steelers next year, in the final year of his contract…Speaking of Buffalo, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are headed there for a road game after dispatching the Miami Dolphins in frigid Arrowhead Stadium. The forecast calls for 27 degrees and partly cloudy skies. That will seem like Miami to the Chiefs.
