By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Jan 08, 2024 at 8:01 AM Photography: Evan Siegle / Packers.com

With yesterday's victory over the Chicago Bears, the Packers gave fans a great belated Christmas gift: bonus football!

Indeed, in a season that was supposed to be a rebuilding year – and that three months ago, looked dire – Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers did what Aaron Rodgers couldn't last season (or this season) and made the playoffs. This season's already a win in its own right – but why stop there?! Why not win even more games and demolish even more expectations? Could this be a team of miracles?! IS THERE NOTHING JORDAN LOVE CAN'T DO!?

OK, exciting questions – but before the Pack's answers all of those this upcoming weekend, let's answer some of the basic ones first ... like who are the Packers actually playing in their return to the NFL playoffs? And when? And where can we watch it all?

Here's everything you need to know about Green Bay's galavant toward the Super Bowl. 

Who are the Packers playing in the playoffs?

With Sunday's win over the Bears, the packers clinched the final playoff spot in the NFL postseason. Their reward? A very familiar face at the helm of a very familiar foe. 

As the seventh seed in the NFC, the Pack will now play the second best team in the conference (the top seed gets a first-round bye) – and this year, that team is former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys, who clinched the second seed with a final 38-10 clobbering of the Washington Commanders. The last time these two met was just last season, when Aaron Rodgers and company came back to beat the Cowboys at Lambeau Field, 31-28, in overtime. When it comes to the postseason, though, the two met most recently in 2017, when the Cowboys made the grave mistake of leaving a whole 35 seconds on the clock for the Packers to drive and get a game-winning field goal, moving on to the NFC Championship with a 34-31 victory. 

Where are they playing?

As the higher seed, the Cowboys have home field advantage for this weekend's Wild Card round match, meaning the Packers are headed to JerryWorld aka Dallas' AT&T Stadium. In fact, from here on out, just assume the Pack's not playing at Lambeau; as the lowest remaining seed in the NFC, Green Bay will always be the worst seed and will therefore be playing on the road from here on out. Which is just the way Green Bay likes it, if their 2010 run to the Super Bowl is any indicator. 

When will the Packers and Cowboys play?

The game times for the opening round playoff games weren't announced until late Sunday night – but with the Packers and Cowboys, two high-profile NFL icons, playing each other, there was no doubt that they'd be in one of the weekend's prime television slots. And indeed, Green Bay will take on the Cowboys at 3:30 p.m. in Dallas on Sunday, Jan. 14. 

The game marks the fourth of six opening round playoff games scattered throughout the weekend and across multiple stations and streaming services. The Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns will kick off the postseason on Saturday, Jan. 13 with a 3:30 p.m. spat, followed by Chiefs-Dolphins in the nightcap on Peacock. The Bills-Steelers will take the afternoon rumble on Sunday while the night game will be Matt Stafford's return to Detroit with Lions-Rams, and the final Monday Night Football game of the year will be Eagles-Buccaneers, wrapping up the first batch of postseason action.

You can find the full lineup here – but basically, Packers fans, once again don't make any plans for late Sunday afternoon. 

What channel is Sunday's game?

Thankfully, you won't need Peacock for Sunday's Packers-Cowboys. (As if the league would've DARED given the Packers and Cowboys the NBA TV treatment and put their game on Peacock.) Instead, Sunday's 3:30 p.m. playoff bout will be found on FOX – or FOX Sports' website, if you're not near a TV. And unlike most of the Packers' games on that channel this season, we'll have the A-team booth for the broadcast – though, realistically, you won't even notice because you'll be watching on mute and listening to Wayne and Larry on the radio. 

Of course, you could also find the game on at just about any proper sports bar or Packers bar. Here are some options for that, whether near with our sports bar guide or far with our list of 50 Packers in 50 states

What's next?

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but if the Packers pull off another victory on Sunday against the Cowboys, Green Bay will move on and play the top seed in the NFC: the San Francisco 49ers, who've earned a bye for this upcoming weekend and who've crushed the Packers' Super Bowl hopes two of Green Bay's last three postseason visits. Here's to revenge if the two meet up again – but again, we're getting ahead of ourselves. First things first, it's time to wrangle the Cowboys on Sunday. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.