Since their football renaissance began 25 years ago, the Packers have played 36 playoff games under three coaches. Mike Holmgren finished 9-5 in six appearances, Mike McCarthy is 9-7 in nine and Mike Sherman went 2-4 in four.
In those 36 games, the Packers have been the favorite 21 times (15-6 record), the underdog 14 times (4-10) and pick ‘em once (1-0).
If the Packers, a five-point underdog, were to beat the Cowboys on Sunday, it would rank as their biggest playoff upset in 21 years.
As an underdog, McCarthy’s victories were at Philadelphia (+1½) in 2010 and at Washington (+1½) last year. Sherman was 0-2 as an underdog.
Holmgren’s first playoff victory came at the Silverdome in 1993 as a one-point underdog against the Lions. Two years later, the Packers were a 10½-point underdog at San Francisco when, in arguably the franchise’s greatest victory since the 1967 Ice Bowl, they ambushed the 49ers, 27-17.
The spread Sunday isn’t nearly what it was on that unforgettable afternoon at Candlestick Park. Still, the Packers and their fans know full well the jubilation that a victory over the Cowboys would generate.