GREEN BAY, Wis. – One week later, the football gods looked onto the frigid turf at Lambeau Field and weren’t nearly as kind to the Dallas Cowboys. A non-call got them here, helping them get past the Detroit Lions in the opening round of the playoffs, but this time, officials had a chance to pause the game, study video replays and decide: Had the Cowboys’ luck run out or would they somehow eke their way further into the postseason?
Just minutes after Aaron Rodgers gave the Green Bay Packers a slim five-point lead, Dallas faced fourth and two from Green Bay’s 32-yard line. Tony Romo launched a floater down the sideline, where Packers cornerback Sam Shields found himself a half-step ahead of Dez Bryant. The Cowboys’ talented wide receiver leapt high and pulled down the catch, landing inside the Cowboys’ 1-yard line, inches from the lead, minutes from advancing to the NFC title game.
Or so it seemed.
The Packers challenged the call on the field, risking one of their two remaining timeouts, and after studying video, officials said Bryant, in fact, did not retain possession of the ball as he hit the ground. It was ruled an incomplete pass, the Packers took over on downs and Green Bay was able to milk the clock and hold on for an exciting 26-21 playoff win.
The Packers advance to face the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game next Sunday in Seattle. While the Seahawks are trying to become first team to defend its Super Bowl title since 2003-04 Patriots, the Packers will find themselves in the conference title game for the first time since their Super Bowl-winning 2010 campaign. The two teams opened the regular season against each other in September, when the Seahawks routed the visiting Packers 36-16 at CenturyLink Field.
With kickoff temperature around 25 degrees, Sunday’s matchup wasn’t the perfect sequel to the famed Ice Bowl — that 1967 classic in which the Packers topped the Cowboys 21-17 in sub-zero temperatures — but what the playoff matchup lacked in artistry, it made up for in dramatics.
McCarthy had said in the days leading up to Sunday’s game that Rodgers’s calf wouldn’t trouble the 10th-year quarterback, but it was evident early on that Rodgers’s mobility was affected. He seemed at times tethered in place, and it wasn’t until the second half that Rodgers began to look comfortable throwing downfield and dodging Dallas pass rushers.
Despite his obvious woes, he finished 23 of 34 for 304 yards and three touchdown passes, including a go-ahead strike late in the game. The Packers trailed much of the afternoon and didn’t regain the lead until more than five minutes passed in the fourth quarter. From the Dallas 13-yard line, Rodgers shook off defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence coming around the edge and stepped to his left. He fired a bullet toward the end zone, splitting two Cowboys defensive backs and finding rookie Richard Rodgers on the move, giving Green Bay a 26-21 lead.
It was a game marked by big plays and big miscues. Romo, who lost on the road for the first time this season, finished with 191 yards on 15-of-19 passing.
On their opening drive, the Packers showed exactly why they were undefeated at Lambeau Field this year and hadn’t lost a home game since last January. Rodgers marched the offense downfield, aided mightily by Eddie Lacy, who ran the ball seven times on the drive, including a 19-yard gain that put Green Bay in Dallas territory. (Lacy finished the game with 101 yards on 19 carries.) On third and goal from the Cowboys’ 4-yard line, Rodgers remained patient when his first option was unavailable, stepping up in the pocket and firing a short dart to Andrew Quarless.
Dallas tied the game on its ensuing drive, thanks in part to Tramon Williams’s defensive pass interference penalty near the goal line. The Cowboys scored one play later on Romo’s 1-yard pass to fullback Tyler Clutts with just 1 minute 5 seconds left in the opening quarter.
A Rodgers fumble set up the Cowboys next scoring drive. On second and seven, Romo’s pass found wide receiver Terrance Williams near the sideline. Williams slipped a tackle and cut inside, sprinting the final 30 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
The Packers struggled to find their footing and execute anything like their dominant opening drive. Rodgers’s injury woes became more apparent with each drive. His mobility was limited in the pocket and by the end of the half, he was noticeably hobbling. Despite the calf injury, Green Bay benefited from a huge six-point swing in the closing minutes of the first half.
The Cowboys botched a third-and-one attempt – a suspect pass play call ruined by a faulty snap and incomplete pass – and then suffered a false start penalty on a 45-yard field goal attempt. Place kicker Dan Bailey then lined up a 50-yarder that never had a chance.
Rodgers had just 29 seconds to work with and hit Randall Cobb twice – a 12-yard completion and another for 31 – to put his team in position to tack on three extra points. Mason Crosby’s 40-yard field goal as time expired cut the Cowboys’ lead to 14-10 at the half.
In the third quarter, after the Packers recovered a DeMarco Murray fumble, Crosby was able to chip in a 30-yard field goal that cut the Dallas lead to just one, 14-13.
The Cowboys responded quickly, putting together an 80-yard drive on just six plays, capped by Murray’s 1-yard touchdown run. It marked his seventh straight game with a rushing score. It also marked the Cowboys’ last score.
The Packers pulled within striking distance and facing third and 15, Rodgers hit Davante Adams over the middle, and the rookie wide receiver provided the theatrics from there. A slight shoulder twitch froze Dallas cornerback J.J. Wilcox, and Adams was able to scamper 30 yards untouched into the end zone. The 46-yard score cut the Cowboys’ lead to 21-20 entering the final quarter.
Rick Maese is a sports features writer for The Washington Post.
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