Bryant will have help in the rematch
Some 15 minutes after Dez Bryant said he didn’t want to talk about “the catch that wasn’t,” the Dallas Cowboys receiver was still talking about the controversial play from the 2014 NFC divisional playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“Even if we were to win four or five Super Bowls, people still going to be like, ‘He still caught it,’ ” Bryant told reporters Thursday. “That’s what it’s going to be. … But that was 2014. There’s no extra motivation. There’s no nothing. If there’s any motivation it’s just to prepare better than the last time. I feel like I’ve done that.”
Trailing, 26-21, with 4 minutes 43 seconds left in that 2014 game, the Cowboys went for it on fourth and two, with quarterback Tony Romo lofting a pass down the left sideline to Bryant, who jumped over cornerback Sam Shields and grabbed the ball with two hands at about the two-yard line.
Bryant moved the ball to his left hand as he reached for the end zone, but the ball bounced up as he hit the ground. Initially ruled a catch that gave the Cowboys a first-and-goal at the one, the play was reversed on replay, referee Gene Steratore ruling Bryant didn’t control the ball all the way through the catch.
“Yeah, of course it was tough,” Bryant said. “It was heartbreaking. It ended our season.”
Bryant will enter the rematch with a pair of lethal rookie weapons by his side — running back Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed 322 times for an NFL-leading 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns, and quarterback Dak Prescott, who completed 311 of 459 passes for 3,667 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Seeing red
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers led the NFL in red-zone touchdown passes with 31, and he has been particularly efficient during Green Bay’s current seven-game win streak, in which the Packers have scored on 26 of their 27 red-zone chances, including 21 touchdowns.
Green Bay scored touchdowns on all four of its redzone opportunities against the Giants in last week’s first-round win. New York had a field goal in two redzone opportunities.
“We need to play that way Sunday,” Packers Coach Mike McCarthy said of red-zone chances, “and we need to hold them to field goals on defense.”
Next man up
Jordy Nelson, who had an NFL-best 14 touchdown catches in the regular season, has been ruled out because of a rib injury, but the Packers seem better equipped to handle the loss of their top receiver than they did in 2015, when Nelson missed the entire season because of a knee injury.
Nelson left last week’s first-round game against the Giants with about 11 minutes left in the second quarter and the Packers trailing, 3-0. Green Bay went on to win, 38-13, with Rodgers throwing four touchdown passes for the third straight game.
By the numbers
How teams compare statistically. All stats are per-game averages, except for sacks and turnover differential, which are for the season (league rank in parentheses):
Sam Farmer’s pick
Dallas should be able to run it on Green Bay, and the Packers’ not having Nelson is big. This figures to be a close game, but it’s risky to doubt Rodgers in these situations. PACKERS 31, COWBOYS 27