Last-second kick gives Packers win:
Rodgers’ heroics, Crosby’s toe, Cook’s catch send Dallas Packin’ early
Aaron Rodgers did it again. Dez Bryant redeemed himself for his controversial drop in the Cowboys’ seasonending 2014 playoff loss in Green Bay. Rookie sensations Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott roared top-seeded Dallas back from a steep early deficit.
But Jerry Jones’ club made a costly mistake in Sunday’s divisional round clash with the Packers: They gave Rodgers the ball back, in a tie game, with time still on the clock.
Rodgers made them pay with a clutch 36-yard completion to tight end Jared Cook on a tough catch down the left sideline with three seconds to play. Cook tapped toes in play before falling out of bounds on his knees to stop the clock.
Then Mason Crosby kicked his third 50-plus yard field goal of the game’s final 93 seconds — two of which counted — for the dramatic 34-31 Green Bay victory.
The fourth-seed Packers (12-6) now will travel to Atlanta to face the secondseed Falcons (12-5) in the NFC Championship Game Sunday at 3:05 p.m. on FOX.
Green Bay now has won eight in row, its last loss coming in Week 11 on Nov. 20 in Washington.
“It’s a great catch by Jared,” Rodgers told FOX on the field after the win. “It’s just kind of schoolyard at times late in the game like that. I tried to put it in a good spot, and he made a hell of a catch. Then Mason makes the kick twice.”
Crosby’s first 51yard field goal attempt was good but did not count, because Cowboys coach Jason Garrett had called a timeout just prior to the snap.
Not a problem. Crosby put the next kick through the uprights, abruptly sending the top-seeded Cowboys (13-3) home for the offseason.
Dallas had been one of the NFL’s top teams from wireto-wire, earned a first-round bye and had an opportunity to win Super Bowl LI without even leaving the state of Texas, since the big game will be hosted in Houston.
But Rodgers (28of-43, 356 yards, two TDs, one INT) left the Giants in his wake with a 38-13 wild card drubbing of Big Blue at Lambeau Field. And now Sunday’s win sends Green Bay to its second NFC Championship Game in three years.
The Packers lost to the Seahawks in Seattle, 28-22, two years ago. Rodgers won his only Super Bowl in the 2010 season and on Sunday night preferred to soak in the win rather than look ahead quickly to a clash with the
Fal- cons.
“We’re just gonna enjoy this game. we’re gonna enjoy the heck out of this game,” Rodgers said. “What a game. We’re gonna celebrate this and move on to Atlanta.”
Rodgers came in with 22 touchdown passes and no interceptions in his last eight games, and he threw his first pick in nine games in the third quarter. But it didn’t cost him the game.
Asked by FOX’s Erin Andrews if he was able to breathe as officials reviewed Cook’s catch on the sideline, Rodgers laughed: “Barely.”
Tied 28-28 with 4:08 to play, Rodgers and the Packers drove for a 56-yard Crosby field goal with 1:33 remaining for a 31-28 lead.
Prescott answered emphatically, completing 3-of-4 passes for 42 yards on a 58-second drive to set up Dan Bailey’s 52-yarder with 37 seconds remaining in regulation to tie it back up at 21 apiece.
But that gave Rodgers’ offense the ball back with 35 seconds remaining — not enough time for him to try one of his patented Hail Marys, but enough to make magic happen once again.
Green Bay almost ran away with the game early. Bailey’s 50-yard field goal gave Dallas a 3-0 lead. But the Packers led 21-3 with 7:37 to play in the second quarter after three commanding drives of 75, 90 and 80 yards, capped by a Richard Rodgers 34-yard touchdown catch and two Ty Montgomery goal-line rushes for scores.
But Dallas climbed back to within 21-13 by halftime, thanks to a Bryant 40-yard touchdown catch from Prescott and a 33-yard Bailey field goal.
Bryant and the Cowboys had not played a playoff game since Jan. 11, 2014, at Lambeau Field. Bryant’s catch at the 1-yard line on a late fourth down was controversially ruled incomplete, and Dallas was eliminated in a 26-21 defeat.
The Cowboys’ receiver this time, though, made his mark.
After a 3-yard Cook touchdown catch made it 28-13 Packers at 11:25 of the third quarter, and Prescott and Rodgers traded interceptions, Dallas made a furious push.
Prescott (24-of-38, 302 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT), Elliott (25 carries, 125 yards) and Bryant (nine catches, 132 yards and 2 TDs) were the stars for Dallas.
Prescott, the rookie fourth-round pick out of Mississippi State, led Dallas to a 6-yard Jason Witten touchdown catch with 11:39 left in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys’ defense held strong, and then a 7-yard TD pass to Bryant with 4:08 remaining capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game at 28 apiece.
Momentum felt as if it had swung for good in the Cowboys’ favor. But Rodgers got the ball back before the clock struck zero, and these days, that is simply not the recipe for beating the hottest quarterback in football.
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